Young Dermatologist Achievement Award 2019: Helmut Beltraminelli
The Young Dermatologist Achievement Award (YDAA) is presented to five individuals during the Congress; one from each ILDS Region: Asia Pacific; Europe; Latin America and the Caribbean; South Asia, the Middle East and Africa; USA and Canada. Dr Helmut Beltraminelli was selected for the Europe region from the nominations submitted by ILDS Members.
[ric id="7161" srcmoduleimage="https://ilds.org/wp-content/uploads/2019/11/P1120722-360x260.jpg" srcsquare="https://ilds.org/wp-content/uploads/2019/11/P1120722-360x360.jpg" srcoriginal="https://ilds.org/wp-content/uploads/2019/11/P1120722-450x300.jpg" srcvideo="https://ilds.org/wp-content/uploads/2019/11/P1120722-320x180.jpg" srcnarrow="https://ilds.org/wp-content/uploads/2019/11/P1120722-475x100.jpg" alt="" caption="Dr Amani and Dr Beltraminelli at the microscope in Bern, Switzerland" classes="center" format="original"]
Helmut specialises in dermatology and dermatopathology and has a passion for humanitarian dermatology:
In 2009, during a six-month voluntary work assignment at the Regional Dermatology Training Centre (RDTC) in Moshi, Tanzania, I immediately realised the absolute need for dermatopathology services in Sub-Saharan Africa. Therefore, since 2009, a group of motivated experts have been running a project to develop dermatopathology in this region. We have received financial support from the European Academy of Dermatology and Venereology (EADV), the International Society of Dermatology (ISD), the International Foundation for Dermatology (IFD), the International Society of Dermatopathology (ISDP), the University of Basel (Switzerland), and some private sources. I had the great fortune that my chief Prof. Luca Borradori -- and some giants in the field of African dermatology such as Prof. Terence Ryan, Prof. Rod Hay, and Dr. Claire Fuller -- enthusiastically supported the project from the very beginning. A big thank you goes to them, for their continuous generous support.
The strategy of our project is to invest in sustainable education. The main goal is to give a chance to motivated and talented African specialists (dermatologists or pathologists) to acquire expertise in dermatopathology in Europe/Western countries for at least one year, with the final goal to prepare them for the International Board Examination in Dermatopathology (IBED) in Frankfurt, Germany. These experts will then pass on their knowledge to other African colleagues, which ensures the sustainability of the project.
Our most important achievements are:
- Six African fellows have already successfully passed the IBED Examination and are now working and teaching in their respective countries in Africa.
- Dermatopathology services are now available in several African countries, where they were lacking only a few years ago.
- The yearly organisation of an “African Dermatopathology Conference” (ADPC) in an African country since 2015. The 6th ADPC is scheduled for January 6-7, 2020 at the RDTC in Moshi, Tanzania.
- The “African Dermatopathology Society” (ADPS) was founded in 2016. All committee members are African specialists.
- Scientific activities including five posters, four publications and several lectures.