Lawrence J. Brandt, MDDr. Lawrence J. Brandt, Professor of Medicine (Gastroenterology & Liver Diseases) and Surgery, is the recipient of the Peggy Lillis Foundation's Lifetime Achievement Award.
Recently deemed the "Doctor of Dung" by the Village Voice, Dr. Brandt has pioneered the use of colonoscopic fecal transplantation to treat recurring C. difficile colitis, a potentially life-threatening inflammation of the colon that commonly affects older adults in hospitals or long-term care facilities, typically after use of antibiotics.
Dr. Brandt's numerous career accomplishments include the following:
- performed the first endoscopic removal of a gastric polyp
- demonstrated that in small bowel bacterial overgrowth states, gastrointestinal bacteria may inhibit vitamin B12 absorption
- showed that most cases of newly diagnosed inflammatory bowel disease (IBD) in elderly patients are actually ischemic colitis misdiagnosed as ulcerative or Crohn’s colitis
- established that metronidazole can heal perineal Crohn's disease
- developed a cytology balloon to diagnose esophagitis in AIDS patients
- classified ischemic colitis and elucidated that isolated right-sided ischemic colitis has a worse prognosis than in other locations
Dr. Brandt is the author or editor of more than 750 scientific publications and seven books, a Master of the American College of Gastroenterology (ACG), and the recipient of many awards and honors, including the Distinguished Educator Award from both the American Gastroenterological Association and the American Society for Gastrointestinal Endoscopy; the Clinical Achievement Award of the ACG; and the William Dock M.D. Master Teacher Award in Medicine of SUNY (Downstate). He is a member of the Albert Einstein’s Leo M. Davidoff Society for excellence in teaching of medical students.
Dr. Brandt will be presented with his award Friday October 23, 2015 at the the Peggy Lillis Foundation's 2015 Fight C. diff Gala in the Grand Ballroom of the Dyker Beach Golf Course, Brooklyn, NY.
Envisioning a world where C. diff is rare, treatable, and survivable, the Peggy Lillis Foundation is building a nationwide clostridium difficile awareness movement by educating the public, empowering advocates, and shaping policy. Margaret Mary “Peggy” Lillis, a single mother and New York City public schoolteacher, died April 21, 2010 of C. difficile following the administration of antibiotics prescribed after a root canal.
Posted October 11, 2015