Russell P. Hall, III, MD
Dr. Hall is the J. Lamar Callaway Professor of Dermatology at Duke University School of Medicine. He has published research in more than 145 articles in peer-reviewed publications and has contributed to more than 37 book chapters. Dr. Hall previously served as the Deputy Editor for the Journal of Investigative Dermatology. He has also served as the Secretary-Treasurer and President of the Society for Investigative Dermatology. Areas of Expertise: Autoimmune blistering skin diseases, pathogenesis, diagnosis, and management of immune mediated primary blistering disorders, dermatitis herpetiformis, bullous pemphigoid, pemphigus vulgaris
John Seykora, MD, PhD
John Seykora is Professor of Dermatology at the University of Pennsylvania Perelman School of Medicine. He earned his PhD in Cell Biology from Rockefeller University and his MD from Cornell University Medical College. His post-graduate training was conducted at the University of Pennsylvania. His research interests include keratinocyte growth and differentiation and mechanisms of growth control; squamous cell carcinoma; signal transduction of tyrosinase kinases and adaptor molecules, and murine models of human diseases. Dr. Seykora has published over 200 articles in leading peer-reviewed international scientific journals. Areas of Expertise: Keratinocyte growth & differentiation, mechanisms of growth control, squamous cell carcinoma, signal transduction of tyrosinase kinases and adaptor molecules, murine models
Cynthia Green, PhD
Dr. Green is currently an Assistant Professor within the Department of Biostatistics and Bioinformatics at Duke University School of Medicine. She received her PhD from North Carolina State University and subsequently joined the Duke faculty. She has a broad background in biostatistics with more than 25 years of experience in the design and analysis of both prospective and retrospective studies. She works with both the Duke Clinical Research Institute (DCRI) and the Biostatistics, Epidemiology and Research Design (BERD) Methods Core to provide statistical support across multiple departments within the Duke School of Medicine, including the Departments of Dermatology and Pathology. She has published as a co-author in more than 150 peer-reviewed articles. Her research interests include survival analysis, repeated measures analysis, causal inference and predictive modeling. Areas of Expertise: Biostatistics, design and analysis of prospective and retrospective studies, survival analysis, repeated measures analysis, causal inference, predictive modeling
Nophar Geifman, PhD, MSc
Nophar Geifman is Professor of Health and Biomedical Informatics at the University of Surrey. She holds a PhD and MSc in Medical Sciences (Biomedical Informatics), an undergraduate degree in Life Sciences, and completed her postdoctoral training at Stanford University and the University of California, San Francisco. She is committed to improving medical research and healthcare through the leveraging of data and the use of big data analytics, machine learning and artificial intelligence (AI) to improve patient-centric predictions, treatment and outcomes. Thus, her major academic interests are in health and biomedical informatics research, teaching and learning. She has made substantive contribution to numerous studies across various areas of medicine and a wide range of diseases such as rheumatoid conditions and Immune mediated inflammatory diseases, cancer, kidney disease, and dementia. In these, she has applied informatics techniques for discovery, particularly where conventional research methods have over-simplified the inherent complexity of disease and care, with the overarching goal of producing translational research with real-world impact. Nophar is also interested in improving the open sharing of clinical and biomedical data and progresses this area by demonstrating the benefits this brings in enhancing research and patient outcomes, via the application of intelligent methods to collect, combine, and analyse such data.
Roland A. Matsouaka, PhD
Dr. Roland A. Matsouaka is an Assistant Professor in the Department of Biostatistics and Bioinformatics at Duke University. He is also affiliated with the Duke Clinical Research Institute and the Duke Center for REACH Equity. He hold a Master’s degree and a PhD in Biostatistics from Harvard University. He also completed a 2-year postdoctoral training in Causal Inference at Harvard University.
His methodological research focuses on nonparametric, semiparametric, and causal inference methods for comparative effectiveness studies, clinical trials affected by non-compliance, not-so-perfect experiments, and observational studies. His overarching goal is to develop statistical methods that make the best use of the data collected to answer scientific questions while applying principled methods to minimize bias and ensure fair assessments.
