معرفی
Shawn E. Cowper, MD is a Professor of Dermatology at Yale School of Medicine with a secondary appointment in Pathology. He specializes in dermatopathology, focusing on microscopic diagnosis of skin diseases and conditions, particularly alopecia (hair loss). Dr. Cowper co-founded the International NSF Registry at Yale, housing clinical records and pathology specimens from nearly 400 patients with Nephrogenic Systemic Fibrosis.
Dr. Cowper received his MD from Michigan State University in 1990 after completing dual Bachelor's degrees in English Literature and Cellular and Molecular Biology at the University of Michigan (1986). His residency training included Henry Ford Hospital (1991) and University of South Florida (1999), followed by a fellowship at University of California, San Francisco (2001).
Dr. Cowper's research spans Nephrogenic Systemic Fibrosis (NSF), which he helped discover and link to gadolinium-based contrast agents used in MRI imaging. His work led to FDA-mandated changes in contrast agent labeling. He also specializes in cutaneous lymphomas, alopecias (co-authoring a textbook on hair pathology), and has pioneered pathology informatics through Pathmax (1997-2018) and as chairman of the American Society of Dermatopathology's Virtual Slide Library.
His recent publications demonstrate continued focus on fibrotic disorders, diagnostic challenges in dermatopathology, and AI applications in skin disease assessment, with particular emphasis on systemic sclerosis and kidney disease-related dermatologic manifestations.
His scientific achievements have been recognized with several honors:
- Medal for Service Above and Beyond (2018) from the American Society of Dermatopathology
- Distinguished Dermatopathologist (2017)
- Annual Saul Farber Lecturer (2008)
- Certificate of Appreciation (2007) from the FDA
Dr. Cowper actively teaches dermatology residents through a specialized four-hour curriculum on alopecia diagnosis and provides advanced training to dermatopathology fellows. He manages 50 volunteers who curate over 10,000 scanned dermatopathology whole slide images for the ASDP Virtual Slide Library.
As part of Yale's fibrosis research team, he periodically hosts the Yale Fibrosis Symposium. His groundbreaking work on NSF has significantly impacted medical imaging practices worldwide, preventing a potentially disabling condition in kidney disease patients undergoing MRI procedures.
