Rhett Drugge, M.D. | About Rhett Drugge, M.D.

Dr. Rhett Drugge is a native of Darien, Connecticut and a graduate of Harvard University. Upon graduation with a baccalaureate degree in Intellectual History, he went to Capitol Hill and wrote senatorial speeches for Senator Lowell Weicker for a year. A few years later, he distinguished himself in medical research at Yale University by discovering the receptor for cyclosporin A (the major drug for organ transplant patients). He then matriculated to New York Medical College in Valhalla, New York where he went on to receive his medical degree. While a medical student, he served some of his medical rounds at Stamford Hospital. He completed his medical internship at New York University and then served his Dermatology Residency at the University of Michigan.

Board Certified in both Dermatology and Dermatology Surgery in 1992, Dr. Rhett Drugge is a member of the Society for Investigative Dermatology, the American Academy of Dermatology, and the American Society for Mohs Surgery. He is the founder of the Internet Dermatology Society and he is the Chief Editor of the Electronic Textbook of Dermatology. Rhett Drugge has written numerous database information systems for networked medical record keeping, with a special focus on physician to physician communications. He also designs and tests imaging solutions for the skin care industry. He is active in interviewing prospective undergraduates for Harvard. His special academic interest is dermatology information systems. Dr. Rhett Drugge is married to his wife, Heather and they have a daughter named Grace and a son named Frank.

Scientist, inventor, editor, and consultant in the private practice of dermatology and cosmetic surgery at the above address.

Harvard College, Cambridge, Massachusetts, A.B. 1977-81
New York Medical College, Valhalla, New York, M.D. 1984-88
Medical Internship: New York University - 1988-89
Chief of Service: Norton Spritz, M.D.
Dermatology Residency: University of Michigan, 1989-1992
Chief of Service: John J. Voorhees, M.D.

American Board of Dermatology, 1992.

Connecticut 1992, #032482
New York, 1992, #189613
Tax Identification #: 06-1383859
DEA# BD 2031196
Connecticut Controlled Substance #20310

Attending Physician, St. Joseph Medical Center, Stamford, CT
Attending Physician, Stamford Hospital, Stamford, CT
American Association for the Advancement of Science
Fellow, American Academy of Dermatology
Member, American Medical Association
New York Academy of Science, #241191
Member, The Society for Investagative Dermatology
Fellow, American Society for Mohs Surgery

7/92 - Present
Remote Access Dermatology Research.
Member of the American Academy of Dermatology Telemedicine Interest Group and the President's Special Committee on Technology.
Founder, The Internet Dermatology Society.
Founder and Chief Editor, Global Dermatology Grand Rounds, an Internet based forum for exchange of challenging dermatology cases.
Telemedicine Editor, Dermatology Online Journal.

11/89 - 3/90
Research associate, University of Michigan, Immunoprecipitation of phosphotyrosinated substrates of epidermal growth factor receptor. Sponsor: J.T. Elder, M.D. Ph.D.

10/85 - 9/86
Research associate, New York Medical College, part-time from October to May studying immunofluorescent staining and cytolytic assays with lymphokine-activated natural killer (LANK) cells; full-time, from June to September, performing c-DNA library screening for the nucleotide sequence of perforin-1, a component of LANK cell granules. Sponsor: E.R. Podack, M.D.

7/85 - 8/85
Summer student fellowship, New York Medical College, studying the influence of the cyclosporin A binding protein, cyclophilin, on mitogen stimulated human peripheral blood lymphocytes. Co-sponsors: J.W. Chiao, Ph.D. and R.E. Handschumacher, Ph.D.

11/82 - 8/84
Research assistant, Yale University School of Medicine, isolation and purification of cyclophilin, the putative receptor for cyclosporin A. Cyclosporin A metabolite studies. Sponsor: R.E. Handschumacher, Ph.D.

Reliability and accuracy of dermatologists' clinic-based and digital image consultations.

Whited JD, Hall RP, Simel DL, Foy ME, Stechuchak KM, Drugge RJ, Grichnik JM, Myers SA, Horner RD

Institute for Clinical and Epidemiologic Research, Veterans Affairs (VA) Medical Center, Durham, North Carolina 27705, USA.

BACKGROUND: Telemedicine technology holds great promise for dermatologic health care delivery. However, the clinical outcomes of digital image consultations (teledermatology) must be compared with traditional clinic-based consultations. OBJECTIVE: Our purpose was to assess and compare the reliability and accuracy of dermatologists' diagnoses and management recommendations for clinic-based and digital image consultations. METHODS: One hundred sixty-eight lesions found among 129 patients were independently examined by 2 clinic-based dermatologists and 3 different digital image dermatologist consultants. The reliability and accuracy of the examiners' diagnoses and the reliability of their management recommendations were compared. RESULTS: Proportion agreement among clinic-based examiners for their single most likely diagnosis was 0. 54 (95% confidence interval [CI], 0.46-0.61) and was 0.92 (95% CI, 0. 88-0.96) when ratings included differential diagnoses. Digital image consultants provided diagnoses that were comparably reliable to the clinic-based examiners. Agreement on management recommendations was variable. Digital image and clinic-based consultants displayed similar diagnostic accuracy. CONCLUSION: Digital image consultations result in reliable and accurate diagnostic outcomes when compared with traditional clinic-based consultations.

J D Whited, B J Mills, R P Hall, R J Drugge, J M Grichnik and D L Simel

A pilot trial of digital imaging in skin cancer, Journal of Telemedicine and Telecare, April 1998.

A. Bittorf, N.C. Krejci-Papa, T. Ray, A. Huntley, D.C. Collison, R. Drugge, D. Hiller, M. Bergmann, T.L. Diepgen1, Applications of the WWW: A Multicentered Dermatologic Image Database, poster presentation, 3rd WWW Conference, May 1995.

Chan, LS, Fine, JD, Briggaman, RA, Woodley, DT, Hammerberg, C, Drugge, RJ, Cooper KD, Identification and partial characterization of a novel 105-kDalton lower lamina lucida autoantigen associated with a novel immune- mediated subepidermal blistering disease.: J Invest Dermatol (1993 Sep) 101(3):262-7

Elder, JT, Pepinsky, RB, Drugge, RJ, Voorhees, JJ, Wallner, B, Increased expression of lipocortin I mRNA, but not lipocortin I protein, in psoriasis. poster presentation, Society of Investigative Dermatology, May 1990.

Drugge, RJ, Handschumacher, RE, Cyclosporine: mechanism of action. Transplantation Proc., Vol. XX, No. 2, Suppl 2: 301, 1988.

Handschumacher, RE, Harding, MW, Rice, J, Drugge, RJ, Speicher, DW, Cyclophilin: a specific cytosolic binding protein for cyclosporin A. Science, 226: 544, 1984.