June 1, 2023

Message sent on behalf of Carlos del Rio, MD, Interim Dean, Emory School of Medicine, and Ravi Thadhani, MD, MPH, Executive Vice President for Health Affairs

Dear colleagues and friends:

As some of you may know, Dr. Bob Swerlick has announced his desire to step down as chair of the Department of Dermatology as of July 1, 2023. We are so grateful to Dr. Swerlick for his outstanding leadership of the department since 2008. Under Bob’s tenure, the department has grown and thrived as a center for innovation, research, patient care, healthcare equity and education in dermatology.   

We are pleased to share that Benjamin Stoff, MD, MAB, has accepted the role of interim chair, beginning on July 1. Dr. Stoff is associate professor of dermatology and serves as chief of dermatopathology.

Dr. Stoff received a BA from the University of Virginia, graduating Phi Beta Kappa with distinction, and an MD from the University of Texas Southwestern Medical School, graduating AOA. He completed dermatology residency at Emory, where he served as chief resident, and dermatopathology fellowship also at Emory. He practices general dermatology and dermatopathology, with a subspecialty focus on melanoma. He also practices teledermatology through the VA Health System. 

In 2016, Dr. Stoff earned a Master of Arts in Bioethics from the Emory Center for Ethics, where he currently holds an appointment as Senior Faculty Fellow. He is co-director of the ethics track for residents and fellows through the Emory Office of Graduate Medical Education and co-editor of the textbook “Dermatoethics, 2nd Edition.”  He is also Editor-in-Chief of Dialogues in Dermatology, the official CME podcast of the American Academy of Dermatology. He is involved in global health as well, serving on the Advisory Committee for the Emory Global Health Residency Scholars Program and chairing the Dermatology Steering Committee of Health Volunteers Overseas, a non-profit organization which facilitates international teaching assignments for dermatologists and other healthcare professionals. He has authored more than 100 peer-reviewed articles and several book chapters.

Please join us in thanking Dr. Swerlick and welcoming Dr. Stoff as interim chair.

Carlos del Rio, MD

Interim Dean, Emory University School of Medicine
Interim Chief Academic Officer, Emory Healthcare
Leon L. Haley, Jr. MD Distinguished Professor of Medicine
Division of Infectious Diseases, Emory University School of Medicine

Ravi Thadhani, MD, MPH

Executive Vice President for Health Affairs

Emory University