Amy S. Paller, MD

Walter J. Hamlin Professor and Chair
Department of Dermatology
Professor of Pediatrics

Biography

Dr. Amy Paller is the Walter J. Hamlin Professor and Chair of Dermatology and Professor of Pediatrics at Northwestern University's Feinberg School of Medicine. She received her undergraduate degree and graduate degree in Genetics from Brown University, and her medical degree from Stanford University. Dr. Paller completed residency training in both Pediatrics and Dermatology at Northwestern University, and her research fellowship training at the University of North Carolina.

A pediatric dermatologist, Dr. Paller served as head of the Division of Pediatric Dermatology at Children's Memorial Hospital for 16 years prior to becoming Chair of the Department of Dermatology at Northwestern. Dr. Paller has served on the Board of Directors of the American Academy of Dermatology, the Society for Investigative Dermatology, the Society for Pediatric Dermatology, and the Women's Dermatologic Society. She is currently a Director of the American Board of Dermatology, and has served as President of the Society for Investigative Dermatology and the Society for Pediatric Dermatology. An author of more than 350 publications, Dr. Paller is an NIH-funded investigator who investigates the role of gangliosides in skin cell function and is an expert on genetic disorders of the skin.  She is currently the Principal Investigator of the NIH-funded Northwestern Skin Disease Research Center.

Dr. Paller has edited several major dermatology textbooks, among them Fitzpatrick's Dermatology in General Medicine, 7th Edition and Pediatric Dermatology. She is also coauthor of Hurwitz's Clinical Pediatric Dermatology, 3rd Edition. Dr. Paller is currently Assistant Editor of the Journal of the American Academy of Dermatology, Associate Editor of the Journal of Investigative Dermatology, and serves on the editorial boards of several other journals. Dr. Paller is on the scientific advisory boards for several major support organizations for patients, among them the National Eczema Association, the National Psoriasis Foundation, the Foundation for Ichthyosis and Related Skin Types, and the Dystrophic Epidermolysis Bullosa Research Association.  She has been honored with many awards for her clinical practice, mentoring, and research.  Among these are Best Doctor in America since early 1990's, Top Chicago Doctors 1993-2009, Women's Dermatological Society Mentor of the Year award, the Gold Triangle award from the American Academy of Dermatology, and Women Leaders of the Society for Investigative Dermatology award.

Bench Research Interests

The Paller laboratory is investigating the role of gangliosides in keratinocyte function. Gangliosides are cell-specific sialylated glycosphingolipids of eukaryotic membranes that affect cell-cell recognition, cell-substratum interactions, cell growth regulation, differentiation, and oncogenic transformation.  The laboratory has shown that modulation of ganglioside content by a variety of biochemical and molecular biological means profoundly affects skin cell function through interaction with receptors and interruption of downstream signaling. For example gangliosides can: (i) down-regulate EGF receptor phosphorylation; (ii) interact with integrins to prevent keratinocyte adhesion, migration and spreading on a fibronectin matrix; (iii) promote apoptosis of keratinocytes and SCC12 cells plated on fibronectin; and (iv) render cells resistant to apoptosis upon depletion. These effects involve the disruption or formation by gangliosides of membrane-based complexes of signaling proteins.  For example, ganglioside GM3 (the predominant ganglioside of epithelial cells) directs the formation of a complex that includes the EGFR, caveolin-1, tetraspanin CD82 and PKC-alpha, thereby enabling PKC-alpha to downregulate EGFR signaling.  The laboratory has also found that genetic modulation of ganglioside expression in mouse tumor models and human skin leads to the altered characteristics of squamous cell carcinomas. Most recently, the Paller lab has been testing the role of gangliosides on wound healing. Using GM3 synthase knockout mice, the laboratory has reversed the wound healing defect of diabetic mice through activated EGFR and insulin signaling, and is looking at small molecules that deplete GM3 as a new therapy for diabetic wounds.

In collaborative research with the Mirkin laboratory in the International Institute of Nanotechnology at Northwestern, the Paller lab is also investigating the ability of topically applied siRNA – conjugated gold nanoparticles as a single agent in gene suppression.  The laboratory has demonstrated ~100% uptake of the oligonucleotide- conjugated nanoparticles in cultured keratinocyte and excellent uptake through the epidermal barrier of mouse and human skin when topically applied, leading to gene knockdown in skin. Current studies are addressing knockdown through topical application of Ras-mediated epidermal hyperplasia, metastatic melanoma, diabetes, and genetic skin disorders.

Dr. Paller is also the director of cutaneous clinical trials research at Children's Memorial Hospital.  She has been involved in more than 70 clinical trials, and currently is conducting research on atopic dermatitis, psoriasis, localized scleroderma, and epidermolysis bullosa.