Dennis A. Porto, MD
Dr. Porto is a double board-certified dermatologist and Mohs micrographic surgeon. He is on Faculty at Mount Sinai and treats patients virtually from coast to coast.
Dr. Porto's training includes medical school at the University of Iowa, Dermatology residency at Henry Ford Health System, and graduate school and skin cancer research fellowship at Harvard. He was the recipient of the Lewis Hackett award at Harvard and was a co-editor and co-author of the foremost textbook on Botox and other cosmetics in dermatology. His peer-reviewed journal articles have been cited hundreds of times. He graduated at the top of his class in medical school, matched into a prestigious dermatology residency, and completed post-graduate training in Mohs micrographic surgery. He was awarded the Golden Scalpel from the American Society for Dermatologic Surgery. He teaches skin cancer surgery to dermatology resident physicians as a Clinical Assistant Professor at Mount Sinai and lectures domestically and internationally on dermatology.
Board certification
Dr. Porto holds two certifications from the American Board of Dermatology. The first, in dermatology, was awarded in July 2017. The second, in micrographic dermatologic surgery, was awarded in October 2021.
That second certification is the one worth explaining, because it is uncommon and it is frequently blurred in marketing elsewhere. Mohs micrographic surgery removes skin cancer in stages, with each layer examined under a microscope during the procedure itself, so the surgeon can see exactly where tumor remains before taking any more tissue. It produces the highest cure rates for the most common skin cancers while removing the least healthy skin, and it is why it is the standard for tumors on the face. Formal board certification in it requires post-graduate training beyond a dermatology residency and is held by a small minority of dermatologists.
- American Academy of Dermatology — Find a Dermatologist Board certification and Fellow status, confirmed by the Academy (opens in a new tab).
- ORCID: 0000-0002-4581-5735 Verified record of peer-reviewed publications and authorship (opens in a new tab).
- Google Scholar Citation record for published research (opens in a new tab).
Training
- 2005 – 2009 Creighton University — B.S., Biology Graduated with a 4.0 grade point average. Inducted into Phi Sigma and Omicron Delta Kappa, and awarded the Superior Scholastic Achievement Award and the Ignatian Leadership and Service Scholarship.
- 2009 – 2013 University of Iowa Carver College of Medicine — M.D. Inducted into Alpha Omega Alpha as a junior medical student, an honor limited to the top of the class. Dean's Scholar. Editor-in-Chief of the medical student newspaper for three years.
- 2010 Harvard Skin Disease Research Center — Skin cancer research fellowship Rheinwald Laboratory, Brigham and Women's Hospital. Studied the signaling that drives squamous cell carcinoma to invade surrounding tissue — the mechanism behind the cancers he now removes surgically.
- 2013 – 2014 University of Iowa, Des Moines — Medical internship Served as Transition Year Representative to the Graduate Medical Education Committee.
- 2014 – 2017 Henry Ford Health System — Dermatology residency Detroit, Michigan. Awarded the Dermatology Resident Teaching Award in 2017 and served as Vice-Chair of the House Staff Council. Founded the hospital's integrated dermatology–psychiatry clinic.
- 2017 – 2018 Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health — M.P.H. Awarded the Lewis W. Hackett Award. Semifinalist in the Harvard President's Innovation Challenge.
Practice and teaching
Dr. Porto is a Clinical Assistant Professor at Mount Sinai, where he teaches skin cancer surgery to dermatology residents — the physicians who will spend their careers diagnosing and removing it.
Teaching has run through the whole of his career. He received the Dermatology Resident Teaching Award at Henry Ford, served as invited faculty at the American Society for Dermatologic Surgery’s Surgery Film School, and founded the integrated dermatology–psychiatry clinic at Henry Ford Hospital.
He has practiced full-scope medical and surgical dermatology since 2018. Virtual care through this site is an extension of that work rather than a separate venture — the same physician who trains residents in skin cancer surgery is the one reading your photographs.
Research and writing
Dr. Porto is a co-editor of Botulinum Toxins in Dermatology: Cosmetic and Clinical Applications (Wiley-Blackwell, 2017), alongside Joel Cohen and David Ozog, and contributed the chapter on contouring of the lower face. He has authored more than fifteen peer-reviewed articles across dermatology, dermatopathology, laser medicine, and emergency medicine.
- Porto DA, Wang SQ, Lim HW. Counseling patients on photoprotection. JAMA Dermatology. 2017;153(1):110.
- Porto DA, Ozog DM. The utility of dermoscopy in directing laser therapy. Lasers in Surgery and Medicine. 2016;48(2):93–94.
- Oberlin D, Porto DA, LoPiccolo M, Kohen LL. Modified purse-string closure: a lymphatic channel and tissue sparing technique for biopsy of suspicious pigmented lesions on extremities. Journal of the American Academy of Dermatology. 2018.
- Hossain C, Porto DA, Hamzavi I, Lim HW. Camouflaging agents for vitiligo patients. Journal of Drugs in Dermatology. 2016;15(4):611–614.
- Seale L, Gaulding JV, Porto DA, Prabhakar D, Kerr H. Implementation of a psychodermatology clinic at a major health system in Detroit. International Journal of Women's Dermatology. 2018.
- Porto DA, Comfere NI, Myers LM, Abbott JJ. Pseudolymphomatous reaction to varicella zoster virus vaccination: role of viral in situ hybridization. Journal of Cutaneous Pathology. 2010;37(10):1098–1102.
