Wallace H. Clark, Jr.
| Wallace H. Clark, Jr. | |
|---|---|
| Born | c. 1924 LaGrange, Georgia |
| Died | November 28, 1997 (age 73) Kennebunkport, Maine |
| Nationality | American |
| Occupation | Dermatologist and pathologist |
| Known for | Research on melanomas |
Wallace H. Clark, Jr. (c.1924 – November 28, 1997) was an American dermatologist and pathologist. He is best known for devising the "Clark's level", or Clark Level, system for classifying the seriousness of a malignant melanoma skin cancer based on its microscopic appearance.
Clark was born and raised in LaGrange, Georgia the son of a country doctor. After graduating from The Citadel he attended Tulane University, where he received a bachelor's degree in 1944 and an M.D. degree in 1947.
He stayed at Tulane as a faculty member until 1962. He was an assistant professor of pathology and chair of the department of dermatopathology at Harvard University and Massachusetts General Hospital from 1962 until 1969. He then moved to Temple University, where he was a professor of pathology until 1978, including four years as chair of the department. From 1978 until his retirement in 1991 he was on the faculty of the University of Pennsylvania School of Medicine as a professor of dermatology and pathology; he also founded and chaired the university's Pigmented Lesion Clinic. Post-retirement he became a visiting professor of pathology at Harvard. He conducted research, primarily at Beth Israel Hospital, until just a few days before his death in November 1997.
While working at Harvard and Mass General during the 1960s he studied many melanomas. In 1966 he and dermatologist Thomas B. Fitzpatrick created the first Pigmented Lesion Clinic in the United States. He went on to create Pigmented Lesion Clinics at Temple University and the University of Pennsylvania. He made several seminal contributions to the understanding of melanoma.
"Clark's Classification" of melanoma Together with Martin Mihm, Clark described histogenic types of melanoma which differ in their epidemiology, as well as their clinical and histological appearance. The four major categories of Lentigo Maligna Melanoma, Superficial Spreading Melanoma, Nodular Melanoma, and Acral Lentiginous Melanoma loosely correspond to more recent molecular classification of the disease.
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