Penn Skin Disease Research CenterThe overall research theme of the Penn SDRC is Physiology and Pathophysiology of Epidermis. Centered on this theme, our goal is to capitalize on our special expertise in this area to offer programs and services that will make our funded research more efficient, offer unique services to the scientific community to bring other collaborators into the skin research field, and we have a special goal of encouraging young scientists, and physician scientists, to pursue research in skin biology and diseases.

Director: John Stanley, MD
Associate Director: George Cotsarelis, MD
SDRC at DermatologyIn 2009, the Department of Dermatology at the University of Pennsylvania was designated as one of only six dermatology research centers by the National Institute of Arthritis, Musculoskeletal, and Skin Diseases.

This web site includes more details of the Penn SDRC, including how to join, how to access the scientific cores, and announcements of calls for Pilot and Feasibility proposals and sponsored lectures.

We look forward to interacting with members of the Penn community with interests in skin research.
SDRC Welcomes New Members!If you're interested and meet the following criteria, learn more.

  • Dermatology faculty who work in our themed research area, would use our scientific cores, or want to mentor young physician scientists
  • Dermatology residents pursuing careers in basic or clinical sciences
  • Any investigator in the Penn Community who would benefit from use of our scientific cores or who works in, or plans to work in, our thematic area of "Physiology and Pathophysiology of Epidermis"
  • All Pilot and Feasibility Grant recipients
SDRC Research Cores & Programs

  • Skin Histology and Characterization Core by John Seykora, MD/PhD

    Core A offers histologic processing, specialized characterization, and expert interpretation of skin specimens.

  • Tissue and Keratinocyte Procurement Core by Aimee Payne, MD/PhD

    Core B offers normal and diseased human skin procurement and derivation of primary human and mouse keratinocyte cultures.

  • Stem Cell and Xenograft Core by George Cotsarelis, MD

    Core C provides expert training in the isolation of epithelial stem cells in hair follicles and human skin grafts on immunodeficient mice.

  • Administrative Core by John Stanley, MD

    Core D coordinates scientific communications and interactions among SDRC members.

  • Mentorship Core by John Stanley, MD

    A unique aspect of our SDRC is a mentorship core to provide senior mentors to junior scientists and to encourage the career development of dermatologist-scientists, one of the major goals of our Department of Dermatology.

  • Pilot and Feasibility Program by Sarah Millar, PhD

    This program will provide 1-2 years of funding for scientific projects by scientists outside dermatology to bring their expertise to our area or by young scientists who want to start their careers in skin research.