Dr. Peter Elias, a founding and current member of F.I.R.S.T.’s Medical Advisory Board was awarded the William Montagna Lectureship by the Society for Investigative Dermatology at the May, 2001 annual meeting. The lectureship honors and rewards investigators with primary emphasis in skin biology. Dr. Elias’ lecture was entitled From Basketweave to Biosensor: Evolving Concepts of Stratum Corneum Structure and Function.

A pioneering researcher of the epidermal permeability barrier, Dr. Peter Elias was the first to propose that its structure is analogous to "bricks-and-mortar." His theory is now generally accepted in medical circles; he is extending his research beyond structural definitions to the barrier's functional and metabolic properties.

"The barrier function drives everything underneath; it's not just an end-product," Dr. Elias says. "It's the most important function of the skin and what allows us to live in a terrestrial environment."

Dr. Elias is a staff physician at the Veteran’s Administration Medical Center Dermatology Service in San Francisco, California, as well as the head of its Dermatology Research Laboratory. He also serves as a Professor of the Department of Dermatology at the University of California, San Francisco.