I was appointed professor of the Department of Dermatology at Hokkaido University in January 2021. I am the department’s sixth professor after professors Akira Shiga, Kenzo Iwashita, Yusho Miura, Akira Ohkawara, and Hiroshi Shimizu. Since the founding of this department, we have led the development of dermatology around the world for more than 90 years and contributed to the enhancement of community medicine. In addition to inheriting this rich history and tradition of excellence, we will do our utmost to flexibly respond to changes in the future and innovate new dermatology.

The concept of our department is “enjoy dermatology and contribute to the development of medicine”. Dermatology is a discipline that diagnoses and treats lesions that appear on the surface of the body, such as the skin, mucous membranes, nails, and hair. But is there far more to diagnosing conditions than their appearance alone, and ‘limitless science’ such as the knowledge and technology to find systemic diseases through the use of techniques such as direct immunofluorescence, surgical procedures to remove skin lesions, pathology to identify the changes that are causing the lesions, and the elucidation of the mechanisms behind the onset of disease. I hope that members of the department first learn the fundamentals of dermatology, and then choose a specialty and pursue it thoroughly. We will do our very best to build and grow the necessary education system for this purpose together. Our goal is to create a department where all members are able to play an active role at the forefront of clinical practice and research while also enjoying the total experience of dermatology. We believe that these initiatives are directly linked to the university’s responsibility as a healthcare provider to bring the best medical care to patients and as an educational institution to provide exceptional education to medical students, residents, and graduate students.

I look forward to creating a dermatology department with those who are pursuing the dreams that will boldly open up new paths in medicine with the frontier spirit that is the foundational philosophy of Hokkaido University.

Be ambitious!

Department of Dermatology
Faculty of Medicine and Graduate School of Medicine
Hokkaido University
Hideyuki Ujiie