VDTRC - Key Persons
Role on Team: Patient home photography (selfies) (2021 - 2022)
Dr. Hanlon joined Vanderbilt in the Department of Medicine, Division of Dermatology, in May 2016. Prior to returning to Vanderbilt, she was an Assistant Professor of Dermatology at Yale University where she focused on patient care, teaching, and research. She is knowledgeable in all aspects of dermatology with particular expertise in the diagnosis and treatment of skin cancer. As an educator, Dr. Hanlon has authored articles and book chapters in the academic dermatologic literature. She lectures nationally on surgical techniques, skin cancer treatments, and skin cancer in patients with compromised immune systems. Dr. Hanlon serves on the board of directors for the International Transplant Skin Cancer Collaborative and serves as a committee member on the American Academy of Dermatology, the American Society for Dermatologic Surgery, and the American College of Mohs Micrographic Surgery and Cutaneous Oncology. Dr. Hanlon's research has focused on skin cancer in the immunocompromised and rare cutaneous tumors, and due to her expertise in dermatology, she has been quoted in numerous publications including Dermatologic Times, In Style, Elle, and Parents.
Job Titles:
- Postdoctoral Research Fellow
Job Titles:
- Associate Professor of Dermatology
- Title and Department
Anna K. Dewan, MD, MHS, is an Associate Professor of Dermatology. She is board-certified in dermatology, and her specialties include inpatient dermatology, autoimmune blistering disorders of the skin, cutaneous toxicities from chemotherapy/immunotherapy, and non-melanoma skin cancer. She also has a passion for global health and increasing access to dermatology in resource-poor settings. After graduating from Northwestern University, she earned her medical degree and Master of Health Science at Yale University School of Medicine. She completed her intern year and residency at Vanderbilt University Medical Center followed by a fellowship in complex medical dermatology at Brigham and Women's Hospital in Boston, Massachusetts. She is a member of several professional organizations, including the American Academy of Dermatology, the Medical Dermatology Society, and the Women's Dermatologic Society.
Job Titles:
- Associate Professor
- Title and Department
Darrel L. Ellis, MD, is an associate professor of medicine. He is board-certified in dermatology and internal medicine, and his specialties include laser procedures, melanoma and non-melanoma skin cancer. He earned his medical degree at the University of Kansas and completed his residencies at Kansas and the University of Oklahoma.
Job Titles:
- Director
- Founding Director
- Physician
- Assistant Professor in the Department of Dermatology
- Assistant Professor of Dermatology
- Assistant Professor of Dermatology / Assistant Professor of Biomedical Engineering Director, Vanderbilt Translational Research Clinic
- Research / Research
- Title and Department
Eric Robert Tkaczyk, MD, PhD, is an Assistant Professor in the Department of Dermatology and is a physician-scientist with research interests in biophotonics for diagnosis and treatment of skin diseases. Some of his research specialties include noninvasive diagnostic technology, 3D imaging, machine learning, artificial intelligence, and deep learning. Some of his clinical interests include graft-versus-host disease, skin cancer and reflectance confocal microscopy.
Dr. Tkaczyk is a graduate of the MD/PhD at the University of Michigan, with PhD in electrical engineering from the Center for Ultrafast Optical Science (CUOS). At CUOS, he overlapped with his academic grandfather Gerard Mourou, the 2018 Nobel Laureate who founded the lab. Dr. Tkaczyk's post-doctoral training in medical device design at the University of Tartu was supported by Fulbright and Whitaker awards. This work culminated with a prize awarded by the US Ambassador to Estonia and the Estonian Speaker of Parliament at the 2011 Estonian-American Innovation Award ceremony. In 2016, he completed dermatology residency training at Vanderbilt University Medical Center, where he is Assistant Professor of Dermatology, and he holds secondary appointments in the Departments of Biomedical Engineering, Biomedical Informatics, and Electrical and Computer Engineering. He is also an attending dermatologist at the VA Medical Center.
Tkaczyk is board-certified to practice dermatology both in the U.S. and in Europe, by the American Board of Dermatology and the European Board of Dermato - Venereology. As founding Director of the Vanderbilt Dermatology Translational Research Clinic, he lectures internationally on dermatologic imaging technologies, which is his research focus.
Dr. Eric Tkaczyk develops artificial intelligence algorithms, imaging, and other technologies to provide skin-based assessments for personalized, evidence-based decisions within dermatology as well as in applications to systemic diseases with skin manifestations, such as Stevens-Johnson syndrome/toxic epidermal necrolysis researched at CDSI.
Eric Tkaczyk, MD, PhD, FAAD, is an Assistant Professor of Dermatology at Vanderbilt University Medical Center and Director of the Vanderbilt Dermatology Translational Research Clinic.
