AAAAI Foundation and Dennis K. Ledford, MD, FAAAAI and University of South Florida Allergy & Immunology Division Lectureship
 

Dennis K. Ledford, MD is Professor of Medicine and Pediatrics and Ellsworth & Mabel Simmons Professor of Allergy & Immunology at the University of South Florida Morsani College of Medicine. Dr. Ledford attended the University of Tennessee Medical School, completed a residency program at the University of Tennessee and received postgraduate training in Allergy and Immunology at the University of South Florida and in Clinical Immunology and Rheumatology at New York University.

Dr. Ledford’s 41 years of experience in the specialty have been marked with numerous honors and accolades. He was listed in the America’s Top Doctors Guide in 2010 and was given a Most Compassionate Doctor Award from Vitals in 2012. He served as President of the American Academy of Allergy and Immunology (2011-2012) and was the Chair of the ARTrust Steering Committee (now the AAAAI Foundation) from 2012-2015. Ledford has chaired the Work Group on Post Graduate Medical Education, Future of Allergy and Immunology Task Force of AAAAI and ACAAI since 2009. In 2015, Dr. Ledford was named Best Allergist/Immunologist in Tampa Bay by Tampa Bay Magazine, won the Outstanding Clinician Award from the World Allergy Association and was inducted into the Barness/Behnke Chapter of the Gold Humanism Honor Society, which honors role-model physician teachers recognized for demonstrated excellence in clinical care, leadership, compassion and dedication to service. Dr. Ledford has said that he, “chose a career in medicine because I wanted to make a lifetime commitment to a profession that could improve people’s lives,” which succinctly embodies the mission of AAAAI Foundation, and we are proud to establish this lectureship in honor of his significant achievements as an academician, researcher and practitioner. This Lectureship was announced at the 2018 AAAAI/WAO Joint Congress in Orlando, with the inaugural presentation at the 2019 AAAAI Annual Meeting.

2020 marks the 3rd year of the Dennis K. Ledford Lectureship.

Stanley Szefler, MD FAAAAI

Research Medical Director and Director of the Pediatric Asthma Research Program in the Breathing Institute of the Pediatric Pulmonary and Sleep Medicine Section
at Children’s Hospital Colorado & Professor of Pediatrics at the University of Colorado School of Medicine, Anschutz Medical Campus

Dr. Stanley Szefler is currently the Research Medical Director and Director of the Pediatric Asthma Research Program in the Breathing Institute of the Pediatric Pulmonary and Sleep Medicine Section at Children’s Hospital Colorado. He is also Professor of Pediatrics at the University of Colorado School of Medicine, Anschutz Medical Campus. Dr. Szefler’s major contributions are directed toward the individualized use of asthma therapy.  He has identified biomarkers and asthma characteristics that are associated with asthma exacerbations and response to asthma therapy. For the past fourteen years, he has directed a school-centered asthma program (AsthmaCOMP) funded by the Colorado Department of Public Health and Environment Cancer, Cardiovascular and Pulmonary Disease Program for the State of Colorado.

This program identifies those students most significantly affected by asthma, establishes lines of communication between schools, primary care physicians, and specialists to assure that these children have consistent medical care. He has also conducted studies to define the application of electronic medication monitoring for asthma care. He is the Co-Principal Investigator for the Denver site of the NHLBI PrecISE Network.  He is a former member of the Global Initiative for Asthma Science Committee and a former member of the Expert Panel for the National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute’s National Asthma Education and Prevention Program on “Guidelines for the Diagnosis and Management of Asthma”. He also served as the Deputy Editor for the Journal of Allergy and Clinical Immunology from 1997 to 2018.