The substantive areas of application of his research include public health, biomedical, and social sciences. As a DCRI faculty statistician, he collaborates with clinical researchers to better understand and treat cardiovascular diseases. He has been actively involved in the analyses of large registry data including the Society of Thoracic Surgeons (STS) National Database, the STS and American College of Cardiology (ACC) Transcatheter Valve Therapy (TVTR) Registry, and the American Heart Association/American Stroke Association Get With The Guidelines (GTWG). Finally, Dr. Matsouaka is also a member of the Duke Center REACH Equity Measures, Methods, and Analysis Subcore. The REACH Equity aims at developing and testing interventions that reduce racial and ethnic disparities in health by improving the quality of patient-centered care in the clinical encounter across settings, diagnoses, stages of illness, and throughout the life course. Dr. Matsouaka’s function at REACH Equity is to ensure the conduct of rigorous, reproducible, synergistic research related to the Center’s theme. In that regard, he advises clinical investigators and provides analytic and data management support for research projects conducted by the Center.
Daniel B. Shin, PhD
Daniel B. Shin is Research Assistant Professor of Dermatology at the University of Pennsylvania. He earned his biology degree from the University of Pennsylvania, where he later also earned his MS and PhD in biostatistics. His areas of interest include clinical trials, functional data, and epidemiology. Dr. Shin works with electronic medical records and large data sets; he also develops tools for statistical image analysis and quantifying disease states.
Andrea Chiricozzi, MD
Dr. Chiricozzi was appointed senior researcher at the Institute of Dermatology, Catholic University of Rome in 2019. He attended medical school at the University Campus Bio-Medico in Rome, Italy, graduating in 2007. In 2012, he completed his residency as dermatologist at the University of Rome Tor Vergata, where he continued to work in the Department of Dermatology, headed by Prof. Sergio Chimenti, till 2015. He has a strong laboratory background working as fellow at The Laboratory for Investigative Dermatology, The Rockefeller University, New York, with eminent scientists such as Professor James G. Krueger, Head of The Laboratory for Investigative Dermatology, and Professor Emma Guttman, Professor of Dermatology at the Icahn School of Medicine at the Mount Sinai Medical and Head of the Laboratory for Inflammatory Skin Diseases, New York. He was appointed researcher at the Department of Translation and Clinical Medicine, Dermatology Unit, University of Pisa. His research interests include skin immunology and inflammatory skin disorders, namely psoriasis and atopic dermatitis. He has been investigator for multiple clinical trials testing biologic therapeutics or new oral drugs for either inflammatory skin disorders or non-melanoma skin cancers. He is author of more than 100 publications. In 2012 he was awarded the 2012 Leo-Pharma Research Foundation Silver Prize. High consideration for his research activity was given by the European Society for Dermatological Research (ESDR) that in 2013 selected Dr. Chiricozzi for the Academy for Future Leaders in Dermatology. In 2019 he was nominated International Psoriasis Council (IPC) Councilor. Areas of Expertise: Skin immunology and inflammatory skin disorders, namely psoriasis and atopic dermatitis, clinical trials, biologic therapeutics
John Common, PhD
Dr. John Common is Principal Investigator at the Skin Research Institute of Singapore. His lab studies epidermal function during skin diseases such as atopic dermatitis and also the role of the skin microbiome in skin health and disease. Prior to moving to Singapore, John completed his PhD at the University of London studying the functional consequences of connexin mutations in skin disease. Area of Expertise: Epithelial biology, keratins, skin microbiome, atopic dermatitis
Thomas Darling, MD, PhD
Dr. Darling is Professor and Chair of Dermatology at the Uniformed Services University in Bethesda, MD. Tom received his MD and PhD degrees from Duke University. He completed medicine internship at UNC Hospitals and dermatology residency at Duke University. He moved to the Washington, DC region in 1994 to complete a research fellowship in the Dermatology Branch, National Cancer Institute, National Institutes of Health. He has been at USU since 1999, studying hamartoma syndromes, mosaicism, and skin regeneration. Tom has documented previously unknown or underappreciated skin manifestations of tuberous sclerosis complex (TSC) and Proteus syndrome. Tom's laboratory identified the tumor cells that initiate skin tumor formation in TSC and paracrine factors secreted by these cells that are important in tumorigenesis. They developed the first xenograft model for TSC tumors and a conditional knockout model for TSC skin tumors. They documented UV-signature mutations in facial angiofibromas, prompting a recommendation for good sun protection as a way to potentially reduce the severity of TSC skin disease. They found that TSC skin tumor cells induce hair follicle neogenesis in dermal-epidermal composites, leading to studies of skin substitutes and the roles of the TSC genes in wound healing. Currently, his research goals are to elucidate clinical features of mosaicism and to expand his work on skin regeneration by bioprinting skin substitutes. Areas of Expertise: Hamartoma syndromes, mosaicism, and skin regeneration, tuberous sclerosis complex, proteus syndrome, tumor cells, paracrine factors, xenograft models, knockout models, skin substitutes, wound healing