Expertise:
Dr. Tkaczyk is a physician-scientist with expertise in studying biophotonics for the diagnosis and treatment of cutaneous diseases. For example, Dr. Tkaczyk utilizes noninvasive diagnostic technology, 3D Imaging, and machine learning/artificial intelligence to research cutaneous diseases both at the Center for Drug Safety and Immunology (CDSI) and at the Vanderbilt Dermatology Translational Research Clinic (VDTRC).
Job Titles:
- Assistant Professor of Dermatology at Vanderbilt University Medical Center
- Title and Department
Dustin Taylor, MD, is an Assistant Professor of Dermatology at Vanderbilt University Medical Center. He is board-certified in dermatology, and has specialty interest in autoimmune conditions of the skin, in particular connective tissue disease.
A native Texan, he graduated from the University of Texas at Austin, then earned his medical degree and completed his internship at the University of Texas Health Science Center at Houston. Dr. Taylor completed his residency training at the University of Vermont Medical Center, serving as chief resident in his final year. He then pursued a fellowship in rheumatologic dermatology at Brigham and Women's Hospital in Boston, Massachusetts.
Job Titles:
- Leader
- Principal Investigator
- CDSI Founder and Director
- Founder and Director of CDSI
- International Leader
- Title and Department
Dr. Elizabeth Phillips is an international leader in drug hypersensitivity, studying genetic risk, mechanisms, and outcomes of severe and life-threatening immune-mediated adverse drug reactions. She continues to translate this knowledge into prescribing safer drugs for patients and families.
Elizabeth J. Phillips, MD, FRCPC, FRACP, FIDSA, FAAAAI, is the John A. Oates Chair in Clinical Research; Professor of Medicine, Dermatology; Pharmacology; Pathology, Microbiology and Immunology; and Founder and Director, Center for Drug Safety and Immunology at Vanderbilt University Medical Center.
Expertise:
Dr. Phillips is a world leader in translational approaches to drug hypersensitivity and has pioneered the discovery and implementation of immunogenomic predictors, immunopathogenesis, and novel technologies to improve the safety of drugs into clinical practice.
Dr. Phillips is the Principal Investigator on several NIH-funded research projects to define genetic and other markers that can lead to the prediction, prevention, and earlier diagnosis of Stevens-Johnson syndrome/toxic epidermal necrolysis (SJS/TEN) and drug reaction with eosinophilia and systemic symptoms (DRESS) syndrome.
Dr. Elizabeth Phillips is the Founder and Director of CDSI. She is an international leader in drug hypersensitivity, studying genetic risk, mechanisms, and outcomes of severe and life-threatening immune-mediated adverse drug reactions. Dr. Phillips continues to translate this knowledge into safer drug-prescribing practices.
Job Titles:
- Fellow in the Laboratory of Dr. Elizabeth Phillips
- Title and Department
Eric Mukherjee, MD, PhD, is interested in general dermatology, complex medical dermatology, basic science, and medical student/resident education.
He received his undergraduate degree in biochemistry from Brown University, and his MD and PhD in cell and molecular biology at the Perelman School of Medicine at the University of Pennsylvania, where his thesis researched antibody development in autoimmune blistering disease. Dr. Mukherjee subsequently completed an internship in internal medicine at Waterbury Hospital and a residency in dermatology at Vanderbilt University Medical Center, serving as chief resident in his final year.
Dr. Mukherjee currently works as a postdoctoral fellow in the laboratory of Dr. Elizabeth Phillips, researching the genetics and immunology of severe adverse drug reactions. He is also a practicing dermatologist at Vanderbilt University Medical Center.
Job Titles:
- Adjoint Assistant Professor in Dermatology at the Vanderbilt Dermatology Translational Research Clinic / Senior Researcher at the University of Latvia
Job Titles:
- Assistant Professor of Dermatology at Vanderbilt University Medical Center
- Title and Department
Jason Meyer, MD, PhD, is an Assistant Professor of Dermatology at Vanderbilt University Medical Center and certified by the American Board of Dermatology.. His clinical interests include: acne vulgaris, dermatitis, erythroderma, and ichthyosis.
Dr. Meyer's research goal is to investigate the pathogenesis of skin barrier dysfunction, an important problem in dermatology, but with few effective treatments. His research aims to inform the development of new treatments and preventative strategies for patients. This research is expected to have important applications to many skin diseases including eczema, psoriasis, ichthyosis and acne. A parallel clinical goal is to bring the vast existing knowledge on skin barrier physiology into dermatology clinics and dermatology training programs.
Job Titles:
- Chairman in Clinical Research
- Chairman in Clinical Research, Vanderbilt University Medical Center
Job Titles:
- Professor of Dermatology at Vanderbilt University Medical Center
- Title and Department
John Zic, MD, is a Professor of Dermatology at Vanderbilt University Medical Center. He has a clinical research interest in: cutaneous T cell lymphoma, photopheresis, clinical trials, outcomes research and medical education. Some specific areas of research include: mycosis fungoides, photopheresis, lymphomatoid papulosis, primary cutaneous ALCL, and dermatopharmacology.
