From its earliest days, Katz research has been grounded in the health challenges facing the communities around us.
In 1901, Jay F. Schamberg, MD, a Katz professor of dermatology, investigated a persistent skin condition affecting people across Philadelphia and traced its cause to mites found in straw bedding. The condition became known as dermatitis schambergi—but recognition was never Schamberg’s goal. Improving health was.
Schamberg also operated free dermatology clinics serving immigrants and families with limited access to care, helping establish an enduring Katz principle: science and service are inseparable.
[Link to: Explore our Community Commitment]
For 125 years, Katz researchers have pursued the health challenges of their time—from infectious diseases in the school’s early decades to cardiovascular and lung disease, cancer, diabetes, addiction, trauma and other pressing concerns.
The questions have changed. The purpose has not: understand what is happening, discover what can be done and translate that knowledge into better health.
Along the way, Katz investigators have developed new technologies and treatments, improved clinical approaches, led national studies and trained generations of physicians and scientists. Long before translational research became a widely used term, Katz researchers were connecting scientific discovery with clinical care and community health.
[Link to: Explore 125 Years of Katz History]
Today, faculty across 15 multidisciplinary research centers advance discovery in cardiovascular disease, cancer biology, infectious diseases, neuroscience, addiction science and other areas of human health. Katz investigators lead and contribute to federally funded research and national collaborations that help shape clinical practice, public health and future scientific inquiry.
This research strength contributes to Temple University’s standing as an R1 research institution, the Carnegie Classification’s designation for universities with the highest levels of research activity.
Research at Katz continues to be defined by bold questions, meaningful discovery and a commitment to improving health. For 125 years, our researchers have advanced medicine by staying connected to the people, communities and health challenges their work is meant to serve.