Epithelia comprise a vital tissue that lines the internal and external surfaces of metazoan animals. Epithelial biology focuses on universal organizing principles that include the processes governing tissue polarity, adhesion, growth control and differentiation. Insights into abnormalities in these processes are of potential value in the understanding and molecular correction of the vast number of human diseases that affect epithelial tissues.

The Stanford Program in Epithelial Biology was founded in 1999 in the Stanford Department of Dermatology as a Tier A Multidisciplinary Stanford Research Program. Since its inception, it has grown to involve 60 Stanford faculty members working on questions in epithelial biology using an array of experimental systems, including C. elegans, Drosophila, Xenopus and mammals.

The four major current programmatic components of the Stanford Program in Epithelial Biology include a weekly seminar series, an NIH-funded Training Grant for post-doctoral fellows, graduate studies in Epithelial Biology, and Stanford Velius Scientia, a mentoring society for young scientists in the Stanford epithelial biology community at Stanford. These programmatic efforts are designed to facilitate synergistic interactions as well as to foster the career development of students and post-doctoral fellows in the Program.