INTERNATIONAL BURN FOUNDATION NAMES DR. BASIL PRUITT AS THE RECIPIENT OF THE 2006 TANNER-VANDEPUT-BOSWICK BURN PRIZE.

Dr. Basil Pruitt to be honored for outstanding contributions in the field of burn care, research and education.

Denver, CO – May 9, 2006: The International Burn Foundation (IBF) today announced that the recipient of the Tanner-Vandeput-Boswick (TVB) Burn Prize for 2006 is Basil A. Pruitt, Jr., M.D. of San Antonio, Texas. The prize, which totals approximately $100,000, will be presented at the Congress of the International Society for Burn Injuries in Fortaleza, Brazil on September 24, 2006. In addition to the cash award the prize includes a gold and diamond pin designed by the late Dr. J.C. Tanner.

“The International Burn Foundation was pleased to receive a record number of highly qualified international applicants for the 2006 TVB Burn Prize representing eight different countries across five continents. Dr. Pruitt was selected for his remarkable and enduring contributions to the field of burns,” according to a statement from Jane Boswick-Caffrey, Chairman of the IBF, “his contributions to the field have played a significant role in education, training and research, and he remains one of the most influential physicians in the field of burn treatment.”

“This internationally prestigious prize recognizes the exceptional contributions of Drs. Tanner, Vandeput, and Boswick that have advanced the field of burn care and benefited thousands of burn patients”, said Dr. Pruitt. He continued, “Receipt of the prize is a high honor and benchmark in my career as a burn surgeon. This award has great personal significance to me because I have known all three of the surgeons for whom the prize is named. I consider them to have occupied national and international leadership positions, and have counted them among my friends.”

Dr. Pruitt further commented on recent progress in burn care. “The intensity and the multisystem character of the response to an extensive burn injury have presented unique clinical and research challenges. The multidisciplinary studies carried out at the Army Burn Center and other centers have addressed those challenges. The results of those studies have contributed directly to the evolutionary and revolutionary changes in burn care that have significantly increased survival and improved functional recovery in burn patients and have advanced the care of other trauma patients as well. I am pleased to share this honor with all the surgeons, scientists, and other members of the burn team with whom I have had the privilege to work.”

Dr. Pruitt’s career in burns began as a military surgeon during his residency when he was drafted into the United States Army and appointed as Chief, Burn Study Branch, United States Army Surgical Research Unit, Brooke Army Medical Center, and Fort Sam Houston, Texas. Subsequently, after completing surgical training and a deployment to Vietnam, he was appointed, in 1968, as Commander and Director, US Army Institute of Surgical Research (USAISR), a position he held until his retirement from the Army at the end of 1995.

During his tenure the USAISR became a model of burn care, education and productive research. As a leader in the field of burns and trauma, Dr. Pruitt has been invited to deliver innumerable prestigious lectureships, received every applicable award, and was honored by election to the presidency of ten surgical societies. He is currently the president-elect of the Shock Society. One of his greatest and enduring legacies is the mentorship of a cadre of physicians who have become leaders not only in burn care and research but also in the broad field of surgery. In 1975 Dr. Pruitt became an Associate Editor of the Journal of Trauma and in 1995 its Editor, a position in which he continues to work.

About the Tanner-Vandeput-Boswick (TVB) Burn Prize

The TVB Burn Prize was established in 1984 by the late Dr. J.C. Tanner of Atlanta, Georgia. Dr. Tanner, assisted by Dr. Jacques Vandeput, invented the Tanner-Vandeput mesh dermatome, a device that enables skin grafts to be expanded to replace a larger area of a patient’s skin destroyed by burns. The prize is the legacy of their contribution, and as well promotes the mission of the IBF by honoring individual achievement in the field of burn treatment. The IBF was created to promote and administer the TVB prize. Dr. Tanner honored the contributions of the late Dr. John Boswick, first Chairman of the Foundation, by adding his name to the prize. The prize is quadrennial and will be given out again in 2010.