Richard L. Gallo is an American dermatologist who is a Distinguished Professor and founding Chairman of

Dermatology Dermatology is the branch of medicine dealing with the Human skin, skin.''Random House Webster's Unabridged Dictionary.'' Random House, Inc. 2001. Page 537. . It is a speciality with both medical and surgical aspects. A List of dermatologists, ...

at the

University of California, San Diego The University of California, San Diego (UC San Diego in communications material, formerly and colloquially UCSD) is a public university, public Land-grant university, land-grant research university in San Diego, California, United States. Es ...

. He has worked on

antimicrobial An antimicrobial is an agent that kills microorganisms (microbicide) or stops their growth (bacteriostatic agent). Antimicrobial medicines can be grouped according to the microorganisms they are used to treat. For example, antibiotics are used aga ...

peptide Peptides are short chains of amino acids linked by peptide bonds. A polypeptide is a longer, continuous, unbranched peptide chain. Polypeptides that have a molecular mass of 10,000 Da or more are called proteins. Chains of fewer than twenty am ...

s in

mammalian A mammal () is a vertebrate animal of the Class (biology), class Mammalia (). Mammals are characterised by the presence of milk-producing mammary glands for feeding their young, a broad neocortex region of the brain, fur or hair, and three ...

skin, links between innate immunity and skin diseases such as

atopic dermatitis Atopic dermatitis (AD), also known as atopic eczema, is a long-term type of inflammation of the skin. Atopic dermatitis is also often called simply eczema but the same term is also used to refer to dermatitis, the larger group of skin conditi ...

and

rosacea Rosacea is a long-term skin condition that typically affects the face. It results in redness, pimples, swelling, and small and superficial dilated blood vessels. Often, the nose, cheeks, forehead, and chin are most involved. A red, en ...

, and the functions of the skin

microbiome A microbiome () is the community of microorganisms that can usually be found living together in any given habitat. It was defined more precisely in 1988 by Whipps ''et al.'' as "a characteristic microbial community occupying a reasonably wel ...

in host immune defense.

Education

Gallo did his undergraduate studies at the

University of Chicago The University of Chicago (UChicago, Chicago, or UChi) is a Private university, private research university in Chicago, Illinois, United States. Its main campus is in the Hyde Park, Chicago, Hyde Park neighborhood on Chicago's South Side, Chic ...

, earned his MD and PhD at the

University of Rochester The University of Rochester is a private university, private research university in Rochester, New York, United States. It was founded in 1850 and moved into its current campus, next to the Genesee River in 1930. With approximately 30,000 full ...

, interned in Pediatrics at

Johns Hopkins Hospital Johns Hopkins Hospital (JHH) is the teaching hospital and biomedical research facility of Johns Hopkins School of Medicine in Baltimore, Maryland. Founded in 1889, Johns Hopkins Hospital and its school of medicine are considered to be the foundin ...

, was a Dermatology resident at

Harvard Medical School Harvard Medical School (HMS) is the medical school of Harvard University and is located in the Longwood Medical and Academic Area, Longwood Medical Area in Boston, Massachusetts. Founded in 1782, HMS is the third oldest medical school in the Un ...

and was a postdoctoral fellow at

Harvard University Harvard University is a Private university, private Ivy League research university in Cambridge, Massachusetts, United States. Founded in 1636 and named for its first benefactor, the History of the Puritans in North America, Puritan clergyma ...

under the supervision of Merton Bernfield'

Research

Gallo studies how humans interact with the environment and protect themselves from infection. He discovered that

antimicrobial peptides Antimicrobial peptides (AMPs), also called host defence peptides (HDPs) are part of the innate immune response found among all classes of life. Fundamental differences exist between Prokaryote, prokaryotic and eukaryota, eukaryotic cells that may ...

are present in mammalian skin by demonstrating that cathelicidin antimicrobial peptides(Cathelicidins) are present during wound repair. Subsequent work from his laboratory used molecular techniques to produce a knock out mouse that has shown how

cathelicidin Cathelicidin antimicrobial peptide (CAMP) is an antimicrobial peptide encoded in the human by the ''CAMP'' gene. The active form is LL-37. In humans, ''CAMP'' encodes the peptide precursor CAP-18 (18 kDa), which is processed by proteinase 3-me ...

antimicrobials protect against infection in several organs including the skin. By using a wide variety of biochemical and genetic tools his work has also shown that other antimicrobial peptides and elements of innate immunity such as

Toll-like receptors Toll-like receptors (TLRs) are a class of proteins that play a key role in the innate immune system. They are single-pass membrane protein, single-spanning receptor (biochemistry), receptors usually expressed on sentinel cells such as macrophages ...

