University of Pittsburgh, Department of Dermatology

Congratulations to Samantha Stewart (Shadyside, Front Office Access Lead), the Department of Dermatology’s Employee of the Quarter! Over the last few years, Samantha has proven to be the consummate team member, always jumping in to help colleagues and taking on additional duties as needed. Additionally, she continually supports the Department’s physicians, residents, and APPs to ensure that our patients receive the highest quality care. Please join us in congratulating Samantha on being named Employee of the Quarter!

A fantastic recent publication by Department faculty in the Journal of Allergy and Clinical Immunology: "Skin co-delivery of contact sensitizers and neurokinin-1 receptor antagonists integrated in #microneedle arrays suppresses allergic contact #dermatitis." https://www.sciencedirect.com//arti/pii/S0091674922000793

Aloha! Dermatology Associate Residency Program Director Dr. Angela Guerrero, along with a number of Pitt Derm residents, escaped the grey Pittsburgh weather this week to attend the annual Maui Derm meeting.

Congratulations to Dr. Alaina James on her Provost's Award for Diversity in the Curriculum! Dr. James and her team reformatted the MS2 dermatology course to include a skin color gradient of images with white, brown, and black skin colors. https://tinyurl.com/27psvhx6

Under the instruction of Dr. Akilov, departing chief resident Alison Moynihan, MD, PhD demonstrates her botox injection skills. Her patient was thrilled with the results! #pittderm #dermatology #botox

Congratulations to Dr. Oleg Akilov on his recent publication in Blood Advances, "The synergistic proapoptotic effect of PARP-1 and HDAC inhibition in cutaneous T-cell lymphoma is mediated via Blimp-1" https://ashpublications.org//The-synergistic-proapoptotic-

Congratulations to Li-Wei Chang, MD PhD, 3rd-year dermatology resident, for his excellent talk at the International Immunosuppression & Transplant Skin Cancer Collaborative (ITSCC) Virtual Scientific Symposium this past weekend. His research on high-risk squamous cell carcinoma in immunosuppressed patients and the role of adjuvant radiation was well received and generated much discussion!

We've just joined Instagram and are looking forward to connecting with all of you there! https://www.instagram.com/pittderm/?hl=en

Dr. Walter Storkus and his colleagues reviewed the potential for oncolytic viruses with bipartite T cell receptors in cancer immunotherapy. https://www.mdpi.com/2227-9059/8/7/204

Congratulations to Assistant Professor Emurullah Korkmaz, PhD on being named to #Pittsburgh Magazine's 40 under 40 list! The honorees are chosen to represent the most visionary and creative residents in the region - Emruallh is certainly one of them! https://www.pittsburghmagazine.com/announcing-the-40-unde/

Wired UK recently interviewed Dr. Louis Falo about the development of his PittCoVacc vaccine. Also included in the article are some great shots of our research team in action: Tina Sumpter, PhD, and Stephen Balmert, PhD. https://www.wired.co.uk/article/coronavirus-vaccine-mrna