Research is a tradition of the OHSU Department of Dermatology with names such as Kingery, Fitzpatrick, Lerner, Lobitz, Wuepper, Montagna, Hanifin, Storrs, Kulesz-Martin and Blauvelt contributing to the department's legacy. The design of the Research Division fosters interactions among basic and clinical scientists and resident fellows of the department for novel and synergistic research activities and applications. In addition, the Research Division secured an NIH training grant that supports five researchers per year at the pre- and post-PhD and the post-MD levels, bringing in expert mentors from other disciplines and bringing the young scientists of the future into the skin research field. The research division boasts four independent labs and 11 researchers along with more than 18 graduate students and technicians. The division encompasses basic, clinical and translational research in epithelial cell cancers and dermatologic diseases.

Basic and clinical research faculty are creating new tools and advancing knowledge in many areas:

1. skin cancers, including squamous cell carcinoma and melanomas, as well as head and neck cancer
2. adult stem and progenitor cells for wound healing
3. psoriasis and other skin proliferative disorders
4. autoimmune disorders, cellular determinants of HIV transmission and inflammatory bowel disease
5. laser light therapy and imaging below the surface of living tissue, including the structural elements that change with aging
6. the molecular signals that cause skin disease, all aimed toward offering new, more effective ways to optimize skin health and treat skin disease.