The Sandra J. Lazarus Professorship of Dermatology

Gerald S. LazarusEstablished in 1989 by Gerald S. Lazarus, MD, the former Chairman of the Department of Dermatology, the Professorship honors his wife Sandra, who died in 1985. Sandra Lazarus was a dynamic, magical woman, wife, and mother of four beloved children. During her life, she was a strong believer in supporting young working women as they advanced in their careers.

The Professorship supports the academic development of a female physician specializing in dermatology at the beginning stages of her career. The Lazarus chairholder must “be distinguished by intense creativity and demonstrate remarkable compassion, humanity and social commitment.”

Grice photoCurrent Chairholder
Elizabeth A. Grice, PhD

Elizabeth A. Grice, PhD is the Sandra J. Lazarus Associate Professor and Vice Chair of Basic Science Research in the Department of Dermatology at the Perelman School of Medicine of the University of Pennsylvania. 

Since 2012, Dr. Grice has led a research group of multi-disciplinary scientists and trainees at Penn, integrating genomics, microbiology, skin biology, and immunology to investigate the skin microbiota. Dr. Grice is Director and Principal Investigator (PI) of the National Institute of Arthritis and Musculoskeletal and Skin Diseases (NIAMS) P30 Penn Skin Biology and Diseases Resource Center. She is Co-Director of the NIAMS T32 Penn Dermatology Research Training Program and Vice Chair of the Microbiology, Virology, and Parasitology PhD Program at Penn. She serves on the editorial boards of Genome Research and Microbiome. Dr. Grice has received numerous awards for her work, including the Penn Medicine Michael S. Brown New Investigator Award, the Penn One Health Award, the Burroughs Welcome Fund Investigator in the Pathogenesis of Infectious Disease Award, and the Sun Pharma Research Award from the Dermatology Foundation. 

Dr. Grice began her scientific training as an undergraduate at Luther College in Iowa, then received a PhD in human genetics from Johns Hopkins University. Under the direction of Dr. Julie Segre at NIH, her post-doctoral work pioneered sequencing-based approaches to profile the topographic and temporal diversity of the healthy human skin microbiome. At that time, she developed a scientific interest in microbial roles in impaired wound healing and subsequently received a NIAMS K99-R00 Pathway to Independence Award to investigate microbial-host interactions in diabetic wound healing. 

Previous Chairholders

  • Cynthia A. Guzzo, MD 1990–1998
  • Rosalie Elenitsas, MD 1998–2005
  • Carmela C. Vittorio, MD 2005–2013
  • Ellen J. Kim, MD 2013-2022