Department of Dermatology, Professor Daisuke Tsuruta

The profile of Professor Daisuke Tsuruta

I, Daisuke Tsuruta, am the fourth chairman of the Department of Dermatology, Osaka Metropolitan University Graduate School of Medicine.

The Department of Dermatology, Osaka Metropolitan University Graduate School of Medicine, was founded over 50 years ago.

If we describe the first 50 years as the “founding period” of our department, the next 50 years will be called the “period of development,” and our aim is to show that our department has indeed entered this stage. The Department of Dermatology and the university are located in central Osaka. Therefore, we have many patients with “modern/urban” diseases, including allergy, autoimmune diseases, and malignant tumors, so we also feel we have a responsibility to provide “urban-style” healthcare. Our guiding principle is to train ourselves every day to work toward these goals.

The study of autoimmune bullous diseases (pemphigus, pemphigoid) and psoriasis has been my clinical lifework. It has always been my goal to explain the mechanisms behind these diseases and develop treatments for them. Over the past 10 years, two events have completely changed my viewpoint on the treatment of these diseases –the introduction of high-dose immunoglobulin to treat autoimmune bullous diseases and the introduction of biologics to treat psoriasis. As a physician, I have witnessed the enormous changes brought about by the introduction of these treatments in comparison to previous methods. I have learned that revealing the mechanism of the disease process may lead to major changes in both the patient’s and the physician’s way of thinking.

As the chairman of the dermatology department, I would like to set the following goals for our department: to be able to treat intractable skin diseases appropriately; to conduct research with the aim of developing treatments for diseases that currently have no definitive treatment; and to provide a reliable facility that enables local residents to visit the office in comfort and doctors in the community to make referrals with confidence.

Our department is a team of experts in various fields. All members strive to work as one so that every kind of intractable skin disease may eventually be treatable at our university hospital. Our strength is our teamwork.

The profile of Professor Daisuke Tsuruta