OUR TEAM
Team
Members:
|
|
Hope Barkoukis, PhD,RD,LD |
Daniel Simon, MD |
| |
|
Elma Baron, MD |
Mary Ann Smith, RN,CCRC |
| |
|
Mireya Diaz, PhD |
Alison Steiber, PhD,RD,LD |
| |
|
Joseph Locala, MD |
Hideaki Sugiyama, MD,PhD |
| |
|
Kathleen M. Kavlick, RN |
Nicole Ward, PhD |
| |
|
Kim Sanders, RN, BSN, CCRC |
|
| |
|
Elisabeth Roter, MD |
|
 |
Kevin
D. Cooper, MD
Dermatologist
Director |
Kevin D.
Cooper, M.D., is Chair of the Department of Dermatology at University
Hospitals Case Medical Center. He is the Director of the department’s
Skin Diseases Research Center, and Professor of Oncology and Pathology
at the Case School of Medicine. Dr. Cooper has been a staff physician
at the Ann Arbor (Michigan) and Cleveland VA Medical Centers for
20 years. He attended college and medical school at the University
of Florida and completed his residency training and a fellowship
at the Oregon Health Sciences University, Oregon. He then became
a senior fellow at the Dermatology Branch of the National Cancer
Institute, one of the National Institutes of Health, and progressed
from Assistant Professor to Professor of Dermatology at the University
of Michigan prior to his move to Cleveland.
Dr. Cooper
is the past president of the Society for Investigative Dermatology
(2004-2005), the world’s leading organization for scientific
communication and advancement in cutaneous biology and dermatology.
He is a member of the American Academy of Dermatology Scientific
Advisory Committee, the American Society for Clinical Investigation,
and the American Dermatologic Association. Dr. Cooper has held a
leadership position in many of the national dermatology associations,
and is the Vice-President of University Faculty Practice Association
at University Hospitals Case Medical Center.
Dr. Cooper
currently serves on the Department of Veterans Affairs’ Data
and Safety Monitoring Board, and serves as Chair of the Medical Advisory
Board for the National Eczema Association for Science and Education.
He has been a member of the medical advisory boards of the National
Psoriasis Foundation and the Mycosis Fungoides Foundation. Dr. Cooper
has lectured nationally and internationally on skin disease and has
published hundreds of articles in scientific journals and book chapters
on the pathophysiology of psoriasis, atopic dermatitis, photomedicine,
lymphoma, and immune-mediated skin disorders. He has testified before
Congress on the importance of research funding for NIH, VA, and psoriasis,
and served as the representative of skin disease physicians at the
2005 National Institute of Arthritis, Musculoskeletal, and Skin Disease
Strategic Planning Retreat.
Immunopathogenesis
of skin diseases, in particular psoriasis, as well as photo-immunology,
are among Dr. Cooper’s research interests. He is actively engaged
in basic, translational, and clinical research. He is the recipient
of many competitive research grants from the NIH, the VA, and industry,
and has generated patents and patent applications relevant to skin
disease, including the first biologic therapy for psoriasis, Alefacept.
He maintains a strong interest in the application of technology to
patients, and consults for biotechnology and pharmaceutical firms,
as well as start-up companies.
View
NIH biosketch
Back
to top
 |
Neil
J. Korman, MD, PhD
Dermatologist
Clinical Director |
As Director
of the Dermatology Clinical Trials Unit (CTU) in the Department of
Dermatology at University Hospitals Case Medical Center, Neil J.
Korman, MD, PhD, oversees two research fellows and four clinical
research coordinators. Because of his strong background in laboratory
research, especially in the area of autoimmune blistering diseases,
Dr. Korman is able to bridge clinical medicine and basic science.
The CTU is therefore able to carry out translational mechanism-of-action
studies.
Dr. Korman
has served as the Co-Director since 2000 and Director since 2003
of the Translational Research Core of the department’s NIH-funded
Skin Diseases Research Center. Since 1997, he has been the principal
or co-principal investigator in more than 50 clinical trials, the
majority of which involved psoriasis.
Dr. Korman
has been an invited lecturer at many local, regional, national and
international meetings to discuss topics in immunodermatology including
autoimmune blistering diseases, psoriasis and the use of the new
biologics. He sees patients three days per week in general dermatology,
immunodermatology and complex medical dermatology.
He is the
founding Director of the Regional Center for Immunobullous Diseases
and holds subspecialty board certification in dermatological immunology/diagnostic
and laboratory immunology. In this capacity, he sees many patients
with autoimmune blistering diseases and chronic inflammatory skin
diseases (i.e. psoriasis and atopic dermatitis) sent by dermatologists
both in the community and regionally within a 300-mile radius.
