Robert E. Reisman, MD ’56 Memorial Fund and Lecture

The annual Robert E. Reisman, MD '56 Memorial Fund and Lecture was started to provide the medical community, including students, residents, fellows and practitioners a new lectureship on current topics in allergy and immunology.  The lecture was made possible by the Robert E. Reisman, MD, FAAAAI Memorial Endowment Fund, which was establishd at the Jacobs School of Medicine and Biomedical Sciences in 2017. 

Dr. Reisman's family and colleagues believed this was the most appropriate way to honor and remember Dr. Reisman's extraordinary commitment to patient care, medical education and research in the fields of allergy and immunology.  The inaugural lecture was held on October 4, 2018, and will continue annually each fall.

We invite you to consider making a gift in support of this perpetual annual initiative.  Many colleagues, friends, former fellows in training and relatives have already made commitments to his memory.  All gifts at any level are welcome and much appreciated. 

We are all proud to have known Dr. Reisman as a devoted father, friends, and colleague.  We know he would have been pleased that his life and legacy are being honored and remembered in this manner.

Robert E. Reisman, MD ’56 left a legacy of excellence in patient care, groundbreaking new treatments, and medical trainee education during his five decades of practice with the Buffalo Medical Group.  As a clinical professor of medicine and pediatrics at the Jacobs School of Medicine and Biomedical Sciences, he trained numerous medical students, residents, and fellows in the art and science of medicine and allergy. 

Dr. Reisman’s clinical research, especially in collaboration with Dr. Carl Arbesman, revealed many fundamental features of allergic diseases, most notably the mechanisms of insect allergies in humans.  His work led to changes in how people are desensitized to life threatening insect allergies, a major accomplishment for the field of allergy and the lives of his patients.  He authored over 200 articles, papers and book chapters, and was co-editor of the Expert Guide to Allergy and Immunology, published in 1999 by the American College of Physicians.

Dr. Reisman served as president of the American Academy of Allergy, Asthma and Immunology, chair of the American Board of Allergy and Immunology, and chair of the Residency Review Committee of the American Medical Association for Allergy and Immunology. In 1993, he was awarded Mastership in the American College of Physicians. His special talents and enthusiasm for teaching the next generation of clinicians is evidenced in part by the role of many of his former trainees in helping to endow this lectureship in his honor.