Cristina de Guzman Strong, PhD
Cristina de Guzman Strong, PhD is an Associate Scientist at the Henry Ford Health in Michigan. She previously was an Assistant Professor of Medicine in the Division of Dermatology, Center for Pharmacogenomics, and Center for the Study of Itch and Sensory Disorders at Washington University in St. Louis School of Medicine. She is also a core faculty member in the Center for the Study of Itch and Sensory Disorders and the Center for Pharmacogenomics. Her laboratory studies the skin barrier. She focuses on the epigenetics of epidermal development and the population genetics of inflammatory skin diseases and human skin evolution. Areas of Expertise: Itch, inflammatory skin diseases, epigenetics, epidermal development, population genetics
Evelyn Gaffal, MD
Dr. Evelyn Gaffal received her clinical training in dermatology and scientific training in immunodermatology at the University of Bonn. She is a senior physician and head of the immunodermatology and translational research unit at the University Hospital of Magdeburg, Germany. Her main fields of research are the pathogenesis and metastatic spread of melanoma and the regulation of cutaneous inflammation. Currently, she is president of the German Working Group for Dermatological Research. Areas of Expertise: Immunodermatology, translational research, pathogenesis of melanoma, metastatic spread of melanoma, regulation of cutaneous inflammation
Heidi Jacobe, MD
Dr. Jacobe is a Professor and Distinguished Teaching Professor of Dermatology at the University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center (UTSWMC) in Dallas, Texas where she holds the Gilliam Chair in Dermatology and is a member of the Southwestern Academy of Teachers. Her clinical interests and research interests are focused on sclerosing skin conditions, specifically morphea or localized scleroderma. Dr. Jacobe is the founder and principal investigator of the Morphea in Adults and Children Cohort, which contains over 800 patients with morphea and their corresponding biological samples. Clinical and translational research in the MAC Cohort includes development of clinical and patient reported outcome measures and use of gene expression profiling to identify biomarkers and novel therapeutic targets in morphea. Dr. Jacobe is also a co-investigator for the UTSWMC Clinical and Translational Science Award and leads its mentorship and educational programming. Areas of Expertise: Clinical research, translational research, sclerosing skin conditions, morphea, scleroderma
Terry Lechler, PhD
Dr. Lechler is a Professor of Dermatology and of Cell Biology at Duke University Medical School. His lab studies the development and maintenance of epithelial architecture with a focus on cell adhesion and the cytoskeleton. Areas of Expertise: Epithelial architecture, cell adhesion, cytoskeleton
Sung-Jan Lin, MD, PhD
Dr. Sung-Jan Lin is the Taiwan Bio-development Foundation (TBF) Chair in Biotechnology and Distinguished Professor of Institute of Biomedical Engineering & Department of Dermatology at National Taiwan University. He received his MD and PhD from National Taiwan University. He completed his dermatology residency at National Taiwan University. He was a visiting scholar at the University of Southern California (Dr. Cheng-Ming Chuong's lab) in 2010-2012. Using hair follicles and skin as main models, his lab studies regenerative biology, stem cells, tissue engineering and tissue responses to injuries such as radiotherapeutic and chemotherapeutic injuries. He has published more than 140 papers in peer-reviewed scientific journals. He is a board member of Taiwanese Society for Investigative Dermatology (TSID) and Taiwanese Dermatological Association (TDA). He also serves as an editorial board member of Experimental Dermatology and associate editor of Dermatologica Sinica. Areas of Expertise: Hair follicles, regenerative biology, stem cells, tissue engineering, tissue response to radiotherapeutic and chemotherapeutic injury
Maria I. Morasso, PhD
Dr. Maria Morasso received her Ph.D. in Biochemistry and Molecular Biology from the Instituto Venezolano de Investigaciones Cientificas (IVIC), Venezuela, working in melanoma. She did postdoctoral training at the National Institute of Child Health and Human Development (NICHD), NIH, where she established her studies on epidermal specification during development. Dr. Morasso was recruited as a tenure-track investigator to the Laboratory of Skin of the National Institute of Arthritis and Musculoskeletal and Skin Diseases (NIAMS). She is currently a Senior Investigator and Chief of the Laboratory of Skin Biology in NIAMS, and Adjunct Investigator at the Center for Cancer Research, NCI. Her research interests have focused on the molecular mechanisms underlying Ectodermal Dysplasias, and on transcriptional networks regulating skin differentiation, barrier formation, and wound healing. Areas of Expertise: Epidermal specification, development, ectodermal dysplasias, transcription, skin differentiation, barrier formation, wound healing
Amanda Nelson, PhD
Amanda Nelson, PhD, is an Assistant Professor of Dermatology at the Pennsylvania State University College of Medicine in Hershey, PA. Dr. Nelson received her PhD from Pennsylvania State University College of Medicine and completed two postdoctoral research fellowships in dermatology at Penn State and at Johns Hopkins University where she expanded her expertise in sebaceous glands, hair follicles, skin stem cells and wound healing. Areas of Expertise: translational research, inflammatory skin diseases (acne vulgaris, hidradenitis suppurativa), skin microbiome, wound healing, epithelial biology.
