Research Overview

The UC Davis department of dermatology has significantly expanded its basic science research endeavors over the last several years and research conducted within the department continues to make important contributions to science and medicine.

Under the direction of Drs. Fu-Tong Liu and William Murphy the department fosters a collaborative research environment. Areas of focus include: epithelial cell biology, with a focus on keratinocyte migration; immunotherapy and cutaneous immunology, with a focus on allergy and cancer immunotherapy; integrin biology, using integrin-binding analogs to develop novel therapies for cancer and inflammation; and epigenetic gene regulation, with a focus on the gene regulation of Kaposi’s Sarcoma-Associated Herpesvirus.

The Department has also expanded its clinical research activities. The Clinical Research Unit has 8 participating faculty researchers supported by 5 clinical research coordinators. There are currently over 15 IRB-approved on-going clinical studies. These cover a variety of skin diseases, including atopic dermatitis, psoriasis, acne, chronic skin wound, aphthous ulcer, cutaneous T cell lymphoma and melanoma.