News Releases
11/20/06
KANSAS CITY-- The chief of the Dermatology Division at the University of Kansas Medical Center was formally invested today with a term professorship that is the first and only of its kind at KU School of Medicine.
Daniel Aires, M.D., a dermatologist, was awarded the Connetics Professorship in Dermatology at a ceremony attended by family, friends and colleagues at KU School of Nursing Auditorium. The professorship is unique in that it is sustained through annual support from the Connetics Corporation of Palo Alto, Calif., for the three-year term of the position.
"The Medical Center is pleased to be pioneering this private/public partnership with Connetics," said Barbara Atkinson, M.D., executive vice chancellor of the KU Medical Center and executive dean of the KU School of Medicine. "We hope it opens the doors for other partnerships."
Atkinson told attendees at the ceremony that the award was one of about 48 professorships. These positions have long helped the School of Medicine retain exemplary faculty members, she said.
Tom Wiggans, CEO of Connetics Corporation, says the gift to KU Medical Center continues the company's commitment to dermatology education and training.
"Connetics Corporation is extremely proud of the impact this commitment has made on the education and training of residents and fellows in dermatology. By making this commitment to the University of Kansas Medical Center Division of Dermatology, we believe we are supporting the growth and development of a very important academic dermatology group. Under Dr. Aires' leadership, we are confident that the KU dermatology team will make significant contributions to the patients of Kansas City, and the field of dermatology."
Dr. Aires comes to the University of Kansas from Harvard, where he was on faculty in the dermatology department from 2003 until 2005. As chief of the Dermatology Division, he sees patients and trains medical students and residents. He is also the principal investigator in research trials under way at KU Medical Center on psoriasis, squamous cell carcinoma and cutaneous aging.
Connetics is a specialty pharmaceutical company, focused on the development and commercialization of innovative therapeutics for the dermatology market. As a leader in novel topical delivery systems, Connetics owns worldwide rights to a number of unique topical delivery systems and has branded its proprietary foam drug delivery vehicle, VersaFoam(R). Connetics' product formulations are designed to improve the management of dermatological diseases and provide significant product differentiation. In Connetics' marketed products, these formulations have earned wide acceptance by both physicians and patients due to their clinical effectiveness, high quality and cosmetic elegance.
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