Meet Our Board of Directors
Our board of directors includes academic and clinical dermatologists who are committed to foster and support the advancement of cutting edge medical and dermatology research and humanitarian endeavors that seek to improve quality of life in patients with chronic skin diseases and access to medical and dermatology care.
Lawrence A. Schachner MD | Chairman
Lawrence A. Schachner M.D. is chairman and Harvey Blank professor of the Department of Dermatology and Cutaneous Surgery at the University of Miami School of Medicine. A member of the Miller School of Medicine faculty since 1978, he is also professor of Pediatrics and director of the Division of Pediatric Dermatology. Dr Schachner has written more than 200 scientific publications. He is the lead author of the Schachner & Hansen textbook, Pediatric Dermatology edition l (1988), edition ll (1995), edition lll (2003), and Pediatric Dermatology edition lV (2011). Editions lll and lV were nominated for the British Medical Association’s “Medical Book of the Year” Edition lll won first prize. He is also co-author of eight other books.
In 2004, Dr Schachner was named “Practitioner of the Year” by the Florida Society of Dermatology and Dermatologic Surgery. The nearly 800 dermatologists in the state lauded him for his longtime commitment to Pediatric dermatology. Dr Schachner’s interests have included bioengineered skin in Pediatric wounds, skin infections and infestations in children, sun protection in childhood, cutaneous signs of child and sexual abuse and new therapeutic modalities for acne, eczema and epidermolysis bullosa.
Dr Schachner is a four-time recipient of the Best Teacher Awards from residents and faculty at the University of Miami. Dr Schachner received the University of Miami School of Medicine Dean’s Senior Clinical Research Award in 2001. He has been cited in numerous periodicals of best doctors, including The Best Doctors in America 1992-present, Who’s Who in America, and the Guide to Top Doctors. Dr Schachner has also held several leadership positions internationally, nationally and at the University as well as in his field. He is the past president of the Society of Pediatric Dermatology, past vice president of the International Society of Pediatric Dermatology and past chair of the American Academy of Pediatrics Section on Pediatric Dermatology.
Dr Schachner has also directed the annual Masters of Pediatrics and Masters of Pediatric Dermatology meetings for the School of Medicine from 1992- present. He was Chairman of the 900 member University of Miami Medical Group (UNMG) from 1997-2002. He is a member of the American Dermatology Association.
Dr Schachner received his baccalaureate from Brooklyn College and his medical degree from the University of Nebraska. He completed residencies in pediatrics and dermatology at Montefiore Hospital, Albert Einstein College of Medicine, New York.
George Elgart MD | Co-Trustee
George W. Elgart, M.D. is the Director of Dermatopathology at the University of Miami Miller School of Medicine and serves as the Department of Dermatology & Cutaneous Surgery’s Vice-Chairman for Education. His undergraduate education was at Carnegie-Mellon University and he took his medical education at the Medical College of Virginia in Richmond, Virginia. After five years of medicine and dermatology at Case Western Reserve University in Cleveland, he returned to Richmond for a fellowship in dermatopathology under renowned dermatopathologist James W. Patterson, M.D. He completed his training as a senior staff fellow at the National Cancer Institute’s Dermatology Branch before arriving in Miami in 1993. His special interests in dermatopathology include malignant melanoma and infectious diseases, and he maintains a research interest in bullous disease and cancer metastasis.
Harold Rabinovitz MD | Co-Trustee
Harold S. Rabinovitz M.D., is world-renowned for his work in dermoscopy and confocal microscopy. Research interests focus on identification of tumor characteristics with new research instruments and education on early tumor detection. Dr Rabinovitz practices with Margaret C. Olivero FNP-C, who is well known internationally in dermoscopy and confocal microscopy.
Robert S. Kirsner MD, PhD
Dr. Robert Kirsner is a Tenured Professor, Vice Chairman and holds the endowed Stiefel Laboratories Chair in Dermatology in the Department of Dermatology and Cutaneous Surgery at the University of Miami Miller School of Medicine. He currently serves as director of the University of Miami Hospital Wound Center and Chief of Dermatology at the University of Miami Hospital. With research interests in Wound Healing, Skin Cancer Epidemiology and Health Care Delivery, Dr. Kirsner serves on the editorial boards for a number of journals in dermatology (including the JAMA Dermatology, Journal of Investigative Dermatology and Dermatologic Surgery) and Wound Healing (Wound Repair and Regeneration and Wounds) is currently chair of the American Academy of Dermatology’s Council on Education and Maintenance of Certification. He has been recognized for his research efforts, clinical care, teaching and community service. In addition to career development awards and industry sponsored funding, he is a recipient of NIH, ACS, CDC funding for his research. Independent of books, book chapters and abstracts, he has published over 350 articles.