Biomechanical properties of skin, rheum-derm and oncoderm mechanical device application
Job Titles:
- Title and Department / Nurse Practitioner
Job Titles:
- Clinical Research Coordinator
- Title and Department
Job Titles:
- CDSI Program Director
- Program Director of CDSI
- Research Assistant Professor of Medicine / Division of Infectious Diseases, Department of Medicine, Vanderbilt University Medical Center
- Title and Department
Dr. Michelle Martin-Pozo is the Program Director of CDSI. In this role, she provides management and direction of CDSI's research and clinical trial initiatives. Dr. Martin-Pozo's professional background includes experience in laboratory-based research as well as administrative oversight and management of large funding portfolios. This experience, in combination with her PhD in Molecular and Cellular Biology, has enabled her to lead diverse initiatives at CDSI.
Role on Team: Masters Degree Candidate in Biomedical Engineering and Medical Physics from the University of Tartu
Job Titles:
- Professor
- Title and Department
Nicole Ward, PhD, is a Professor and the Vice Chair of Basic Research in the Department of Dermatology. She joined the department in January 2022 after working at Case Western Reserve University in Cleveland for more than 18 years.
Her active research program is focused on understanding the cellular and molecular pathogenesis of chronic inflammatory skin diseases, like psoriasis and psoriasis-related co-morbidities. Her research interests also include: psoriatic arthritis (PsA), osteogenesis imperfecta (OI), lupus, hidradenitis suppurativa (HS), other inflammatory skin diseases, multi-'omics, microbiome, comorbidities. Her lab specializes in generating and studying unique mouse models of inflammatory skin disease.
Dr. Ward's group has published several seminal findings including being the first to show that chronic skin-initiated inflammation can drive the development of cardiovascular disease and that suppressing it reverses disease; and that cutaneous sensory nerve interactions with dendritic cells are critical for eliciting and sustaining psoriasis pathogenesis, thus explaining the cellular mechanisms underlying psoriasis disease remission following skin denervation.
Her paradigm-shifting work in psoriasis resulted in Dr. Ward being awarded the Eugene M. Farber Lecture at the 2016 Society for Investigative Dermatology meeting. She was the first non-MD, first woman and youngest person to be awarded this honor. In 2019, the American Skin Association acknowledged her scientific contributions with the Research Achievement Award in Psoriasis and in 2022 the National Psoriasis Foundation honored her at their Women Who Lead Commit to Cure Gala.
Dr. Ward trains, teaches, and mentors undergraduate, graduate and medical students, residents, post-doctoral fellows, and junior faculty. At any given time, her lab is usually found to be surprisingly small, often referred to as "small but mighty."
Philip Milam, MD, was raised in Nashville and graduated from Furman University with a BA in Classical Ancient Studies. After graduation (and a little soul-searching), he pursued a new aspiration in medicine, obtaining a BS in General Science from Middle Tennessee State University and his MD from East Tennessee State University. After an internship in Missouri, he trained at Ohio State University, where he completed a research fellowship in dermatologic clinical trials as well as his dermatology residency.
Dr. Milam's clinical areas of expertise include:
Acne
Adolescent and Young Adult Health
Adult Dermatitis / Eczema
Allergy / Immunology
Complex Medical Dermatology
Dermatology
General Adult Dermatology
Melanoma
Non-Melanoma Skin Cancer
Psoriasis
Job Titles:
- Undergraduate Student, Neuroscience and Philosophy
Job Titles:
- Assistant Professor of Dermatology at Vanderbilt University Medical Center
- Title and Department
Sally Monahan, MD, is an Assistant Professor of Dermatology at Vanderbilt University Medical Center. She grew up in Jackson, Mississippi and attended medical school at the University of Mississippi Medical Center. She then completed an internship and residency in pediatrics at Vanderbilt University Medical Center where she discovered her interest in skin. She subsequently completed a residency in dermatology also at VUMC.
Dr. Monahan's clinical areas of expertise include:
Acne
Adolescent and Young Adult Health
Dermatology
General Adult Dermatology
Melanoma
Non-Melanoma Skin Cancer
Psoriasis
Education
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Job Titles:
- Undergraduate Student, Computer Science
Dr. McMurray joined Vanderbilt Dermatology in October of 2023. She received her medical training from the University of Tennessee Health Science Center (UTHSC) and completed a fellowship in Micrographic Surgery & Dermatologic Oncology at Vanderbilt University Medical Center.
Job Titles:
- Title and Department / Physician Assistant in Dermatology, Department of Dermatology
Role on Team: Post Doctoral Research Fellow (2019 - 2021)