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'''Albert Montgomery Kligman''' (March 17, 1916 – February 9, 2010)<ref name=NYTObit>{{cite news|title=Dr. Albert M. Kligman, Dermatologist, Dies at 93|first=Denise|last=Gellene|date=February 22, 2010|newspaper=[[The New York Times]]|accessdate=February 22, 2010|url=http://www.nytimes.com/2010/02/23/us/23kligman.html}}</ref> was a [[dermatologist]] who co-invented [[Retin-A]], the popular acne medication, with [[James Fulton (dermatologist)|James Fulton]] in 1969.<ref name=mherald>{{cite news|first=Elinor J.|last=|title=Dr. James Fulton, co-creator of Retin-A and acne researcher, dies |url=http://www.miamiherald.com/2013/07/08/v-fullstory/3490263/dr-james-fulton-co-developed-retin.html |work=[[Miami Herald]] |publisher= |date=2013-07-2013 |accessdate=2013-07-27}}</ref> Kligman is best known for the medical research he performed on inmates at [[Holmesburg Prison]] in Philadelphia and the scandal it generated years later.

==Biography==
Kligman was born in [[Philadelphia]] to poor Jewish immigrants, his father from [[Ukraine]] and mother from England. As a child, he was a [[Boy Scout]], developing a love of plants on scouting trips to the countryside.<ref name=APObit>{{cite news|title=Albert M. Kligman, dermatologist who patented Retin-A, dies at 93|first=Joann|last=Loviglio|newspaper=[[The Washington Post]]|agency=[[Associated Press]]|date=February 22, 2010|accessdate=February 26, 2010|url=http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2010/02/21/AR2010022104116.html}}</ref>

With financial support from [[Simon Greenberg]], a major rabbi of the time, he attended [[Pennsylvania State University]], earning a bachelor's degree in 1939. He was captain of the gymnastics team.<ref name=InkyObit>{{cite news|title=Albert M. Kligman, 93, dermatology researcher|first=Walter F.|last=Naedele|date=February 21, 2010|newspaper=[[The Philadelphia Inquirer]]|accessdate=February 26, 2010|url=http://www.philly.com/philly/obituaries/84877122.html}} {{Dead link|date=October 2010|bot=H3llBot}}</ref>

He went on to receive a Ph.D. in [[botany]] from the [[University of Pennsylvania]] in 1942, specializing in the study of fungi. He continued at the University of Pennsylvania, enrolling in [[University of Pennsylvania Medical School|its medical school]], earning his [[Doctor of Medicine|M.D.]] in 1947. He chose dermatology as his specialty in order to apply his expertise in fungi. 

Upon graduation, he joined the dermatology faculty as an associate, also signing on at the [[Hospital of the University of Pennsylvania]].<ref name=InkyObit/>

==Scholarship and inventions==
Kligman was a prolific scholar and was known for bringing scientific rigor to a field that, at the time, was lacking it. Kligman wrote numerous papers on run-of-the-mill dermatological conditions such as [[athlete's foot]] and [[dandruff]]. He also worked at the intersection of cosmetics and medicine, coining the terms "[[cosmeceutical]]s" and "[[photoaging]]."

The identification of the use of [[tretinoin]] along Dr. [[James Fulton (dermatologist)|James E. Fulton]] and Dr. Gerd Plewig as a treatment for [[acne]] and wrinkles was perhaps their best-known contribution to dermatology. Sold as [[Retin-A]], this innovation earned Kligman significant royalties. He was a generous supporter of the department of dermatology at the University of Pennsylvania, having donated over $4 million by 1998.<ref>{{cite book|last=Martino|first=Joseph Paul|title=Science funding: politics and porkbarrel|publisher=Transaction Publishers|year=1992|pages=309|isbn=978-1-56000-033-4|url=http://books.google.com/books?id=UdQBSffyTTwC&pg=PA309|accessdate=February 26, 2010}}</ref>

==Controversial dermatological experiments==
Despite his significant scientific contributions, Kligman is best known for conducting human experiments on prisoners at [[Holmesburg Prison]] in Philadelphia. Stemming from early testing of treatments for [[ringworm]], his work there started with an effort to control athlete's foot at the invitation of prison officials. He found the environment fraught with possibilities, and undertook dozens of experiments on prisoners there for pharmaceutical companies and government agencies. While the prisoners were paid for their participation, little effort was taken to assure the safety of the test subjects, some of whom were intentionally exposed to pathogens causing infections, including [[herpes]], [[staphylococcus]], and athlete's foot. Moreover, Kligman's payment of subjects had other unintended consequences: the economic power gained by subjects was used by some of them to "coerce sexual favors from other inmates".<ref name="loue">{{cite book|last=Loue|first=Sana|title=Textbook of research ethics: theory and practice|publisher=Springer|year=2000|series=Law and Philosophy Library|pages=25–27|isbn=978-0-306-46448-5|url=http://books.google.com/books?id=Hizb9k7W57MC&pg=PA26|accessdate=February 27, 2010}}</ref>

