Janet H. Prystowsky, MD, Associate Clinical Professor of Dermatology at Mount Sinai

Janet Hill Prystowsky, MD, PhD and her staff provide a thorough, caring approach to patients with skin concerns and disorders in a detailed, personal, and professional manner.  She grew up in the Chicago area, received her BS with honors from Penn State, her PhD from Columbia University, and her MD with honors from the University of  Chicago.  She completed her dermatology residency at the University of Pennsylvania.

Dr. Prystowsky has had a presence in midtown Manhattan for over 30 years practicing dermatology and dermatologic surgery. For 15 years, she practiced and taught full time in an academic setting in the both the Department of Dermatology and the Department of Surgery at Columbia-Presbyterian Medical Center in Manhattan.  She then opened her private practice on 2002. She brings her experience in NIH funded basic research,  clinical trials, and pharmaceutical consulting to the patient.  She received superb clinical training at the University of Chicago Pritzker School of Medicine as a student and internal medicine intern.  She solidified her excellence in clinical training by doing her dermatology residency at the University of Pennsylvania.

Her medical mission is to diagnose and treat skin cancer, preferably in its earliest stage. She has a keen eye for detection of subtle skin cancers allowing her to detect them when they are the easiest to cure.  Skin cancer screening exams are done in a detailed, thorough manner, utilizing dermoscopy,  bright light,  and magnification to detect even the most subtle abnormalities of the skin. In addition to detecting and treating medically important growths, she is also very experienced at removing, with cosmetically pleasing results, the annoying benign growths that accumulate with aging such as skin tags, seborrheic keratoses, spider veins, angiomas, and sebaceous hyperplasia. Its a win-win for patients.

Her surgical skills include Mohs Surgery and Repairs (including flaps and grafts), excisions of lesions, Laser surgery including Fraxel Resurfacing,  blood vessel destruction, hair removal, Isolaz and Blue light acne treatment, photodynamic therapy, chemical peels, microneedling, microdermabrasion, and a variety of fillers.

My expertise in vitamin A metabolism from my PhD training, clinical trials for psoriasis, and exposure to dermatologist experts at the University of Pennsylvania including Albert Kligman who invented Retin A and James Leyden who is an expert in Accutane/isotretinoin has allowed me to also specialize in retinoid therapies.  I have also developed a moisturizer line, Livad Skin Care, LLC which contains vitamins A, D, and sunflower oil.  It helps with rejuvenation, relieves sunburn, and calms rosacea.  Patients with rosacea and acne are welcomed to my practice.

The typical new patient in my office is an excecutive who is beginning to get concerned with sun damage and skin cancer risk. He or she frequently then refers their children, parents, and friends.  For elderly patients who have skin cancer but are poor surgical candidate, Dr. Prystowsky uses protocols to inject small doses of chemotherapeutic agents into tumors to shrink/destroy them.

Training:

• Undergraduate: Pennsylvania State University with honors
• Graduate: Columbia University
• Medical School: University of Chicago Pritzker School of Medicine with honors
• Internship: University of Chicago Hospitals and Clinics
• Residencies:

  Dermatology at Hospital of the University of Pennsylvania

• Fellowships:

  American Society for MOHS Surgery