History of Latin American Dermatology

History of Dermatology in Colombiathe Gustavo Uribe Escobar Dermopathology Laboratory was created; it was headedby the dermatopathologist Walter León Hernández. In 1976, María Mélida Durándelved into research in Bogotá; she was the noted, unforgettable, distinguished-lookingteacher who carried our love with her to heaven and left us the legacy of hermanifold studies into actinic prurigo in indigenous communities 15, 40, 41 .In the 1980s, Guillermo Gutiérrez Aldana launched research into oncological Dermatology42 , which was strengthened in 1992 with the creation of the subfield at theNational Cancerology Institute in Bogotá. There, Álvaro Acosta de Hart began majorresearch into cancer surgery and tumescent technique 31 . On those same dates FelipeJaramillo Ayerbe began important studies in Manizales on skin tumors, which heis currently continuing. There has also been notable research into Figurechemotherapyas of the 1980s at the universities of Antioquia and Nueva Granada,as well as into the etiopathogeny of acne carried out by Blanca Lilia E. Lesmes Rodríguezin Bogotá. Likewise in Bogotá, Jaime Soto Mancipe in the 1990s began to carryout significant studies into medical drugs, tropical diseases and the behavior of skin cancer43, 44 . In 1993, Michel Faizal, along with his residents César Burgos and GuillermoJiménez, associated with the Institute of Immunology headed by Manuel Elkin Patarroyo,developed a method for the diagnosis of skin tuberculosis based on molecular biologytechniques 45 . Later, Evelyne Halpert, along with Elizabeth García, developed a line of researchinto immunopathogenesis of strophulus prurigo caused by flea bites. The groupof researchers at the Institute of Health Sciences in Medellín received the acknowledgementof governmental institutions, through the award made to Ángela Zuluaga.Since the late twentieth century, new and brilliant figures have begun their contributionto research, such as Rodolfo Augusto Trujillo Méndez in Cali and Gloria SanclementeMesa in Medellín, among others. At the present time the country’s diverse schools of Dermatologycarry out innumerable lines of research.Figure 20. StellaPradaHISTORY OF MYCOLOGYThe first studies of mycology were carried out by José Posada Trujillo at the Universityof Antioquia, in the 1930s. Gonzalo Calle Vélez (Figure 21), the first great promoterof mycology, arrived at the same university in 1954; he had studied at Ann Arbor, Michigan,and brought the first mycology collection to the country, where it served as the basisfor study and research. This area was reinforced by Ángela Restrepo Moreno, who startedout as medical technologist and managed to become the country’s most outstanding mycologistafter innumerable research undertakings; among the first and most memorablewere those carried out into histoplasmosis and paracoccidioidomycosis, which led to innovationsin diagnostic techniques and epidemiological and therapeutic studies. In 1956,the valuable contribution of the physician Julio Sánchez Arbeláez stood out. Dr. Callemanaged to get the study of mycosis included as part of the medical program. As from1960, research began with a focus on histoplasmosis and paracoccidioidomycosis,with prospectivity studies of patients; the pathologist Mario Robledo Villegas playedan important role in this work. At that time, the departments of Dermatology, Pathologyand Mycology merged at that university. Since then Mycology is the object of studyand research at the country’s diverse schools of Dermatology.Figure 21.Gonzalo CalleVélezHISTORY OF DERMATOPATHOLOGYAlfredo Correa Henao, who carried out his specialized studies in the United Statesand was Colombia’s first pathologist, launched the chair at the University of Antioquiaand worked at the Prophylactic Institute, founded in Medellín in 1924 by GustavoUribe Escobar. In the 1950s, the first dermatopathologist, Mario RobledoVillegas, returned from Michigan; he has carried out major contributions to the studyof dermatomycoses, and is a sage of noble simplicity. In 1960, Ernesto Correa127