Research

The overall goal of the Weill Cornell Medicine Dermatology Research Program is the development of new and improved treatments for dermatologic conditions through increased understanding of the physiology and pathophysiology of the skin.

Current active areas of our dermatology research include:

• Investigations of environmental influences including ultraviolet radiation that inhibit immune processes within the skin and facilitate the development of skin cancer.
• Studies defining the mechanisms by which nervous system, psychology and stress factors influence immunity within the skin.
• A novel form of soluble adenylyl cyclase (an important enzyme that regulates aspects of cell biology) and research of its role in benign and malignant proliferation of the skin.
• Examination of immune derangements that allow skin cancers to escape immunologic control.
• Active mechanisms of novel anti-inflammatory agents and their utility for the treatment of inflammatory skin diseases.
• Biological roles of signaling pathways in immune responses, carcinogenesis and pigmentation.
• The immunobiology of cancer (especially melanoma) and the biology of metastasis.