Dr. Korman
has been a member of the National Psoriasis Foundation (NPF) since
1999 and in 2004 he became a member of the Medical Advisory Board
and Director of the Outreach Committee of the NPF. In this role,
he helps to recruit new professional and lay members and assist in
the mission of the Foundation to improve the quality of life for
patients with psoriasis and psoriatic arthritis by promoting awareness
and understanding.
Dr. Korman
serves on the boards of trustees of both the Ohio Dermatological
Association and the Cleveland Dermatology Society and is a member
of the Psoriasis Expert Resource Group. He has served as an associate
editor of Medical and Surgical Dermatology (1993 – 2000) and
serves on the editorial board of the Journal of Cutaneous Medicine
and Surgery. He was recently elected to the American Dermatologic
Association, which is the premier organization recognizing excellent
contributions to dermatology.
View
NIH biosketch
Back
to top
 |
Thomas
S. McCormick, PhD
Scientist
Research Director |
Thomas McCormick, PhD, is an Assistant
Professor in the Department of Dermatology at University Hospitals
Case Medical Center. He has had extensive training and experience
in cell biology and immunoparasitology before entering the field
of cutaneous biology. Dr. McCormick has published steadily in the
fields of his interest for over the past 15 years and has an extensive
background in immunology, cell biology, signal transduction and apoptosis.
He has been recognized internationally for his research in psoriasis
and was awarded the inaugural Eugene Farber Award for Psoriasis Research
from the Society for Investigative Dermatology for his research work
on psoriasis. Dr. McCormick, supervises the day-to-day research and
personnel responsible for all aspects of psoriasis research, preparation
of manuscripts, grant funding and publications, and his current area
of research is defining the role of regulatory T cells in psoriasis.
Dr. McCormick’s laboratory provides a stimulating and resource-rich
working environment for psoriasis investigators.
Dr. McCormick is a member of the Society
for Investigative Dermatology, the National Psoriasis Foundation
and also serves on the scientific review board for the Dermatology
Foundation.
View
NIH Biosketch
Back
to top
|
Hope
Barkoukis, PhD, RD, LD
Nutritionist |
Biography is currently being updated.
Back
to top
Dr. Baron received her medical degree from the University of the Philippines
in Manila, Philippines, where she also underwent dermatology residency
training and was
ranked #1 by the Phillipine Board of Dermatology. She pursued photodermatology
and photomedicine through a clinical fellowship at the Dermatology
Department of Massachusetts General Hospital/Harvard
Medical School before entering a photoimmunology fellowship
at Case Western Reserve University. During her fellowship, Dr. Baron
performed numerous studies on photoprotection, photoimmunosuppression,
phototherapy,
photopheresis
and photodynamic therapy. Her fellowship years were extremely productive,
as evidenced by a constant stream of presentations in various symposia
and publications in peer-reviewed journals.
Dr. Baron currently serves as the Director for the Skin Study Center
at Case Western Reserve University and Acting Chief in Dermatology
at the VA Medical Center. She is also the director of our Clinical Photomedicine
Program, as well as our Translational Research Core (Skin Study Center),
which is a facility dedicated to the conduct of investigator-initiated
human subject research in skin and skin biology. Through the Translational
Research Core, Dr. Baron has pioneered the first human study using
a novel photosensitizer drug, silicon phthalocyanine Pc 4, for photodynamic
therapy of cutaneous malignancies such as basal cell carcinoma, squamous
cell carcinoma, and cutaneous T-cell lymphoma.
View
NIH Biosketch
Back
to top
Biography is currently being updated.
Back
to top
|
Joseph
Locala, MD
Psychiatrist |
Dr. Joseph Locala is director of the Division of Psychosomatic Medicine
in the Department of Psychiatry at University Hospitals Case Medical
Center and Associate Professor of Psychiatry at Case School of Medicine.
He is also program director of the ACGME-accredited Psychosomatic Medicine
Fellowship at University Hospitals. Dr. Locala is board certified in
both Psychiatry and in the subspecialty of Psychosomatic Medicine.
Psychosomatic Medicine, also known as Consultation-Liaison Psychiatry,
is a specialty which deals with the diagnosis and treatment of psychiatric
disorders and symptoms in complex medically ill patients.
Dr Locala attended college at the University of Pennsylvania and medical
school at Temple University and completed his psychiatry residency
at the University of Vermont/ Medical Center Hospital of Vermont and
a fellowship in consultation psychiatry at the Cleveland Clinic Foundation.
