September 8, 2026

Erum N. Ilyas, MD ’01, MBE, has been appointed academic chair of Drexel University College of Medicine’s provisional Department of Dermatology.

Dr. Ilyas has been serving as interim chair of the department since January 2024. She has been a College of Medicine faculty member since 2016 and has served as the Dermatology Pathway director since 2021.

As academic chair, Dr. Ilyas will focus on expanding the dermatology educational curriculum for medical students, increasing research opportunities and fostering community outreach. Impressive programs already in development under Dr. Ilyas’ leadership include supporting dermatologic education in high schools, fostering sun protective efforts in local communities, and working with special needs daycares to support skin health.

She has been expanding the number of engaged faculty who represent all dermatologic subspecialities including medical dermatology, procedural dermatology (Mohs surgery), dermatopathology, pediatric dermatology and cosmetic dermatology. She will further develop research opportunities for medical students in the dermatologic sciences, leveraging her current research expertise in cutaneous interactions with textiles.

Dr. Ilyas earned a Bachelor of Science in biochemistry and molecular biology and a Bachelor of Arts in philosophy, cum laude, from the University of Maryland Baltimore County, and then matriculated at MCP-Hahnemann University, a predecessor institution of the College of Medicine, where she also completed an internship in internal medicine. She completed her dermatology residency at Cooper Hospital/University Medical Center-Robert Wood Johnson Medical School, where she was chief resident. She earned a master’s degree in bioethics from the University of Pennsylvania Perelman School of Medicine in 2017.