Noted Michigan State University Dermatologist to Become UB Dermatology Chair

BUFFALO, N.Y. -- Animesh Amart Sinha, MD, PhD, chief of the N.V. Perricone Division of Dermatology and Cutaneous Sciences at Michigan State University and director of its Center for Investigative Dermatology, has been named chair of the Department of Dermatology at the University at Buffalo and Roswell Park Cancer Institute.

Sinha also will serve as UB's inaugural Rita M. and Ralph T. Behling, MD, Professor of Dermatology. He will assume the office in April.

"Following a comprehensive national search, Dr. Sinha emerged as our top candidate," said Michael Cain, MD, dean of the UB School of Medicine and Biomedical Sciences.

"He possesses the administrative, scientific, clinical, leadership and visionary skills needed to move the department forward, to expand the department's basic and clinical research programs to fulfill UB 2020's strategic goals, and to best develop and align a comprehensive clinical program at Great Lakes Health, Roswell Park Cancer Institute and in our community," said Cain.

A native of Canada, Sinha received his MD and PhD with a concentration in immunology from the University of Alberta in Edmonton, followed by a five-year research fellowship in immunology at Stanford University in California. He completed his residency in dermatology at the University of Alberta (1992-95) and at Yale University (1995-98) in New Haven, Conn.

Sinha joined the faculty of Weill-Cornell Medical College in New York City in 1998 and served as director of the Residency Training Program. In 2005, he was recruited to Michigan State University as chief of the Division of Dermatology and Cutaneous Sciences, and director of the Center for Investigative Dermatology.

As a physician-scientist, Sinha's long-term research interests lie in the fields of immunological tolerance and autoimmunity. He has received multiple grants to investigate the genetic mechanisms underlying the autoimmune diseases such as alopecia; lupus; psoriasis; pemphigus, a rare group of blistering autoimmune diseases that affect the skin and mucous membranes; and vitiglio, a chronic disorder that causes depigmentation of patches of skin.

Sinha's translational and clinical research programs have been consistently supported since 1998 with grants from the National Institutes of Health and research foundations.

He currently is pursuing two major lines of investigation, concentrating on the inductive and regulatory events of the autoimmune pathway, with the goal of pinpointing targets for immune intervention, and developing potential gene therapies for autoimmune diseases.

The work has resulted in 87 papers published or in press, and has garnered Sinha numerous awards, including the 2009 Doctor of the Year/Excellence in Research Award from the International Pemphigus and Pemphoid Foundation. He has lectured nationally and internationally, serves on peer-review study sections of the National Institutes of Health, the Arthritis Foundation and the Alliance for Lupus Research, and is a member of the Medical/Scientific Advisory Boards of the International Pemphigus and Pemphigoid Foundation, American Vitiligo Research Foundation and Foundation for Global Skin Health Strategies.

The University at Buffalo is a premier research-intensive public university, a flagship institution in the State University of New York system and its largest and most comprehensive campus. UB's more than 28,000 students pursue their academic interests through more than 300 undergraduate, graduate and professional degree programs. Founded in 1846, the University at Buffalo is a member of the Association of American Universities.