and

Hyaluronan Hyaluronic acid (; abbreviated HA; conjugate acid, conjugate base hyaluronate), also called hyaluronan, is an anion#Anions and cations, anionic, Sulfation, nonsulfated glycosaminoglycan distributed widely throughout connective tissue, connective ...

influence human health. His work has translated into a new understanding of the cause of rosacea, a finding with immediate therapeutic implications. Most recently his research has defined biochemical mechanisms through which

Vitamin D Vitamin D is a group of structurally related, fat-soluble compounds responsible for increasing intestinal absorption of calcium, magnesium, and phosphate, along with numerous other biological functions. In humans, the most important compo ...

and the normal skin microflora

Microbiome A microbiome () is the community of microorganisms that can usually be found living together in any given habitat. It was defined more precisely in 1988 by Whipps ''et al.'' as "a characteristic microbial community occupying a reasonably wel ...

can control immune responses. These latest findings have advanced understanding of the

Hygiene hypothesis In medicine, the hygiene hypothesis states that early childhood exposure to particular microorganisms (such as the gut flora and helminth parasites) protects against allergies by properly tuning the immune system. In particular, a lack of such e ...

Atopic Dermatitis Atopic dermatitis (AD), also known as atopic eczema, is a long-term type of inflammation of the skin. Atopic dermatitis is also often called simply eczema but the same term is also used to refer to dermatitis, the larger group of skin conditi ...

and

Rosacea Rosacea is a long-term skin condition that typically affects the face. It results in redness, pimples, swelling, and small and superficial dilated blood vessels. Often, the nose, cheeks, forehead, and chin are most involved. A red, en ...

. His analysis of the function of the human skin microbiome is leading discovery of new therapeutic approaches to disease by discovering molecules from bacteria on the skin that can be used for drugs. Several press releases and scientific publications have reported his discoveries.

Awards and honors

*1990- AMA/Archives of Dermatology Young Investigator Award *2002- Stern Endowment for Dermatology Research, Nobel Lectureship- Karolinska Institute *2003- Elected

American Society for Clinical Investigation The American Society for Clinical Investigation (ASCI), established in 1908, is one of the oldest and most respected medical honor societies in the United States. Organization and purpose The ASCI is an honorary society to which more than 2,800 p ...

*2006- Montagna Award, Society for Investigative Dermatology *2007- CE.R.I.E.S. Award *2009- Stiefel Lectureship, Dermatology Foundation; Blank Lectureship, SID; Mertz award, Duhring Lectureship-U Penn *2010- Elected

Association of American Physicians The Association of American Physicians (AAP) is an honorary medical society founded in 1885 by the Canadian physician Sir William Osler and six other distinguished physicians of his era for "the advancement of scientific and practical medicine ...

*2011- Rene’Touraine Award-European Society Dermatologic Research *2012- Sulzberger Award- American Academy of Dermatology, Lerner lecture-Yale, Gilliam Lecture-UT Southwestern *2013- Rook Oration, British Academy of Dermatology *2014- Elected

American Society for Microbiology The American Society for Microbiology (ASM), originally the Society of American Bacteriologists, is a professional organization for scientists who study viruses, bacteria, fungi, algae, and protozoa as well as other aspects of microbiology. It wa ...

, Dohi Lectureship and Honorary membership in Japanese Dermatology Association *2015- Haynes Lectureship, Harvard Medical School, Rodan-Fields Lectureship, Stanford University *2017- Elected elected as a

fellow A fellow is a title and form of address for distinguished, learned, or skilled individuals in academia, medicine, research, and industry. The exact meaning of the term differs in each field. In learned society, learned or professional society, p ...

of the

American Association for the Advancement of Science The American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS) is a United States–based international nonprofit with the stated mission of promoting cooperation among scientists, defending scientific freedom, encouraging scientific responsib ...

, Newcomer Lectureship- UCLA, Lifetime Achievement Award- Manchester UK *2018- Named Irma Gigli Endowed Chair of Dermatology, UCSD *2019- NIH MERIT award *2022- Rothman Award, Society for Investigative Dermatology *2022- David Martin Carter Award, American Skin Association *2023- Van Scott Lectureship and Frost Award,

American Academy of Dermatology The American Academy of Dermatology (AAD) is a non-profit professional organization of dermatologists in the United States and Canada, based in Rosemont, Illinois, near Chicago. It was founded in 1938 and has more than ''21,000'' members. The Acad ...

*2023- Elected to the

National Academy of Medicine The National Academy of Medicine (NAM), known as the Institute of Medicine (IoM) until 2015, is an American nonprofit, non-governmental organization. The National Academy of Medicine is a part of the National Academies of Sciences, Engineerin ...

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Gallo, Richard Living people American dermatologists University of California, San Diego faculty 1958 births Members of the National Academy of Medicine