Sarah Arron, MD, PhD
HS Assistant Clinical Professor
Director, High Risk Skin Cancer Program
Department of Dermatology
Dermatologic Surgery and Laser Center
Contact Information
Dermatology Surgery and Laser Center
1701 Divisadero Street, 3rd Floor, San Francisco, CA 94115
415.353.7878 phone
415.353.9505 fax
Training
- MD: Cornell University Medical College
- PhD: The Rockefeller University
- Residency: University of California, San Francisco, Department of Dermatology
- Fellowship, Mohs Micrographic Surgery & Procedural Dermatology: University of California, San Francisco
Clinical Specialties
- Mohs Micrographic Surgery
- Facial reconstruction
- Cutaneous Oncology
- Organ Transplant Dermatology
- Genetic Risk Factors for Skin Cancer
- Laser Surgery
- Cosmetic Dermatology
- Botox
- Soft Tissue Fillers
Research Interests
- Skin Cancer in Immunosuppressed Patients
- Cutaneous Oncology
- Cutaneous Virology
My research focuses on viral oncogenesis in cutaneous cancers. A primary research question for our group is whether human papillomavirus (HPV) is an etiologic agent in cutaneous squamous cell carcinoma (SCC) in immunosuppressed patients and in the general population. Cutaneous SCC is the second most common type of skin cancer, with an estimated incidence of over 200,000 cases per year in the United States and a 65-fold increased risk in immunosuppressed organ transplant recipients over the general population.
We are able to address these questions in the clinical context of the Dermatologic Surgery and Laser Center at UCSF. The High Risk Skin Cancer Program is a practice devoted to the investigation and care of patients at risk for skin cancer due to solid organ transplant and other iatrogenic immunosuppression, HIV infection, and genetic conditions predisposing to cutaneous malignancy. I have the privilege of seeing these patients in my clinic and in my surgical practice, and of enrolling them in my clinical and translational studies.
The UCSF High Risk Skin Cancer Program is involved in a variety of other collaborative translational research efforts. In addition, the program is structured to serve as an investigational site for pharmaceutical trials. As Director of this rapidly developing unit, I am committed to implementing research that improves the care of our patients.
A secondary research focus is the identification of novel viruses in cutaneous disease. I am working with the DeRisi laboratory at UCSF to employ a variety of techniques for viral discovery including microarrays for pathogen detection and deep sequencing to examine human, animal, and environmental samples. As part of this effort, I am working to identify viral pathogens in a variety of skin diseases including nonmelanoma skin cancers, cutaneous sarcoid, pityriasis rosea, and drug rash with eosinophilia and systemic symptoms (DRESS) syndrome. This is a highly collaborative process that brings together clinicians in the department of dermatology and bench scientists from the lab.