Irena PastarProf

Irena Pastar, Ph.D., is Professor in the Dr. Phillip Frost Department of Dermatology and Cutaneous Surgery and the Department of Microbiology and Immunology at the University of Miami Miller School of Medicine, where she serves as Research Director of the Hidradenitis Suppurativa (HS) Center. She earned her Ph.D. in Microbial Genetics from the University of Belgrade and completed postdoctoral training at The Rockefeller University and Weill Cornell Medical College/Hospital for Special Surgery before joining the University of Miami faculty in 2011. Dr. Pastar is an internationally recognized translational scientist whose research focuses on wound healing, chronic wound infections, host-microbe interactions, skin innate immunity, and hidradenitis suppurativa (HS). She founded and leads the University of Miami's multidisciplinary HS Research Program, which has grown into a nationally recognized center for scientific discovery, clinical translation, patient advocacy, and trainee development. Her work has advanced understanding of chronic inflammation, microbial dysbiosis, tissue repair, and the mechanisms underlying HS, chronic wounds, and related comorbidities. Throughout her career, Dr. Pastar has maintained continuous support from the National Institutes of Health, Department of Defense, foundations, and industry sponsors, including multiple NIH R01 awards as principal investigator. She has authored more than 110 peer-reviewed publications with over 11,500 citations, publishing in leading journals including Science Translational Medicine, Journal of Clinical Investigation, Nature Communications, eLife, Molecular Therapy, and the Journal of Investigative Dermatology. Dr. Pastar serves on the editorial boards of Wound Repair and Regeneration, Frontiers in Medicine, and the International Wound Journal. She is a Standing Member of the NIH Study Section, serves on the Board of Directors of the HS Foundation, and has mentored more than 70 trainees across undergraduate, graduate, medical, postdoctoral, and junior faculty levels. Her contributions have been recognized through numerous national honors, including the Wound Healing Society Mid-Career Faculty Award and election as an Associate Fellow of the Wound Healing Society.