A Message from Kevin D. Cooper, MD
As the Department of Dermatology, we have a unique duty to unrelentingly work for the benefit of present and future patients with conditions and cancers of the skin. This requires a long-term commitment by each member of the department to engage in a cohesive team effort at building outstanding programs that promote skin health. Our goals are to:
- Optimize Skin Health:
- We integrate the art and science of caring for patients
- Generate exciting new concepts for therapy:
- We advance research in the skin sciences
- Bring these to our patients:
- We care for patients across Northeast Ohio and the full spectrum of dermatology specialties
- Educate providers in their use:
- We teach in programs for practitioners, residents, medical students, nurse practitioners & PhDs
To Heal
We see patients at 11 geographically dispersed sites designed to provide access across the University Hospitals (UH) Health System. With more than 50,000 visits annually, and excellent patient satisfaction scores, we emphasize team-based care so that our patients have many options for care and communication. Our growing dermatopathology service is highly respected for turnaround and top quality. Dermatopathology integrates closely with our Multi-Disciplinary Cutaneous Oncology Program for patients with melanoma, lymphoma, and other skin cancers. Our lab services also include immunofluorescence testing for autoimmune diseases and the Center for Medical Mycology for diagnosing fungal diseases. Our providers have earned strong reputations in both general and subspecialty dermatology, boasting six Top Doctors and seven Super Doctors, and many of our providers are leaders in dermatology organizations. Appointments and referrals can be made via calls to central scheduling or via electronic platforms.
To Teach
Education occurs throughout the entire spectrum of our clinical and research activities. We teach in our UH settings as well as at the VA Medical Center and Case Western Reserve University. The department offers a preeminent ACGME-sponsored dermatology residency with optional tracks in academic research or osteopathic medicine, a nurse practitioner post-master's training program, and a PhD training program in cutaneous biology. Medical students are offered clinical rotations, mentored research opportunities which can be ongoing, or supported for a three-month or one-year full-time fellowship through our NIH Training Grant. We are generally quite successful in placement of medical students into top national dermatology residencies. The department is also committed to enabling continuing education through a program designed to enable pursuit of MBA degrees for faculty and administrative staff.
To Discover
We emphasize our commitment to research and training in research. Approximately 1/3 of our external revenue is derived from research. This revenue stream splits between NIH and other federal awards, clinical research contracts, clinical central reference lab contracts, and translational research contracts (human subject intervention plus mechanism of action lab-based studies). Spanning basic lab research, clinical lab research, translational research, epidemiology/outcomes research, and clinical trials, the department has consistently ranked in the top 10 nationwide in NIH funding for dermatology departments in 19 of the last 21 years, establishing an international reputation for excellence.