Andrzej A. Dlugosz, MD

Dr. Andrzej A. Dlugosz, Poth Professor of Cutaneous Oncology, is Associate Director for Basic Science Research for the University of Michigan Rogel Cancer Center and Professor of Dermatology and Professor of Cell and Developmental Biology at the University of Michigan. He serves as Associate Chair for Research in the Department of Dermatology and is Director of the Skin Biology and Cancer Research Program. 

Dr. Dlugosz received his MD from Penn State, did his Internship at the Roger Williams General Hospital, and completed a dermatology residency at the University of Pennsylvania. He did post-doctoral training at the NCI in Dr. Stuart Yuspa's laboratory and initiated an independent research program in Carl Baker's lab prior to his recruitment to Michigan in 1997. He runs an active immunobullous clinic in the dermatology department.

Dr. Dlugosz provides training to fellows, dermatology residents, medical students, and undergraduates, and he participates in formal courses run by several departments in the medical school. He plays an active role in training graduate students as a member of multiple thesis committees. Dr. Dlugosz has received numerous grants, fellowships, and awards, including the Marion B. Sulzberger, MD, Memorial Award and Lectureship (American Academy of Dermatology); William Montagna Lectureship (Society for Investigative Dermatology); and has has been election to the American Society for Clinical Investigation and the Association of American Physicians. His service activities include membership on multiple scientific review panels and NIH study sections.

Research in the Dlugosz lab is centered on defining the functions of deregulated signaling pathways in skin biology and cancer, with a major emphasis on basal cell carcinoma (BCC) and Merkel cell carcinoma (MCC). Using genetically-engineered mouse models developed in his laboratory, Dr. Dlugosz helped establish a central role for deregulated Hedgehog signaling in BCC initiation, expansion, and maintenance; defined critical interactions between Hedgehog and other signaling pathways in tumorigenesis; and elucidated the importance of cell of origin, timing of oncogene activation, and magnitude of Hedgehog signaling as key determinants of skin tumor phenotype. In more recent studies, he has been investigating the molecular basis of MCC. Dr. Dlugosz has authored over 125 publications, including peer-reviewed papers, review articles, commentaries, and book chapters.