Back to Main

Faculty Detail    
Name BONI E ELEWSKI
 
Campus Address FOT 858 Zip 0009
Phone  (205) 934-5189
E-mail  
Other websites
     


Faculty Appointment(s)
Appointment Type Department Division Rank
Center  Ctr for Clinical & Translational Sci  Ctr for Clinical & Translational Sci Professor
Primary  Dermatology  Dermatology Professor

Graduate Biomedical Sciences Affiliations
Waiting to be Seated 

Biographical Sketch 
Dr. Boni E. Elewski (b. 1953) received her M.D. degree from Ohio State University in 1978 and trained in internal medicine and dermatology at the University of North Carolina in Chapel Hill. She did graduate work at Duke University in Medical Mycology. Before coming to UAB in 1999, she was a Professor of Dermatology at Case Western Reserve University (CWRU) in Cleveland, Ohio where she was also director and founder of the Center for Medical Mycology.



Research/Clinical Interest
Title
Description
Dr. Boni Elewski’s research is aimed at developing new and innovative methods to diagnose and manage cutaneous fungal infections caused by dermatophyte fungi, as well as to establish their prevalence in certain populations. For example, she has determined that these common skin infections are increasing in prevalence at alarming rates and are particularly common in those immunocompromised by disease (HIV) or therapy (transplant recipients). Finding that tinea capitis (scalp ringworm) occurs in about 14% of children in Ohio, a four-fold increase in the past decade, Dr. Elewski is currently determining the prevalence of tinea capitis in Alabama and looking for links with other conditions, such as asthma and attention deficit disorder, that have also increased in prevalence in recent years. She also found that onychomycosis (nail fungus) occurs in 13% of the US population, a five fold increase over the last 50 years. Although effective antimycotic agents are available for treatment of these conditions, they continue to remain a diagnostic dilemma, and there is no simple diagnostic tool. Consequently, Dr. Elewski co-founded a dermatomycology laboratory at UAB to further study diagnosis and identification of these common infections. Dr. Elewski has also investigated the treatment of cutaneous fungal infections. Her work includes pivotal clinical studies on their management in children and adults. Additionally, Dr. Elewski found that immunologic response to fungal antigens or proteins is a predictor of treatment outcome. Her research is done through clinical trials, and the newly created UAB Fungal Reference Laboratory.