Luke A. Perkocha, M.D.
Contact Information
- Luke.Perkocha@
ucsf.edu - Phone: 415-885-7254
Selected Publications
- Patient Safety: On the Strategic and Marketing Radar Screen. Perkocha LA in Healthcare Marketing Advisor. February 2008.
- Experts Discuss How Rising Costs and Tight Budgets May Affect Healthcare's Future. Perkocha LA, interviewed in Cor Healthcare Market Strategist. May - Aug 2003; volume 4; nos. 5-8.
- Perkocha, LA. Secure Online Communication Edges Closer for Physicians. SCMA Journal. (July 2000) 49:7.
- Perkocha LA. Melanoma Classification: Common and Unusual Variants; in Melanoma: State of the Art Reviews; ed. LeBoit PE; Hanley and Belfus, Philadelphia, PA (1994).
- Berger TG, Perkocha LA. Bacillary Angiomatosis; in AIDS Clinical Reviews; ed. Volberding P, Jacobson MA; Marcel-Dekker, New York (1991).
- Perkocha LA, Geaghan SM, Yen TSB, Nishimura SL, Chan SP, Garcia-Kennedy R, Honda G, Stoloff AC, Klein HZ, Goldman RL, VanMeter S, Ferrell LD, LeBoit PE: HIV-Associated Peliosis Hepatis: Clinical and Pathologic Features of an Unusual Opportunistic Bacillary Infection. New Engl J Med (1990) 323:1581.
- Liu LF, Perkocha LA, Calendar R, Wang JC: Knotted DNA from Bacteriophage Capsids. Proc Natl Acad Sci USA (1981) 78:5498.
- Associate Professor of Pathology and Dermatology
Background
I am a native San Franciscan, who first ventured only slightly East across Bay waters to UC Berkeley, where I studied the molecular biology of DNA replication. Being somewhat braver a few years later, I went much further west across the Pacific to take a position in marine biology research in a laboratory on the island of Oahu. After first collaborating on projects with laboratories of the University of Hawaii Medical School, I eventually attended school there, earning my MD degree. I returned home to UC San Francisco to complete my residency in Anatomic Pathology and Laboratory Medicine.
During this time, I was bitten with the "Dermatopathology bug" and infected with a lifelong passion for the diagnosis of skin diseases, thanks to the mentorship of Drs. LeBoit and Sagebiel and others in the Dermatology and Pathology Departments at UCSF. I was fortunate to be the first fellow in a fledgling department which has since become a large and internationally renowned Dermatopathology Laboratory, thanks to the scientific leadership of Drs. LeBoit and McCalmont.
I left UCSF, just as Dr. McCalmont was arriving and joined a private laboratory, where I specialized in Dermatopathology, providing diagnostic and consultative services for dozens of community Dermatologists, Pathologists and other physicians in four states. Along the way, I acquired an additional interest in laboratory management, and the application of business and industrial principles to improve the safety and efficiency of laboratory testing. I obtained my MBA at the University of San Francisco and served as President of a national laboratory management organization.
My journey in Dermatopathology has recently brought me full circle back to where I first trained. I currently have joint responsibilities as the Associate Director of Surgical Pathology at UCSF and as a staff physician with the UCSF Dermatopathology Service. In addition to the diagnosis of inflammatory and neoplastic skin diseases, my academic interests include telepathology and measuring the impacts of process improvements on patient safety and efficiency in laboratory settings. It's great to be back at UCSF with such an outstanding group!