About DermNet®

DermNet® is the world’s leading free dermatology resource.

DermNet® is created for healthcare professionals to serve as a comprehensive database of skin conditions.

Nearly everyone will experience a skin issue at some point in their lives and having a trustworthy, independent, easily accessible source of information is important for both practitioner and patient. DermNet® is that resource. Trustworthy, forever free, and accessible to anyone at any time.

Who are we

DermNet® is a not-for-profit, independent health publisher with a mission to make trustworthy information about the skin accessible to anyone.

We have evidence-based information on almost every skin condition and a library of over 20,000 dermatology images.

Our content is written by healthcare professionals, and always reviewed by a dermatologist; we are constantly updating content to bring you the latest dermatology research.

DermNet® is funded by donations, advertising, sponsorship and image licensing.

Our current Editor-in-Chief, Dr Ian Coulson, is one of the top dermatologists in the United Kingdom and has been awarded for his work in the field.

DermNet® is owned by the New Zealand Dermatological Society.

How to use the site

Information on DermNet® can be found under 4 main categories

1. Skin condition topic pages
2. Dermatology images
3. Case studies
4. Resources (quizzes, diagnostic tools, calculators student centre, and education)

The best way to use DermNet® is to use our search function to find specific content, or you can browse our home page to see the latest updates.

Why we do what we do

We are a small, dedicated, passionate team with the sole purpose of building and maintaining the best free dermatology resource in the world. We’re not focused on popularity or website traffic. We love what we do and continue to work toward this goal; providing information you can trust, published by dermatologists, to help inform practice and improve the health and wellbeing of communities around the world. 

For information on our editorial process explaining how we do what we do, please click here.

Values

Accessible – dermatology information at the click of a button, worldwide

Authoritative – researched, edited, and finally reviewed by dermatologists

Accurate – up-to-date information reflecting the latest science

Independent – unrestricted in our ability to publish uninfluenced information

Free – freely accessible information saves lives

Our story

Supported by the New Zealand Dermatological Society (NZDSI), DermNet® was launched in 1996 by dermatologists Dr Amanda Oakley, Dr Mark Duffill and Dr Marius Rademaker.

Over his career, Dr Mark Duffill had collected and classified a large collection of Kodachrome clinical photographs and patient-friendly information leaflets on wide-ranging dermatological conditions. He shared these freely with his colleagues, for their education and for the benefit of their patients. In 1987, Dr Amanda Oakley joined Dr Mark Duffill in the Waikato public dermatology service, with Dr Marius Rademaker following later, in 1992.

These three dermatologists founded DermNet® in 1996, forming the DermNet Development Group. Mark’s clinical photographs and patient information sheets were the cornerstone from which the website was created. Dr Amanda Oakley showed great prescience in digitalising and publishing vast numbers of images and topic pages which over the subsequent years grew to what it is today.

Since its humble beginnings, innumerable patients have willingly gifted images, hundreds of writers have written and researched content, and countless hours have been volunteered to build the world’s leading free dermatology resource. To all the contributors, we are very grateful.

Dr Amanda Oakley was appointed as a Companion of the New Zealand Order of Merit for services to dermatology in 2018. Amanda stepped down as Editor-in-Chief in 2020. DermNet® then welcomed Dr Delwyn Dyall-Smith as Editor-in-Chief who worked above and beyond expectations to help DermNet® through a challenging transition. In late 2021, UK dermatologist, Dr Ian Coulson was appointed as Editor-in-Chief, and DermNet® continues to go from strength to strength under his Editorial leadership.

DermNet® is a charitable trust, registration CC50036