George Cotsarelis, MD, has been appointed chair of the
department of dermatology at Penn
cialis. Dr. Cotsarelis is the Milton B. Hartzell professor of dermatology and the director of the
University of Pennsylvania Hair and Scalp Clinic, as well as the director of the Program on Epithelial Regeneration and Stem Cells at the
Penn Institute for Regenerative Medicine.
In his new position, Dr. Cotsarelis oversees the numerous specialty services in the department of dermatology and its mission of advanced patient care; basic, clinical and translational research; and medical education. He assumed his new role November 1, 2010.
Dr. Cotsarelis received his medical degree from the University of Pennsylvania School of Medicine. After an internship in internal medicine at Geisinger Medical Center, Dr. Cotsarelis completed a combined research and clinical dermatology residency at the University of Pennsylvania followed by a Howard Hughes sponsored postdoctoral research fellowship for physicians in the department of pathology.
He joined the Penn dermatology faculty as an assistant professor in 1996, was promoted on the tenure track to associate professor, and then became a full professor.
Dr. Cotsarelis specializes in treating hair and scalp disorders. His research focuses on epithelial stem cells, hair follicle biology, epithelial carcinogenesis, wound healing and skin regeneration. Dr. Cotsarelis received international recognition for localizing epithelial stem cells to the hair follicle then developing means for isolating and tracing these cells to study their role in alopecia, wound healing and skin regeneration. His laboratory identified factors important for regeneration of hair follicles after wounding, and these findings may have clinical implications.
Dr. Cotsarelis has been elected to a number of professional organizations including the American Society for Clinical Investigation and the American Dermatological Association. He has received numerous awards and honors recognizing him as a leader in his field. He has been invited to present his research and lecture throughout the world. Dr. Cotsarelis has also been appointed to prominent positions in national societies and scientific committees, including permanent and ad hoc membership to several NIH review committees as well as a term as the president of the North American Hair Research Society.
He currently serves in an editorial capacity for the Journal of Investigative Dermatology, Journal of Clinical Investigation, and Cell Stem Cell, along with responsibilities as a reviewer for over twenty-five peer-reviewed journals.
Dr. Cotsarelis has been published in nearly forty peer-reviewed journals, and currently holds two patents. He receives research grants from a number of private and public sources, including the National Institutes of Health (NIH).
Dr. Cotsarelis sees patients at
Penn Medicine Radnor and the
Ruth and Raymond Perelman Center for Advanced Medicine.