Press Release
October 26, 2006
Contact: Patricia M. Hansen
732-235-6307
hansenmp@umdnj.edu
UMDNJ-Robert Wood Johnson Medical
School - Establishes
Department of Dermatology
New Brunswick — UMDNJ-Robert Wood Johnson Medical School recently
established a Department of Dermatology, providing state-of-the-art
clinical dermatology in an academic environment. Along with skin
protection and skin cancer protection, the department's services include
medical dermatology and dermatologic surgery.
"I am pleased to announce that Robert Wood Johnson Medical School now
has a Department of Dermatology as another premier clinical academic
department," explains Peter S. Amenta, MD, PhD, interim dean. "We are
committed to integrating the department into our four missions to
provide excellence in education, research, patient care and community
health."
To establish a much-needed center for academic dermatology in New
Jersey, Babar K. Rao, MD, clinical assistant professor of medicine,
spearheaded the development of the new department. Dr. Rao has been
appointed acting department chair. Dr. Rao says that Middlesex County
is among the nation's most underserved counties from a dermatology
standpoint, citing findings of the American Academy of Dermatology,
adding; "This makes central New Jersey a perfect location for our
department." Dr. Rao joined the RWJMS Department of Medicine in 2000 and
established the Dermatology Residency Program in 2002. Dermatology was
previously a division of the Department of Medicine.
Dr. Rao is a nationally noted specialist in dermatoscopy, which uses
polarized, magnified light to distinguish between various benign and malignant patterns in pigmented
lesions (moles), providing early diagnosis of skin cancer. He is working
on the development of computer-assisted technology that may reduce the
need for invasive biopsies.
Amy S. Pappert, MD, assistant professor of medicine, has been with the
dermatology division the longest. "The department's creation was not
possible without her," says Dr Rao. Dr. Pappert, a specialist
in medical dermatology, serves as the department's program director.
David Wrone, MD, clinical assistant professor of medicine, is director
of dermatologic surgery. The department is supplemented by a pediatric
dermatologist and by the dermatopathology services of Robert Wood
Johnson University Hospital.
The Department of Dermatology is located at 1 World's Fair Drive, in
Somerset, a Robert Wood Johnson Medical School facility. It can be
reached at 732-235-7688.
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