Our Misson
The Department of Dermatology, which includes Allergy and Immunology, shares the mission of University of Utah Health, which is to serve the people of Utah and beyond by continually improving health and quality of life through excellence in patient care, education, and research. We deliver collaborative, compassionate, cutting-edge care. We are committed to advancement of knowledge through innovation and discovery, to promotion of lifelong learning, and to engagement with our community.
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Values
Excellence – we strive for excellence in the pursuit of our mission.
Compassion – we care about the well-being of our patients, our staff, our faculty, our colleagues, and our community.
Collaboration – we work to build and maintain collaborative relationships through respectful communication, team building, and relational leadership.
Equal Opportunity – we seek and celebrate all backgrounds, differing viewpoints and support anti-racism efforts in all aspects of our organization.
Responsibility – we hold ourselves accountable to our commitments.
Integrity - We expect honesty and adhere to the highest moral and ethical standards, demonstrated through personal and professional behavior.
Vision
Clinical Mission, Dermatology:
- To deliver the most advanced and comprehensive care available to the patients we serve. We are dedicated to delivering collaborative, compassionate, cutting-edge care in all subspecialties of adult and pediatric dermatology, allergy and immunology.
- For every skin condition, our department will have a regionally and nationally recognized expert. To be known as a leading clinical and academic department we must realize a culture of academic excellence. Our goal is for every clinical faculty member to have a scholarly pursuit and that faculty from Utah are on the podium of every regional and national clinical and academic dermatology meeting. We will strategically recruit faculty to ensure that all dermatology subspecialties are represented.
Clinical, Educational, and Investigative Mission: Allergy/Immunology
- To build a strong clinical and investigative academic Allergy/Immunology program in collaboration with the Department of Pediatrics. In partnership with the Department of Pediatrics, we will build a strong allergy/immunology clinical core by 2025, with allergy service expansion to additional UUHC outpatient sites and the Miller (PCH) campus and the development of an allergy/Immunology fellowship. We will expand our academic allergy/immunology research mission through succession planning and recruitment.
Investigation/Innovation, Dermatology:
- To raise our ranking into the top 10 in extramural funding. In the last 5 years, we have been as high as 19th and as low as 31st of the 72 departments and 52 divisions of dermatology in the country. We will broaden the scope and impact of our research programs in melanoma, dermatoepidemiology/health services research, immunology/inflammation, and clinical trials through investment in strategic hiring, interdepartmental collaboration, digital imaging excellence, and a sustainable infrastructure.
- To be recognized as a leader in innovating digital cutaneous imaging. We will establish the region’s most advanced Center for Cutaneous Imaging and Digital Dermatopathology Services. Which will synergize our clinical, educational, and research mission and generate a valuable database of images and metadata that will drive future discovery.
Education:
- To be a top-10 ranked training program. our residency and fellowship programs will be known by the larger dermatology community as one that exemplifies clinical training, academic achievement, and equal opportunity in a collaborative environment. We will provide integrated medical student dermatology education across all four years. We will lead the institution in equal opportunity efforts in recruitment and teaching. The addition of a Mohs fellowship in 2020 and planned additions of pediatric dermatology, oncology, and complex medical dermatology fellowships will elevate our recognition as a top-10 school.
Departmental Values and Administrative Strength:
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To be known as a department committed to equal opportunity and wellness. We will create a departmental taskforce to focus on fostering a more collaborative environment that includes all backgrounds and differing viewpoints in alignment with institutional efforts.
To continue our upward trajectory of administrative and financial strength. We have created a strong administrative core with faculty participation. We will maintain and grow an effective administrative team to foster financial and administrative success of our clinical, educational and research missions.
Our History
We began in 1972 with Dr. Gerald Krueger joining The University of Utah Internal Medicine Department. Dr. Krueger laid the building blocks for Dermatology to become its own division in 1980, the V.A. partnership followed shortly after in 1986 and the hiring of our previous chair, The Bertram H. and Janet Marshall Schaap Presidential Endowed Chair in Honor of John J. Zone, MD, in 1987. Dr. Zone entrepreneurial mindset led us to become our own Department in 1990. Fast forward 30 years later with Dr. Zone, passing his chair title to Dr. Kristina Callis Duffin who took over in 2020. Dr. Duffin being the first female chair in the School of Medicine, has enriched the Department with her relentless work ethic and commitment to the DEI initiative.
Recognition
Kristina Callis Duffin
Kristina Callis Duffin, MD, MS is Professor and Chair of the Department of Dermatology at the University of Utah. She is an internationally recognized expert in psoriasis and has led over 60 clinical trials and observational studies in psoriasis and other skin diseases. She is the Vice-Chair/Chair-Elect of the National Psoriasis Foundation Medical Board and Past President of GRAPPA (Group for Research and Assessment of Psoriasis and Psoriatic Arthritis).
Chris Hull
Christopher Hull, MD has specialized expertise in the treatment of autoimmune skin diseases and viral infections of the skin. He is board certified in dermatology. His main clinical focus is general dermatology and medical dermatology including autoimmune blistering diseases.
Jennie Clarke
Jennie T. Clarke, MD has specialized expertise in caring for patients with rheumatologic skin disease, such as lupus erythematosus and dermatomyositis, and other complex inflammatory dermatologic diseases in both children and adults. She also has a specialized interest in treating the skin conditions that occur commonly in patients with inflammatory bowel disease. In addition, she enjoys caring for general dermatology patients in her clinics. Dr. Clarke is also committed to the education of dermatology residents, and she is the supervising dermatologist of the resident dermatology continuity clinic at the University Hospital.
Mark Eliason
Mark Eliason, MD has specialized interest in skin cancer and inflammatory diseases of the skin. He is board certified in dermatology. He has completed a two-year fellowship in familial melanoma genetics and published research in this area. In addition, he has interest in inflammatory diseases such as urticaria and eczema. He sees patients for any general dermatologic concerns.
John J. Zone
John J. Zone, MD has specialized expertise in the diagnosis and treatment of blistering diseases of the skin. This includes dermatitis herpetiformis, linear IgA disease, pemphigus and pemphigoid. He is board certified in dermatology, immunodermatology and internal medicine. He runs both a research and clinical laboratory dedicated to diagnosis, treatment and research of blistering diseases. Dr. Zone deals primarily with the practice of medical dermatology and expert management of dermatitis herpetiformis, gluten intolerence, linear IgA disease, pemphigus, pemphigoid, lichen planus and oral ulcers that are frequently related to immune conditions.
Gerald Krueger
Gerald Krueger, MD is an expert in the diagnosis and treatment of psoriasis and hair loss. He is board certified in dermatology. Involved in over 100 clinical trials on psoriasis since being recruited to the University of Utah in 1972. In 2001 Dr. Krueger and Dr Callis Duffin started the Utah Psoriasis Initiative with the goal of creating a registry of patients with psoriasis. This registry contains medical and genetic information of the over 1400 participants that have been enrolled. The information is being collected to identify genes that cause different levels of risk for psoriasis and other diseases.
Upcoming Events
Casino Night
Thank you to everyone who came out and donated and supported our residents! We appreciate all of you and your donations to help our residents with their research and wellness initiatives.
Leadership Retreat
12-5pm at the Alumni Guest House, provider welcome dinner to follow.