Lenore S. Kakita, MD: Honored as the Dermatology Foundation's 2003 Practitioner of the Year

Lenore S. Kakita, MD, a member of the clinical dermatology faculty at UCLA for more than 30 years and with a private practice in Glendale, CA, was honored with the Dermatology Foundation's Practitioner of the Year Award as an exceptional member of the specialty. This distinguished award was presented to her on February 7, 2004 at the Foundation's Annual Meeting during the annual convention of the American Academy of Dermatology in Washington, DC.

The Practitioner of the Year Award, given now for the 27th consecutive year, celebrates dermatologists who have given years of exceptional patient care, allied with teaching and clinical research, as well as service to the specialty.

Dr. Kakita received her BS at UC-Berkeley and her MD from UCSF, then interned at Children's Hospital in Los Angeles. She completed her residency at UCLA, and immediately joined the faculty. Her nominators describe her as "a caring and compassionate clinician, a superb communicator, and innovative in her treatment techniques," and "a perfect role model and mentor-a shining star in dermatology." She was recently named to Best Doctors in America.

In addition to her private practice, academic responsibilities, clinical research, and active family life, Dr. Kakita also specializes in "taking on new challenges for the betterment of a specialty she loves," a colleague observes. These challenges have involved significant dermatology and medical organizations at the metropolitan, state, regional, national, and international levels. She has led the Los Angeles Dermatological Society, the California Society of Dermatology and Dermatologic Surgery and the Women's Dermatologic Society. Within the AAD Dr. Kakita has functioned on an exceptional number and variety of committees, task forces, panels and study groups, assumed many responsibilities on the Advisory Board, and been a liaison with the AMA. She is deeply concerned with patient- and health care-related issues, and works actively for legislation favorable to the specialty and to patients needing dermatologic care.

The Dermatology Foundation is a nonprofit organization created in 1964 by concerned dermatologists to provide a national organization for advancing patient care through funded research, and is now second only to the federal government as a source of funding for investigative dermatology. The Foundation raises funds from within both the specialty and from the cosmetic, pharmaceutical and surgical industries to support a research program of the highest quality that is also exceptional in its breadth and depth.