(Boston) – Boston resident Barbara Gilchrest, MD, a member of the Division of Dermatology at Boston Medical Center (BMC) and professor and chairman-emeritus of the Department of Dermatology at the Boston University School of Medicine (BUSM), was recently named one of America's Top Doctors by Castle Connolly Medical Ltd.
The America's Top Doctors guide, recognized by consumers seeking high-quality medical care, is a trusted and authoritative resource for identifying top doctors in the United States. The selected top doctors are nominated by hospital presidents; vice presidents of medical affairs; and chiefs of service in anesthesiology, obstetrics and gynecology, medicine, emergency medicine, pediatrics, psychiatry, radiology and surgery; as well as randomly selected board-certified physicians.
Gilchrest received her medical degree from Harvard Medical School, performed her clinical training in internal medicine, as well as her dermatology residency at the Harvard-affiliated hospitals. She concluded her training with a laboratory-based research fellowship at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT).
From 1976 to 1983, she was a faculty member of the Department of Dermatology and Division on Aging at Harvard Medical School, where she established a tissue culture laboratory to study aging and photoaging in human skin. From 1983 through 1985, Gilchrest was chief of the Cutaneous Gerontology Laboratory at Tufts University.
Her research interests have focused on cellular responses to ultraviolet (UV) irradiation, the molecular basis of aging, UV-induced tanning, and most recently on novel cancer therapies. She served as chair of dermatology at BUSM and chief of dermatology at BMC from 1985 to 2008. Gilchrest remains active in patient care and resident education while now also pursuing interests in the biotechnology world.
Gilchrest has authored eight books, as well as hundreds of original research articles. She is a member, past-president or board member of many professional organizations, including the MIT Corporation and Institute of Medicine of the National Academies of Science.