Sang Ho Oh, MD, PhD
Dr. Sang Ho Oh is Associate Professor of the Department of Dermatology and Cutaneous Biology Research Institute, Severance Hospital, Yonsei University College of Medicine, Seoul, Korea. His research interests include vitiligo, autoimmunity, photomedicine, pigmentation, melanogenesis, and melanocyte biology. He was a visiting professor at the University of Pennsylvania (Dr. George Cotsarelis' lab) in 2014-2016. He has published more than 150 papers in peer-reviewed scientific journals. He is serving as the treasurer of the Korean Society of Investigative Dermatology and a board member of the Asian Society for Pigment Cell Research. He is also serving as an editorial board member of Dermatology Sinica and an associate editor of Yonsei Medical Journal. Areas of Expertise: Vitiligo, autoimmunity, photomedicine, pigmentation, melanogenesis, melanocyte biology
Michael D. Rosenblum, MD, PhD
Dr. Rosenblum is Associate Profess or of Dermatology at the University of California at San Francisco. He received his medical degree and PhD from the Medical College of Wisconsin. Subsequently, he completed his dermatology residency training at UCSF in the Physician-Scientist Training Pathway. He joined the UCSF faculty in 2012 and since that time has become one of the world's leading skin immunologists. Dr. Rosenblum's research focuses on understanding the fundamental mechanisms of how immune responses are regulated and how this knowledge can be exploited to treat human disease. Using transgenic mouse model systems to mechanistically dissect how regulatory T cells (Tregs) function in tissues, Dr. Rosenblum has discovered that Tregs can differentiate into memory cells that utilize unique pathways for their establishment and long-term maintenance. In skin, these cells play major roles in wound healing and mediating tolerance to commensal microbes. He has discovered that skin-resident Tregs augment the function of epithelial stem cells during both hair follicle regeneration and epidermal barrier repair. Dr. Rosenblum also functionally investigates Tregs in human tissues and has discovered that human skin contains a unique population of tissue-resident Tregs. He has found that these Tregs are dysfunctional in patients with psoriasis, scleroderma, and melanoma. He recently helped to generate and validate a novel therapeutic molecule that selectively activates human Tregs for the treatment of patients with autoimmune diseases. Areas of Expertise: Immunology, immune response regulation, transgenic mouse models, Tregs
Enno Schmidt, MD, PhD
Prof. Schmidt received his medical degree in 1997, having studied at the University of Würzburg, Würzburg, Germany, at St. Bartholomew's Medical College, London, UK (1993-94), and the University of Cape Town, RSA (1996). He earned his PhD at the Department of Biotechnology, University of Würzburg (1999-2002). Prof. Schmidt is board-certified in dermatology and venereology (2005), allergology (2006), and dermatohistopathology (2017). He is Full Professor at the University of Lübeck and Director of the Lübeck Institute of Experimental Dermatology (LIED) as well as senior consultant at the Department of Dermatology, University of Lübeck, Germany. His main clinical interests are inflammatory dermatoses — in particular, autoimmune diseases of the skin. His research focuses on autoimmune blistering diseases. Prof. Schmidt has published more than 280 articles in peer-reviewed journals. He currently serves as chair of the Task Force for Autoimmune Blistering Diseases and at the Proposal Review Board of the European Academy of Dermatology and Venereology. Areas of Expertise: Inflammatory dermatoses, autoimmune diseases of skin, autoimmune blistering diseases
Yayoi Tada, MD, PhD
