Edward W. Cowen, M.D., M.H.Sc., leads the NIH Dermatology Consultation Service, conducts independent and collaborative research, and oversees the continuing medication education-accredited Dermatology Grand Rounds, Branch Clinical Fellowship and resident education programs. He is an internationally recognized expert in cutaneous graft-versus-host disease and serves as Director on the American Board of Dermatology as well as on the Editorial Board of JAMA Dermatology.
Dr. Cowen’s primary interests include chronic graft-versus-host disease (GVHD) graft-versus-host disease (GVHD): Also called GVHD, it is a common complication of bone marrow/stem cell transplantation. It is caused when the donor's immune cells, now in the patient, begin to see the the patient's body as foreign and mount an immune response. GVHD most commonly effects the recipient's skin, intestines, or liver… , primary immunodeficiency, autoinflammatory skin disease, cancer genodermatoses, and adverse drug reactions. As a founding member of the NIH chronic GVHD program, Dr. Cowen has authored more than 50 original manuscripts and chapters relating to the disease. Novel discoveries include the first identification of total body irradiation as a risk factor for skin fibrosis fibrosis: (fie-BRO-suss) Scarring of tissue. Fibrosis of the bone marrow is an feature seen in some types of unclassified myeldysplastic syndrome (MDS). in chronic GVHD, the first comprehensive description of GVHD-associated angiomatosis, and the first link between voriconazole exposure and squamous cell carcinoma in allogeneic hematopoietic cell transplant recipients. Current research interests include novel treatments for skin fibrosis and objective measurement tools to assess disease activity and response.