Academics

Eyster to receive distinguished service award

Dr. M. Elaine Eyster, who is credited for her role in ground-breaking clinical and research studies of hemophilia patients, especially regarding HIV- and Hepatitis C-related complications, was named the 2015 recipient of the Pennsylvania Medical Society’s (PAMED) Distinguished Service Award.

The PAMED Distinguished Service Award is given by the state medical society to members for lifetime achievements in medicine. Since it was first awarded in 1956, PAMED has honored 25 Pennsylvania physicians and two nonphysicians. It is considered the highest award a member can receive from PAMED.

Eyster joined the faculty at Penn State Hershey in 1970 in hematology. Three years later, she founded the Hemophilia Program, which she still leads today. Determined to understand the hepatitis complications of hemophilia, she banked frozen specimens from her patients. By 1981-82, when the AIDS epidemic first encircled this population, Eyster was able to go back to her samples and trace the path of this infection and its aftermath in the hemophilia population. Her subsequent collaborations with Dr. James Goedert at the National Institutes for Health opened the door for many researchers in understanding and treating HIV and Hepatitis C.

She was nominated for the award by the Dauphin County Medical Society. She has been a member of the Pennsylvania Medical Society for 20 years.

The award will be formally presented to Eyster on Oct. 24 during PAMED’s annual House of Delegates meeting in Hershey.

Dr. M. Elaine Eyster Credit: Penn StateCreative Commons

Last Updated June 18, 2015

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