Further publications and presentations
- Porto DA, Sutton S, Wilson JB, Scupham RK, Stone M, Liu V. Lymphoplasmacytic plaque in children: a report of two new cases with review of the literature. Journal of Cutaneous Pathology. 2013;40(1):50–55.
- Porto DA, Jahnke MN, Fustino NJ. An infant with a rash resembling seborrheic dermatitis and petechiae. Journal of Pediatrics. 2014;165(3):633.
- Porto DA, LoPiccolo MC, Kouba DJ. Impetigo after actinic keratosis treatment with ingenol mebutate gel: an important complication. Journal of Skin and Surgical Care. 2015;2(3).
- Porto DA, Kohen LL. Pulsatile nodule on the ventral wrist. Journal of the American Academy of Dermatology. 2015;73(4).
- Gordon S, Porto DA, Ozog DM, Council ML. Creating and editing a video to accompany manuscripts. Dermatologic Surgery. 2016;42(2):249–250.
- Gordon S, Porto DA, Kerr HA. Asymptomatic papules on the lateral hands and feet. Journal of the American Academy of Dermatology. 2016;74(4).
- O'Brien R, Porto DA, Friedman BJ, Douglass MC. Elderly female with swelling of the right breast. Annals of Emergency Medicine. 2016;67(6).
- Agrawal S, Porto DA, Lim HW. Paradoxically dark spontaneous repigmentation: a rare complication of generalized vitiligo. Journal of the European Academy of Dermatology and Venereology. 2016.
- Tudor P, Porto DA, Siddiqui F, Lim HW. Tumor-stage mycosis fungoides regressing with milia and pustules after total skin electron beam therapy. JEADV. 2017;31(10):440.
- Park MY, Porto DA, Ahn KY. Contouring of the lower face and calf. In: Cohen J, Ozog D, eds. Botulinum Toxins in Dermatology. Wiley-Blackwell; 2017.
- Invited faculty, Dermatologic Surgery Film School — ASDS Annual Meeting, 2016.
- Role of dermoscopy in directing laser therapy — ASLMS Annual Meeting, 2016.
- Integrative psychiatry-dermatology — Michigan Dermatological Society, 2016.
Honors
- Alpha Omega Alpha
- Golden Scalpel Knowledge Bowl winner, ASDS, 2016
- Lewis W. Hackett Award, Harvard, 2017
- Dermatology Resident Teaching Award, 2017
- Finalist, Dermatopathology Bowl, AAD, 2016
- ASLMS Preceptorship with Dr. Jeffrey Dover
- Outstanding Presentation in Dermatology, 2010
- Dean's Scholar, University of Iowa
- Omicron Delta Kappa
Service
Dr. Porto serves on the American Academy of Dermatology's Organizational Structure Committee, the American Society for Dermatologic Surgery's Policy Priorities Working Group, and the American Society for Laser Medicine and Surgery's Awards Committee. He founded and directed the integrated dermatology–psychiatry clinic at Henry Ford Hospital, a model for treating the substantial overlap between skin disease and mental health, and has appeared as a featured physician in patient education work for Fight Colorectal Cancer.
See a dermatologist without the wait
Describe what you are seeing, send photographs, and get a diagnosis and treatment plan directly from Dr. Porto.
Frequently asked questions
Where did Dr. Porto train?
He earned his medical degree at the University of Iowa Carver College of Medicine, where he was inducted into Alpha Omega Alpha as a junior medical student. He completed dermatology residency at Henry Ford Health System in Detroit, a skin cancer research fellowship at the Harvard Skin Disease Research Center, and a Master of Public Health at the Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health.
What does double board-certified mean?
Dr. Porto holds two separate certifications from the American Board of Dermatology: general dermatology, certified in 2017, and micrographic dermatologic surgery — Mohs surgery — certified in 2021. The second is a subspecialty certification held by a small fraction of dermatologists and requires additional post-graduate training in skin cancer surgery.
Is Dr. Porto a Mohs surgeon?
Yes. Mohs micrographic surgery is a technique for removing skin cancer in stages, examining each layer under the microscope during the procedure so that the smallest possible amount of healthy tissue is removed. Dr. Porto is board-certified in it and performs it as part of his surgical practice.
Has Dr. Porto published research?
He has authored more than fifteen peer-reviewed articles in journals including the Journal of the American Academy of Dermatology, JAMA Dermatology, Lasers in Surgery and Medicine, and the Journal of Cutaneous Pathology. He is also a co-editor of Botulinum Toxins in Dermatology: Cosmetic and Clinical Applications, published by Wiley-Blackwell.
Does Dr. Porto teach?
Yes. He is a Clinical Assistant Professor at Mount Sinai, where he teaches skin cancer surgery to dermatology residents. He received the Dermatology Resident Teaching Award at Henry Ford Health System in 2017 and has served as invited faculty at the American Society for Dermatologic Surgery's Surgery Film School.
Which states is Dr. Porto licensed in?
New York, Massachusetts, California, Virginia, Maryland, New Jersey, New Hampshire, Hawaii, Pennsylvania, and Connecticut. Each state has its own page describing care available to residents there.
This page is general information about Dr. Porto's background and qualifications. It is not medical advice, and reading it does not create a physician–patient relationship. If you are experiencing a medical emergency, call 911 or go to the nearest emergency department.