Dr. Tada earned her MD from the University of Tokyo and completed her residency under the Department of Dermatology. She continued in the same institution to earn her PhD and furthered her academic career till her appointment as lecturer. She did postdoctoral training at the Dermatology department, National Cancer Institute (NCI), where she worked on Langerhans cell biology under the guidance of Dr. Mark C. Udey. Dr. Tada also served as Chief of Department of Dermatology in Kosei Hospital before her current role in Teikyo University School of Medicine as Chief Professor of the Department of Dermatology. She has authored more than 180 peer-reviewed articles throughout her career, including her contributions as Section Editor for the Journal of Dermatology and as a reviewer for various journals. Her research interest is skin inflammatory diseases, especially psoriasis and atopic dermatitis. Areas of Expertise: Langerhans cell biology, inflammatory skin diseases, psoriasis, atopic dermatitis
Jochen Sven Utikal, MD
Dr. Utikal is Head of the Skin Cancer Unit at the German Cancer Research Center (DKFZ) and at the University Medical Center Mannheim of the University of Heidelberg. Prior to this position Dr. Utikal was a scientist and research associate at the Harvard Stem Cell Institute and the Massachusetts General Hospital Cancer Center in Boston. Dr. Utikal's main fields of research are translational skin cancer research, stem cell features of skin cancer cells, and target discoveries in the field of melanoma. He is a reviewer for several medical journals and has published more than 230 papers in peer-reviewed international scientific journals, as well as 13 book chapters. For his research Dr. Utikal was awarded the Egon-Macher Award, the Hella Bühler Award, and the Fleur-Hiege Memorial Award. Areas of Expertise: Translational skin cancer, stem cell features of skin cancer cells, melanoma
Ruth Ann Vleugels, MD, MPH, MBA
Dr. Vleugels is Vice Chair for Academic Affairs of the Brigham and Women's Hospital Department of Dermatology. She serves as the Director of the Autoimmune Skin Disease Program at Brigham and Women's Hospital and Co-Director of the Rheumatology-Dermatology Program at Boston Children's Hospital. Dr. Vleugels developed and serves as the Program Director of the Brigham and Women's Hospital Dermatology-Rheumatology Fellowship, which is the only formal training opportunity of its kind nationwide. She is Director of the Immunity in Defense and Disease Course at Harvard Medical School and has won multiple teaching and mentoring awards. An international expert in autoimmune connective tissue diseases, Dr. Vleugels' clinical research focuses on rare autoimmune skin diseases and emerging medical therapies. Areas of Expertise: Autoimmune skin disease, autoimmune connective tissue diseases, emerging medical therapies
Gang Wang MD, PhD
Dr. Gang Wang is Professor and Chairman of the Dermatology Department in Xijing Hospital, Fourth Military Medical University, Xi'an, China. His research interests include psoriasis and autoimmune bullous diseases. He has published more than 160 papers in peer-reviewed international journals, as well as 5 book chapters. Dr. Gang Wang serves as co-editor for European Journal of Dermatology and Chinese Journal of Practical Dermatology and is a reviewer for several medical journals. His academic appointments include President of Chinese Society for Investigative Dermatology (CSID), President-elect of Chinese Dermatologist Association (CDA), Vice President of Chinese Society of Dermatology (CSD), and Vice President of Asian Society for Psoriasis (ASP). Areas of Expertise: Psoriasis, autoimmune bullous diseases
Matilda Nicholas, MD, PhD
Dr. Nicholas is Vice Chair for Information Technologies and Associate Professor at Duke Dermatology. She is Medical Director of the South Durham Clinic and Director of the Resident Continuity Clinic, as well as one of the founders of the Immunoderm Group at Duke. She has won several teaching awards and is a recognized expert and researcher in EHR efficiency and data collection and leveraging technology for improved patient care and decreased physician burnout. Her clinical work focuses on medical and surgical dermatology with a special interest in inflammatory and immunologic diseases of the skin. Areas of Expertise: Inflammatory diseases of skin, immunologic diseases of skin, social media
