Leadership
Chair’s Message
David Norris, MD
Over the past 15 years, The Department of Dermatology at the University of Colorado School of Medicine has transformed into a powerful academic program that has achieved excellence in education, patient care, and research. The University of Colorado on the Anschutz Medical Campus is located in Aurora, just east of Denver. There, state-of-the-art facilities for clinical care, education, and research provide an integrated and collaborative environment for the professional Schools of Medicine, Public Health, Pharmacy, Dentistry, and Nursing. This campus is also home to the University of Colorado Hospital and the Children's Hospital of Colorado (formerly The Children's Hospital). A new Department of Veterans Affairs Hospital complex is adjacent to the campus.
Our department has a comprehensive clinical program with a highly varied patient population at multiple sites. The main campus Dermatology Clinic handles 25,000 outpatient visits per year with a focus on general adult dermatology, cutaneous oncology, and procedural dermatology/Mohs Surgery. It has full surgical facilities and phototherapy suites, and shares space with the comprehensive Melanoma Clinic. The Dermatology Clinic at the Children's Hospital of Colorado serves 12,000 patients per year, specializing in complex pediatric dermatology cases, vascular birthmarks, and epidermolysis bullosa. Dermatology in the Denver VA hospital is a comprehensive clinical service treating 9,000 patients per year with special attention to skin cancer and teledermatology. A highly effective Dermatology Clinic at Denver Health serves the needs of residents within the City and County of Denver, providing care for 8,000 patients per year. At CU Dermatology Aurora, our care team's priority is to deliver quality dermatology care to patients, with an emphasis on caring for Medicaid patients and other under-served populations. Dermatopathology services, including evaluation of wet tissue, electron microscopy, consultative opinions, and direct and indirect immunofluorescence are available at our freestanding laboratory in BioScience Park on the Anschutz campus.
We have a highly effective education program that serves medical students, residents, and research trainees in many departments in multiple schools on campus. Our Dermatology Residency Program accepts up to six residents per year through the match program. For residents interested in research training in the context of their Dermatology Residency, we offer a 2+2 program with two years of traditional residency, followed by two years of research training supported by our NIH training grant. For those interested in training beyond their residency, we offer fellowships in Pediatric Dermatology, Surgical and Medical Dermatology, Dermatopathology, and Dermatology Research.
Research in the Department of Dermatology has experienced spectacular growth with important recruitment of faculty specializing in carcinogenesis, stem cell biology and regenerative medicine, immunology, and developmental biology. Dennis Roop, PhD, Director of the Charles C. Gates Center for Regenerative Medicine and Stem Cell Biology, and 16 key members of this Center have faculty appointments in the Department of Dermatology. Since coming to Colorado in 2007, Dr. Roop has raised over $50 million in research funding for his Center. He has helped develop an extensive collaborative network of researchers in many departments applying new regenerative medicine approaches designed to cure important human disease. Dr. Roop has raised over $13 million to build the Gates Biomanufacturing Facility where new cell-based and protein-based therapies are being developed and implemented by CU scientists, by collaborators from other institutions, and by clients in industry.
Multiple investigators in the Department of Dermatology are developing new therapeutic approaches, supported by staff who are experts in intellectual property and business management. We have also organized the CU Skin Diseases Research Center, which is comprised of over 50 scientists working in skin disease-related research previously funded by a P30 grant from NIAMS. This SDRC is a member of a Consortium of Skin Diseases Related Research Centers at Columbia University, Keio University, the University of Cologne, The Skin Research Institute in Singapore, and the University of Dundee. Development of new cutting-edge treatments for skin disease is a primary goal of our research programs in oncology, stem cell biology, and immunology. Robert Dellavalle, MD, PhD is an important part of our patient-oriented research efforts, serving as Director of Dermatoepidemiology.
The Department of Dermatology has over 30 full-time faculty members. Our goal is to provide world-class clinical care in an environment where discovery informs clinical practice and education. We aim for a research standard equal to that in the best basic science departments. The spectacular facilities on campus and the skill of the collaborative faculty have been combined to create a unique and truly impressive environment for clinical care, education, and research.
Key Faculty
David Norris, MD: Chair
Cheryl Armstrong, MD: Vice-Chair of Education and Academics, Division Chief of Dermatology Denver Health, Director of Dermatology Residency
Mariah Brown, MD: Medical Director of Mohs and Dermatologic Surgery and Dermatologic Oncology Fellowship
Anna Bruckner, MD, MSCS: Section Head of Pediatric Dermatology, Director of Pediatric Dermatology Clinic
Robert Dellavalle, MD, PhD, MSPH: Chief of Dermatology Service at Denver VAMC, Director of Dermatoepidemiology
Mayumi Fujita, MD, PhD: Director, RC1 South Research
Whitney High, MD, JD, MEng: Vice-Chair of Clinical Operations, Director of Dermatopathology Consultants
Aditi Murthy, MD: Director of Medical Student Teaching
Theresa Pacheco, MD; Medical Director of University Dermatology
Dennis Roop, PhD: Vice-Chair of Research, Director of Gates Center for Regenerative Medicine
Carla Torres-Zegarra, MD: Medical Director of CU Dermatology Aurora