UW Health: UW dermatology department earns National Institutes of Health skin diseases research center grant

CONTACT: Emily Kumlien

(608) 265-8199

(608) 516-9154

ekumlien@uwhealth.org

MADISON- The rapidly expanding dermatology department at the UW School of Medicine and Public Health has been awarded a very competitive five-year $2.57 million Skin Diseases Research Center Grant by the National Institutes of Health. There are only six centers in the country and UW-Madison is one of two public universities to receive this grant. The project will be headed by department chair Dr. Gary Wood and co-director Dr. Hasan Mukhtar.

The goal of this grant is to fund new innovative skin research with pilot programs to investigate skin disease and advance biology research, as well as enrich education by expanding the visiting-professor program.

“Although dermatology has been a department for only 12 years, we have developed at a brisk pace. Since 2002, our residency program has doubled and our faculty has tripled. Our growth in clinical activity, research and education puts us among the top programs in the country. This grant is an exciting next step in our continued growth,” said Dr. Gary Wood, primary investigator on the grant. “We are indebted to faculty from dermatology and other departments who worked hard to create the infrastructure required for this grant.”

The UW Institute for Clinical and Translational Research will be partnering with the Skin Diseases Research Center to increase funding for pilot projects. The UW School of Medicine and Public Health and UW Hospital and Clinics have also contributed key resources.

The grant will benefit many other disciplines across campus. The pilot projects will fund new studies on the causes of skin disease. There will also be an emphasis on ensuring the research translates to patient care.

“We have partnered with the NIH to focus on basic and translational research studies to understand, diagnose, and treat skin disease. The participation of UW faculty from multiple schools across campus is a clear advantage to help us succeed,” said Wood.

According to the American Academy of Dermatology, one in three Americans suffers from skin disease and one in five will get skin cancer. The skin conditions that will be studied range from inflammatory disease like psoriasis and lupus to pre-malignancies to overt tumors like melanoma and other skin cancers.

In addition to Wisconsin, other schools with this grant include Duke, Columbia, Case Western, Northwestern and the University of Colorado.

The grant number is 1P30AR066524-0.

For more information on the UW Skin Diseases Research Center, please contact SDRC@dermatology.wisc.edu or 608-287-2620.