Debra Price MD
Dr. Debra Price is a board certified dermatologist in clinical practice in South Miami, Florida. She is well known for her expertise in cosmetic dermatology and laser surgery and is frequently sought out for her insight on cutting edge dermatology treatments and skin care. Dr. Price has appeared in a variety of well known local and national magazines and Miami based television stations discussing a range of dermatology topics including sun safety, skin care, acne, hyperpigmentation, skin rejuvenation and more.
She provides dermatology expertise for Chickrx, a health and wellness online community for young women and was a dermatology columnist for Les Nouvelles Esthetique, covering new developments in cosmetic and medical dermatology. She has also been an investigator for clinical trials on filler injections for wrinkle correction and a preceptor for educational seminars and training clinics on the injection of dermal fillers and Botox.
When Dr. Price is not seeing patients in her office she enjoys teaching. She currently holds a position as a Voluntary Associate Professor of Dermatology in the Department of Dermatology and Cutaneous Surgery at the University of Miami Miller School of Medicine, where she teaches and supervises residents in the dermatology clinics. She is also a member of the adjunct clinical faculty for the physician assistant training program at Barry University and a mentor for Women of Tomorrow.
Dr. Price was selected a top dermatologist by US News & World Report, Florida Super Doctors, South Florida Magazine and Miami Metro Magazine and is listed among Florida’s best dermatologists in the Castle Connolly Guide. She is a fellow of the American Academy of Dermatology and the American Society of Laser Medicine and Surgery and past President of the Miami Dermatologic Society. Dr. Price is also a member of the Florida Society of Dermatology and Dermatologic Surgery, the Miami Society for Dermatology and Cutaneous Surgery, the Florida Medical Association and the Dade County Medical Association.
Dr. Price received her medical degree from New York University School of Medicine where she was awarded the American Medical Woman’s Association Award for Scholastic Achievement and was elected to membership in the prestigious Alpha Omega Alpha Medical Society. Dr. Price completed her dermatology residency at the University of Miami Miller School of Medicine.
Joaquin Jimenez MD
Dr. Joaquin Jimenez MD was trained at the University of Miami in Internal Medicine at the University of Miami/Jackson Memorial Hospital. Subsequently, he did a 3-year fellowship in Experimental Hematology as an NIH trainee at the University of Miami School Of Medicine. In 1990, he made the discovery and established the first model of Chemotherapy-Induced Alopecia (CIA). It was at this time that he became closely affiliated with the Department of Dermatology and Cutaneous Surgery. His work was the first of its kind and opened the area of study of CIA by providing a reliable animal model in which to study protective compounds against alopecia. His accomplishments also extended to other types of alopecia, such as alopecia areata and androgenetic alopecia. His findings have been featured in prestigious journals such as Science, FASEB and Cancer Research.
Alam Berke MD
After receiving her Doctorate in Medicine in 1971, Dr. Alam Berke started a fellowship at the University of Miami Department of Dermatology for 6 months. She and her collaborators published their favorable results on the beneficial effect of Benzoyl Peroxide and Retin A for the treatment of acne, which became the gold standard treatment for this disturbing condition ever since and continues to be so even today. Subsequently, Dr. Berke was accepted to the University of Miami Department of Dermatology residency program, where she had the distinction of becoming the first female resident ever accepted to that program.
She finished her second and third year of residency and moved to Denver for a year of fellowship at the University of Colorado Department of Organ Transplantation. She then returned to the University of Miami and finished her second and third year residency in addition to becoming Chief Resident (1976). Dr. Berke pursued her desire to finish her immunology fellowship and joined the faculty at the University of Miami and started an exciting research study in immunology and after publishing her results she started her private practice of dermatology in 1977. She has enjoyed a great reputation in practicing what she loves the most and applying her knowledge of immunology and general medicine to dermatology and dermatological surgery and its cosmetic applications. Her first love has always been Dermatology and all her research and publications have been in this field. She is a Board Certified Dermatologist and sees babies, children and adults as patients. In addition, she is a full clinical professor in Dermatology at the University of Miami. Dr. Berke sub-specialty is treating ethnic skin conditions and skin bleaching.