David J. Altman, M.D., Ph.D.

David J. Altman, M.D., Ph.D. ('79) is Vice President of Clinical Affairs and Chief Medical Officer of Cognigen Corporation (Williamsville, NY). After earning his undergraduate degree from Harvard University, Dr. Altman attended the SUNY/Buffalo School of Medicine where he graduated magna cum laude. He also earned his Ph.D. in immunology and served as a research associate at Roswell Park Cancer Institute. In 1997, he was named a Fellow of the American Society for Dermatologic Surgery and Fellow of the American Academy of Dermatology.

Prior to joining Cognigen, Dr. Altman had served as vice president of Clinical Affairs and Development for Beauty Genome Sciences in Chasset, MA. He was also the Acting Executive Director of Dermatology Worldwide Clinical Research & Development, Pharmaceutical Research Institute, for Brisol-Myers Squibb Co., Princeton, NJ and served as Medical Director of Westwood-Squibb Pharmaceuticals in Buffalo (1997-98).

In the mid-1990's, he was a clinical associate in Dermatology at the National Cancer Institute in Bethesda, MD where he founded an HIV-Dermatology/Psoriasis Clinic. Dr. Altman has been the recipient of numerous honors and awards and has authored over two dozen articles, abstracts and other publications. He has cited his high school Biology teacher, Richard Dougherty (now retired) as being his inspiration for his career in medical research.