Over the past decade, 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 CU Health Sciences Center on the Anschutz Medical Campus
(AMC) 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
is under construction.
Our department has a comprehensive clinical program with
a highly varied patient population at multiple sites. The main
Dermatology Clinic at AMC 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 and Hospitals serves the
needs of residents within the City and County of Denver, providing
care for 8,000 patients per year. Cosmetic and Aesthetic
services are provided at the freestanding CU Cosmetics Clinic.
This clinic is staffed by faculty from the Departments of Dermatology
and Plastic Surgery and offers a number of cosmetic
services including sclerotherapy, laser therapy, chemical peels,
dermabrasion, hair removal, Botox and soft tissue augmentation.
Dermatology residents currently participate in a Residents
Clinic at this facility during their third year. Dermatopathology
services are centering in a freestanding laboratory on the AMC.
Research in the Department of Dermatology has experienced
spectacular growth with important recruitments 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 35 million dollars in research funding for his center.
He has helped develop an extensive collaborative network
of researchers in many departments resulting in important
translational research. We have also developed a large group
of scientists working in skin disease-related research, funded
by a P30 grant from the NIH as the UCD Skin Diseases Research
Center. Development of new cutting-edge treatments
for skin disease is a primary goal of our research programs
in oncology, stem cell biology and immunology. We have a
well developed drug development program centered in two
biotechnology companies founded by two members of the
faculty, Yosef Refaeli, PhD and Xiao-Jing Wang, PhD. Robert
Dellavalle, MD, PhD is an important part of our patient-oriented
research efforts, serving as Director of Dermatoepidemiology.
He recently hosted the worldwide Cochrane and Campbell Research
Colloquium in Keystone, Colorado.
