
Elevate skin research dialogues
The UM Skin Research Center regularly hosts outstanding skin-oriented researchers for its Visiting Scholar Program. Directed by Dr. Allison Billi, the goals of this series are to promote :
- Innovative thinking and new ideas among Center members and attendees,
- Encourage interactions among Center members, and
- New collaborations.
Recommendations for speakers are solicited annually from Center members, with final selections made by the Operations/Executive Committee. Invited speakers will be engaged in outstanding cutaneous research, developing novel technology or developing other approaches of interest to Center members.
January 16, 2025: Katja Lakota, PhD, Department of Rheumatology, University Medical Centre, Ljubljana, Slovenia: “Integrative Approach to the Diagnostic and Treatment of IgA Vasculitis”
February 27, 2025 Annual Symposium Keynote Speaker: Keith Choate, MD, PhD, Department of Dermatology, Department of Genetics and Pathology, Yale University School of Medicine: “Genetic Investigation of Rare Inherited and Mosaic Skin Disorders Reveals Novel Pathways For Disease Pathogenesis and Treatment”
January 25, 2024: Tiffany Scharschmidt, MD, Department of Dermatology, University of California San Francisco School of Medicine. "Living at Peace with our Skin Bacteria: Early Life Lessons"
February 8, 2024: Tudorita (Doina) Tumbar, PhD, Department of Molecular Biology and Genetics, Cornell University: "Epithelial Stem Cells in Action: Cell Intrinsic and Niche Related Mechanisms"
February 29, 2024 Annual Symposium Keynote Speaker: Michel Gilliet, MD, Department of Dermatology, University Hospital of Lausanne, Switzerland “Immune Profiling for Precision Medicine of Inflammatory Skin Diseases”
April 25, 2024: Sangbum Park, PhD, Department of Medicine, Division of Dermatology Research, Department of Pharmacology and Toxicology, Michigan State University College of Human Medicine: "Capturing Cellular Dynamics During Wound Repair in Live Mice"
May 9, 2024: Noah Hornick, MD, PhD, Department of Dermatology, Oregon Health & Science University: "Disentangling Cutaneous irAE from their Namesake Dermatoses"
December 5, 2024: Erez Cohen, PhD, Research Fellow, Cell & Developmental Biology (Coulombe Lab), University of Michigan Medicine School: "Keratin-Dependent Regulation of Interferon Signaling in Stressed Keratinocytes"
January 26, 2023: Emily Bernstein, PhD, Departments of Oncological Sciences and Dermatology, Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai “Remodeling Chromatin in Cancer"
February 2, 2023: Nicole Ward, PhD, Department of Dermatology, Vanderbilt University Medical Center: "Mouse models of skin disease in 2040: is there a future?"
March 2, 2023 Annual Symposium Keynote Speaker: Elizabeth A. Grice, PhD, Department of Dermatology, University of Pennsylvania Perelman School of Medicine: “Skin Microbiome: Risk and Reward for Barrier Integrity and Repair”
November 16 2023: Sonya Wolf-Fortune, PhD, Research Fellow, Molecular & Integrative Physiology (Katherine Gallagher Lab), University of Michigan Medical School. "Epigenetic Regulation in Chronic Skin Inflammatory Conditions"
December 14, 2023: Cristina de Guzman Strong, PhD, Department of Dermatology, Henry Ford Health. "Understanding Human Skin Barrier Evolution and Health Disparities using Multi-Omics"
March 3, 2022 Annual Symposium Keynote Speaker: Robert L. Modlin, MD, Department of Medicine, Division of Dermatology, David Geffen School of Medicine at UCLA: “Acne: A Disease of Lipid Metabolism.”
September 8, 2022: Scott Atwood, PhD, Department of Developmental and Cell Biology, University of California Irvine: "Defining epithelial development and dysfunction"
September 20, 2022: Brian C. Capell, MD, PhD, Department of Dermatology, University of Pennsylvania Perelman School of Medicine: "Chromatin at the Nexus of Epithelial Development, Differentiation, and Cancer"
November 10, 2022: Cory Simpson, MD, PhD, Department of Dermatology, University of Washington School of Medicine: "Illuminating Organelle Dynamics in Epidermal Differentiation and Disease"
December 15, 2022: Colin Jamora PhD, Centre for Inflammation and Tissue Homeostasis Institute for Stem Cell Science and Regenerative Medicine Bangalore, India: "The Matricellular Protein Mindin Drives Fibrogenesis in a Mouse Model of Scleroderma"
March 4, 2021 Annual Symposium Keynote Speaker: Richard Gallo, MD, PhD, Department of Dermatology, University of California San Diego School of Medicine: "Lessons From the Skin Microbiome in Innate Immunity and Human Disease"
March 18, 2021: Feiyang Ma, PhD, Molecular, Cell, & Developmental Biology, University of California, Los Angeles: “Single Cell and Spatial Transcriptomics Defines the Cellular Architecture of the Antimicrobial Response Network in Human Leprosy Granulomas”
April 1, 2021: Lindsey Seldin, PhD, Department of Cell & Developmental Biology, Vanderbilt University School of Medicine: "Impact of DNA Damage on Epidermal Homeostasis and Stem Cell Fate"
August 26, 2021: Masanori Matsumoto, PhD, Department of Pathology, University of Michigan Medical School: "Sensing and Reacting to Staphylococcus Aureus in the Skin"
October 28, 2021: Pantelis Rompolas, PhD, Department of Dermatology, University of Pennsylvania Perelman School of Medicine: "Heterogeneity and Regulation of Stem Cells in Stratified Epithelia"
November 4, 2021: Terry Lechler, PhD, Departments of Dermatology and Cell Biology, Duke University School of Medicine: "Epithelial Morphogenesis and Differentiation"
December 16, 2021: Vicky Werth, MD, Department of Dermatology, University of Pennsylvania School of Medicine: "Dermatomyositis: New Insights into Disease Mechanisms"
February 20, 2020: Luis Garza, MD, PhD, Department of Dermatology, Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine: “Appendage Regeneration”
March 2, 2020 Annual Symposium Keynote Speaker: Michael D. Rosenblum, MD, PhD, Department of Dermatology, University of California San Francisco School of Medicine: "Immune Regulation in Skin"
October 29, 2020: Bethany Perez White, PhD, Department of Dermatology, Northwestern University Feinberg School of Medicine: "Checks and Balances: Receptor Tyrosine Kinase Signaling Networks Ensure Epidermal Homeostasis"
November 12, 2020: Lynn Petukhova, PhD, Department of Dermatology, Columbia University: "Leveraging biomedical data resources to improve our understanding of hidradenitis suppurativa"
December 17, 2020: Xiaomin Bao, PhD, Department of Molecular Biosciences, Northwestern University: "Transcriptional regulation of human epidermal tissue regeneration”

It is extremely important that our grant is cited in all publications resulting from the use of UM-SBDRC services and funding. Our productivity and effectiveness as a center are measured in part by the citation of the grant in published work. Please use the following acknowledgement in your publications:
This work utilized Core Services and Pilot or Feasibility project funding supported by grant UM-SBDRC 1P30AR075043 of NIH/NIAMS to the University of Michigan