Integration of investigative dermatology into the global biomedical research enterprise: Past, present, and future

Abstract

Clinical dermatology as a specialty of medicine has made major strides over the past several decades, and major advances in both diagnostic and therapeutic management of skin diseases have benefited patients. The progress in clinical dermatology to a large extent has relied on the robust academic infrastructure developed in recent decades, and we argue that this process has been significantly enhanced by technical innovations in molecular medicine and the integration of cutaneous biology research into the global biomedical research enterprise. © 2012 The Society for Investigative Dermatology.