Kligman's prisoner testing for the government was not limited to dermatology, extending even to the testing of [[psychoactive drugs]] for the [[United States Department of Defense|Department of Defense]].<ref name=LATObit>{{cite news|title=Albert M. Kligman dies at 93; dermatologist developed acne, wrinkle treatments and experimented on prisoners|date=February 24, 2010|first=Thomas H, II|last=Maugh|newspaper=[[Los Angeles Times]]|accessdate=February 26, 2010|url=http://articles.latimes.com/2010/feb/24/local/la-me-albert-kligman24-2010feb24}}</ref>

While Kligman maintained that the testing was consistent with scientific and ethical norms of the era, nearly 300 subjects tested while in prison sued him, the University of Pennsylvania, and [[Johnson & Johnson]]. The lawsuit was brought because of violations of the Nuremberg code. Though the suit was dismissed under the [[statute of limitations]], the public reaction to the testing program contributed to the enactment of federal regulations restricting medical studies in prisons.<ref name=NYTObit/> Later commentators, including Senator [[Ted Kennedy]], remarked how, in spite of the sets of ethical principles laid out in the 1947 [[Nuremberg Code]] and (much later) the [[Declaration of Helsinki]], the poorer members of society typically bore the brunt of unethical biomedical research; Kligman's research at Holmesburg prison has become a textbook example of such unethical experimenting,<ref name="loue"/><ref>{{cite book|last=Weyers|first=Wolfgang|title=The abuse of man: an illustrated history of dubious medical experimentation|publisher=Ardor Scribendi|year=2003|pages=450|isbn=978-1-893357-21-1|accessdate=February 26, 2010}}</ref><ref>{{cite book|last=Matulich|first=Serge|author2=David M. Currie|title=Handbook of Frauds, Scams, and Swindles: Failures of Ethics in Leadership|publisher=CRC Press|year=2008|pages=144|isbn=978-1-4200-7285-3|url=http://books.google.com/books?id=VLxvUV8xFsgC&pg=PT144|accessdate=February 26, 2010}}</ref><ref>{{cite book|last=Holdstein|first=Deborah|title=Challenging perspectives: reading critically about ethics and values|publisher=Houghton Mifflin Company|year=2004|pages=295|isbn=978-0-618-21503-4|accessdate=February 26, 2010}}</ref><ref>{{cite book|last=Cherulnik|first=Paul D.|title=Methods for behavioral research: a systematic approach|publisher=Sage Publications|year=2001|isbn=978-0-7619-2199-8|accessdate=February 26, 2010}}</ref> and has been denounced as equivalent to "the barbarity and sadism of Auschwitz and Dachau."<ref name="hornblum">{{cite book|last=Hornblum|first=Allen M.|title=Acres of skin: human experiments at Holmesburg Prison: a story of abuse and exploitation in the name of medical science|publisher=Routledge|year=1998|pages=38|isbn=978-0-415-91990-6|url=http://books.google.com/books?id=HyFbdu7KKswC&pg=PA238|accessdate=February 27, 2010}}</ref>

Beyond the controversies relating to the testing on prisoners, Kligman was found to have discrepancies in the data underlying his experiments. This led to his research being barred by the [[Food and Drug Administration]] for a period.<ref name=NYTObit/>

==Personal life==

Kligman was married three times. He divorced from his first wife, and was widowed by his second. He died of a heart attack in February, 2010, at age 93. He was survived by his third wife.<ref name=NYTObit />

==See also==
* [[Acres of Skin: Human Experiments at Holmesburg Prison]]
*[[Human experimentation in the United States]]

==References==
{{reflist|colwidth=35em}}

==See also==
* [[Acres of Skin]]

{{Authority control|VIAF=17297226}}

{{Persondata <!-- Metadata: see [[Wikipedia:Persondata]]. -->
| NAME              = Kligman, Albert M.
| ALTERNATIVE NAMES =
| SHORT DESCRIPTION = American dermatologist
| DATE OF BIRTH     = March 17, 1916
| PLACE OF BIRTH    =
| DATE OF DEATH     = February 9, 2010
| PLACE OF DEATH    =
}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Kligman, Albert M.}}
[[Category:1916 births]]
[[Category:2010 deaths]]
[[Category:American dermatologists]]
[[Category:Jewish American scientists]]
[[Category:Deaths from myocardial infarction]]
[[Category:Pennsylvania State University alumni]]
[[Category:University of Pennsylvania alumni]]
[[Category:University of Pennsylvania faculty]]
[[Category:American medical researchers]]
[[Category:Medical controversies]]