The Department of Dermatology at UAB excels in all three of its primary missions:

• The provision of comprehensive dermatologic care of the highest quality to the community and surrounding three state region.
• The education of medical students, residents, scientists, and others interested in cutaneous biology or skin disease
• Basic, translational, and clinical research relating to dermatology.

Clinically, the Department of Dermatology offers sophisticated services in the diagnosis and treatment of skin disease and is a national center for the management of complicated skin disorders. Outpatient clinics are held at The Kirklin Clinic, University of Alabama Hospital, Children's Hospital of Alabama, Birmingham Veterans Administration Medical Center, and Cooper Green Hospital.

Physicians in the Department of Dermatology have specific expertise in the diagnosis and treatment of:

• Non-melanoma skin cancer
• Melanoma
• Cutaneous fungal infections
• Cutaneous allergies including contact dermatitis
• Psoriasis and eczema
• Autoimmune diseases of the skin
• Photosensitivity diseases
• Hair and nail disorders
• Acne and rosacea
• Pediatric dermatology
• Cosmetic dermatology
• Blistering skin diseases
• Ethnic hair and skin disorders
• Cutaneous T-cell lymphoma

Diagnostic and treatment techniques include:

• Mohs micrographic surgery for skin cancer
• Laser surgery for hair removal, vascular and pigmented lesions, tattoos and skin cancer
• Phototherapy (broadband UVB, narrowband UVB, targeted UVB, PUVA and UVA1) and photodynamic therapy
• Fractionated laser resurfacing
• Botox and collagen injections
• Sclerotherapy
• Fungal Reference Laboratory
• Dermatopathology

New medical dermatology programs have been established in:

• Consultative dermatology
• Contact allergy testing
• Cutaneous mycology
• Hair and nail disease

The Department of Dermatology has made impressive gains over the past five years in the development and expansion of its basic and clinical research capabilities. There are seven faculty members who are actively engaged in NIH-funded research. Annual government funding in 2011 was over $2,500,000 million. The Department has major research programs in immunodermatology (including vaccine development, allergic contact hypersensitivity, Langerhans cell immunobiology, and photoimmunology) and chemoprevention. Clinical/translational research has averaged in excess of $583,000 in funding over each of the past four years, primarily from the pharmaceutical industrty. In August 2004, the NIH named UAB an interdisciplinary center of excellence in investigative dermatology and cutaneous biology with the establishment of a Skin Diseases Research Center (SDRC). The competitive renewal for the center, one of only six in the country, was awarded in September, 2009 and three Core Centers and three Pilot and Feasibility studies are funded for 2009/2010. The SDRC is complemented by a T32 training grant entitled "Training in Investigative Dermatology", awarded in May, 2006. The T32 award currently funds two first-year post-doctoral fellows and two second-year fellows. In addition, there are currently thirteen ongoing clinical trials sponsored by investigators in the Department.

The Dermatology Residency Program at UAB is highly competitive. The residency program is a three year experience which will prepare the physician for either the private practice of dermatology or a career in academic medicine. All major areas of dermatological training are represented within the scope of the training program. These include: adult and pediatric clinical dermatology, dermatopathology, dermatological surgery, and clinical and basic research.