TIMELINE
SKIN CITY: Temple Dermatology
A
t the turn of the 20th century, Philadelphia became a mecca of American dermatology under the egis of Louis Duhring, MD (1845-1913), the City’s first professor of dermatology, a charter member of the American Dermatologic Association. At Temple University School of Medicine, founded in 1901, Jay Schamberg, MD, a Duhring protégé, built a strong foundation for dermatologic patient care, research, and physician training. Luminaries to join the faculty over the years included Albert Strickler, MD (Skin & Cancer Hospital organizer); James Graham, MD, and Wayne Johnson, MD (famous dermatopathologists); Eugene Van Scott, MD (Lasker Award winner and alpha hydroxy developer, with Ruey Yu, PhD); and Fred Urbach, MD, and Eric Vonderheid, MD (renowned photobiologists). A banner year came in 1966, when the Philadelphia Skin and Cancer Hospital relocated to the Temple campus. The enterprise prospered for nearly two decades before a constellation of factors contributed to its demise, leaving Temple dermatology to languish for years. Then, in 2013, Larry Kaiser, MD, recruited the internationally renowned dermatologist Gil Yosipovitch, MD, to chair dermatology at Temple and to lead the dermatologic program at Fox Chase. Yosipovitch is building programs and recruiting faculty to return dermatology to full-service, premier status. Founder and past president of the International Forum for the Study of Itch (IFSI), Yosipovitch has established the Temple Itch Center, one of only two such centers in the United States — an institutional hub for patient-focused care and education, as well as for research collaborations among investigative dermatologists, neuroscientists, and other experts dedicated to advancing treatment for this common affliction. 38
| TEMPLE HEALTH MAGAZINE | FALL 2014
2013
1966 The Skin and Cancer Hospital of Philadelphia moves to a new building on Temple’s health science campus.
1993
1966
1957
1931
1928 Strickler opens the famed Skin and Cancer Hospital of Philadelphia. Edgar B. Moore (Benjamin Moore Paint Co.) serves as Board president for nearly two decades.
1928
1918
1912
1910
1904
1904 Edward Finck, MD (1856–1934), becomes Temple’s first professor of dermatology, serving until 1910.