Tamia Harris-Tryon, M.D., Ph.D.

Associate Professor,
Department of Dermatology,
UT Southwestern Medical Center.

Dr. Harris-Tryon earned her combined medical and doctoral degree in cellular and molecular medicine at The Johns Hopkins School of Medicine and completed a residency in dermatology at The Johns Hopkins Hospital, before joining the UT Southwestern faculty in 2014.

Dr. Harris-Tryon’s research focuses on the organisms that reside on the surface of the skin – collectively termed the “microbiota” – and how they impact the skin’s immune system. Her work is supported by the Burroughs Wellcome Fund, UT Southwestern, and the Dermatology Foundation. In 2019, she earned the American Academy of Dermatology’s Young Investigator Award.

Sancy Leachman, M.D., Ph.D.

Adjunct Professor of Dermatology, OHSU

Dr. Leachman’s clinical practice focuses primarily on skin cancer, melanoma, and genetic syndromes that increase the risk for skin cancer or other internal malignancies. She is a strong advocate for skin screenings, patient education and community outreach and has led statewide efforts in Oregon to improve early diagnosis of melanoma to reduce death due to this disease. Her research has focused on melanoma in the basic science lab, through translational human studies/trials, and in the public health arena.

When not tending to patients, Dr Leachman loves spending time with her husband, son, and daughter. She also loves to make yogurt and sourdough bread and can be found hiking regularly in Toll Creek Canyon with her dogs.

Dennis Roop, Ph.D.

Professor of Dermatology
Director, Gates Center for Regenerative Medicine
University of Colorado Anschutz Medical Campus

Roop is one of the first investigators to begin using molecular techniques to study how the skin forms during normal embryonic development.  He has identified many of the genes required for normal skin development and discovered that defects in some of these genes cause inherited skin diseases characterized by a very fragile skin, which blisters easily and may result in neonatal death.

His current, primary research focuses on generating induced pluripotent stem (iPS) cells from patients with inherited skin diseases, genetically correcting these cells and differentiating them into a skin stem cell lineage, which can be returned to the same patient.  This seminal research led to the 2016 formation of the EB iPS Cell Consortium with research teams from Colorado, Stanford and Columbia Universities uniting to fight the rare and debilitating genetic skin blistering disease Epidermolysis Bullosa (EB).

Alex Ortega Loayza, M.D., M.C.R.

Professor and Interim Chair of Dermatology
OHSU

Dr. Ortega’s research focuses on advancing diagnostic tools and treatment for the rare and often misdiagnosed condition of pyoderma gangrenosum. At OHSU, he has assembled a team of basic scientists, biostatisticians, and clinicians to form the pyoderma gangrenosum study team (PYGAS). He is also the co-leader of the Pyoderma Gangrenosum Group for the International Dermatology Outcome Measures and has been sponsored by the Medical Dermatology Society and American Academy of Dermatology to develop consensus guidelines to treat PG patients. Dr. Ortega enjoys working with medical students and residents in clinic as well as in scholarly activities and research projects. He has published several peer-reviewed papers, is a reviewer for several dermatology journals and has spoken at numerous medical conferences.