Diltor Vladimir Araújo Opromolla (13 April 1934,

São Paulo São Paulo (; ; Portuguese for 'Paul the Apostle, Saint Paul') is the capital of the São Paulo (state), state of São Paulo, as well as the List of cities in Brazil by population, most populous city in Brazil, the List of largest cities in the ...

– 15 December 2004,

Bauru Bauru () is a Brazilian municipality located in the interior of São Paulo state, recognized as the most populous city in the Central-West region of São Paulo. It is one of the 19 municipalities comprising the Bauru Immediate Geographic Region ...

) was a Brazilian

physician A physician, medical practitioner (British English), medical doctor, or simply doctor is a health professional who practices medicine, which is concerned with promoting, maintaining or restoring health through the Medical education, study, Med ...

and

dermatologist Dermatology is the branch of medicine dealing with the skin.''Random House Webster's Unabridged Dictionary.'' Random House, Inc. 2001. Page 537. . It is a speciality with both medical and surgical aspects. A dermatologist is a specialist medi ...

respected due to his lifetime work with

leprosy Leprosy, also known as Hansen's disease (HD), is a Chronic condition, long-term infection by the bacteria ''Mycobacterium leprae'' or ''Mycobacterium lepromatosis''. Infection can lead to damage of the Peripheral nervous system, nerves, respir ...

patients and leprosy research. Opromolla performed all his work at Lauro de Souza Lima Institute in

, a

WHO The World Health Organization (WHO) is a specialized agency of the United Nations which coordinates responses to international public health issues and emergencies. It is headquartered in Geneva, Switzerland, and has 6 regional offices and 15 ...

reference hospital for

dermatology Dermatology is the branch of medicine dealing with the Human skin, skin.''Random House Webster's Unabridged Dictionary.'' Random House, Inc. 2001. Page 537. . It is a speciality with both medical and surgical aspects. A List of dermatologists, ...

. He taught dermatology and leprosy to doctors, nurses, and other health workers. Among other things, he was the first to introduce

rifamycin The rifamycins are a group of antibiotics that are synthesized either naturally by the bacterium '' Amycolatopsis rifamycinica'' or artificially. They are a subclass of the larger family of ansamycins. Rifamycins are particularly effective aga ...

in the treatment of leprosy, in 1963. Opromolla battled

gastric cancer Stomach cancer, also known as gastric cancer, is a malignant tumor of the stomach. It is a cancer that develops in the lining of the stomach. Most cases of stomach cancers are gastric carcinomas, which can be divided into a number of subtypes ...

for the whole year of 2004 and died on December 15, 2004.

References

* Fleury, RN
Diltor Vladimir Araújo Opromolla
''Anais Brasileiros de Dermatologia'', 80(4), July/Aug. 2005. Biography and obituary.

Pan American Health Organization. * Naafs B, Silva E, Vilani-Moreno F, Marcos EC, Nogueira ME, Opromolla DV. Factors influencing the development of leprosy: an overview. ''Int J Lepr Other Mycobact Dis.'' 2001 Mar;69(1):26-33. Review. * Limalde S, Opromolla DV. First results on the treatment of leprosy with rifamycin. ''Chemotherapy''. 1963;10:668-78.

External links

Search for Dr. Opromolla's international research papers
PubMed (US National Library of Medicine).
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at the

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database.
Instituto Lauro de Souza Lima
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