He practiced full-time in the field of consultation psychiatry and
held a joint appointment in the Transplant Center during his eleven
years as a staff physician with the Cleveland Clinic prior to his move
to University Hospitals in July 2006. He graduated from the one-year
Mental Health Executive Leadership Program at the Case Weatherhead
School of Management in June 2007.
Dr. Locala is president-elect of the Ohio Psychiatric Physicians Association,
a branch of the American Psychiatric Association, and is past president
of the Cleveland Psychiatric Society and the Cleveland Consultation-Liaison
Society. He has been a Distinguished Fellow of the American Psychiatric
Association since 2004. . Dr Locala is in his second term on the Board
of Trustees of the National Alliance on Mental Illness (NAMI)-Ohio.
He serves on multiple institutional committees including the Clinical
Operations Committee, Quality Oversight Board and the Educational Executive
Committee in the Department of Psychiatry and the Ethics Committee
for University Hospitals.
Dr Locala has lectured nationally and internationally and published
on many topics relevant to the field of consultation psychiatry, including
emergency psychiatry, delirium, dementia, transplant psychiatry, interferon-induced
psychiatric disorders, and mood disorders in medically ill patients.
Back
to top
|
Kathy Kavlick, RN Clinical Outreach Nurse |
Bio is being currently updated
|
Kim
Sanders, RN, BSN, CCRC
|
Biography is currently being updated.
Back
to top
|
Elisabeth
Roter, MD
Rheumatologist
|
Biography is currently being updated.
Back
to top
|
Daniel
Simon, MD
Cardiologist |
Dr. Simon is the Chief of Cardiovascular Medicine and Director of the
Heart and Vascular Institute at University Hospitals. He is also the
Herman K. Hellerstein Professor of Cardiovascular Research. He is instrumental
the effort to further build premier cardiovascular programs at University
Hospitals, emphasizing prevention of critical cardiovascular events
along with advanced therapies and treatments. Dr. Simon is credited
with the groundbreaking discovery of a molecule that indicates when
a heart attack might be imminent. His discovery has piqued interest
in the development of a blood test that will identify patients at heightened
risk for heart attack or stroke.
Back
to top
Biography is currently being updated.
Back
to top
|
|
Alison
Steiber, PhD, RD, LD
Nutritionist
|
Biography is currently being updated.
Back
to top
|
|
Hideaki
Sugiyama, MD, PhD
Scientist
|
Dr. Sugiyama received his MD and PhD
from Yamanashi Medical University in 1991 and 1995, respectively.
Following conferral of his degree,
Dr. Sugiyama served as a faculty member in the Department of Dermatology
at the University of Yamanashi. Dr. Sugiyama assumed his current
position of Assistant Professor in the Department of Dermatology at
University
Hospitals Case Medical Center in 2007.
Dr. Sugiyama has been trained as a clinical dermatologist and immunologist.
He has been investigating cutaneous T cell immunology for many years,
and one of his recent research foci has shed light on exploring the
possible role of human regulatory T cells in the pathogenesis of skin
diseases. In addition to his previous report of impaired regulatory
T cell-function in psoriasis, of special note, Dr. Sugiyama and his
colleagues have recently demonstrated dramatically reduced numbers
of peripheral blood CD4+CD25high regulatory T cells in patients with
pemphigus vulgaris. Although the reasons for a severe reduction (approximately
ten times less) of regulatory T cells in pemphigus vulgaris patients
remain currently unknown, Dr. Sugiyama has continued to examine the
possibility that this reduction may contribute to the disease pathogenesis.
View
NIH Biosketch
Back
to top
|
|
Nicole
Ward, PhD
Scientist
|
Nicole Ward, PhD, is an Assistant Professor
in the Department of Dermatology at University Hospitals Case Medical
Center. Dr. Ward was trained at
Dalhousie University and Sunnybrook Research Institute in molecular
and cellular biology with an emphasis on the generation and characterization
of mouse models for studying neural and vascular disease. Her current
interests include studying the roles of growth factors and neurovascular
interactions in cutaneous disease. Dr. Ward has published steadily
in well respected journals over the past 8 years and has an extensive
background in angiogenesis research, neural development, growth factors
and growth factor signaling. She was recently awarded the 2007 Research
Scholar Award for Psoriasis and Inflammatory skin diseases by the American
Skin Association. Dr. Ward’s current research team includes three
PhD students and three research assistants working under her supervision.
Dr. Ward’s laboratory provides a high-energy, stimulating research
environment for both young and experienced scientists.
Dr. Ward is a member of the Society for Investigative Dermatology,
Society for Neurosciences, American Association of Anatomists and the
North American Vascular Biology Organization and serves on the scientific
review board for Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation.
View
NIH Biosketch
Back
to top
.jpg)
.jpg)
