Dr. Voorhees is the Duncan and Ella Poth Distinguished Professor at the University of Michigan Medical School in Ann Arbor. He qualified as M.D. summa cum laude from the University of Michigan in 1963, followed by internship and residency in Internal Medicine and Dermatology at the same institution, including two years of postdoctoral training as the American Dermatological Association Carl Herzog Fellow in Biochemistry. He was appointed Instructor in Dermatology in 1969, in 1974 became full Professor, and in 1975, was appointed Chairman of the Department of Dermatology, a position he held until November of 2018.

Dr. Voorhees has received several awards and honors including election to Alpha Omega Alpha, the Henry Russell Research Award of the University of Michigan, and the Distinguished Achievement Award of the University of Michigan Medical Center Alumni Society. He is the only individual to receive the Taub International Memorial Award for Research in Psoriasis twice (1973 and 1986). He was elected to the American Society for Clinical Investigation in 1974, the Association of American Physicians in 1993, Fellowship in Royal College of Physicians of London in 2000, fellowship in Royal Society of Medicine in 2002, Honorary Member of European Dermatology Forum in 2011, and is an Honorary Member of both the Society for Investigative Dermatology and the European Society for Dermatologic Research.

In 2005, he received the Stephen Rothman Memorial Award of the Society for Investigative Dermatology, the highest award of this society. Dr. Voorhees delivered the Rudi Cormane Memorial Lecture at the Annual Meeting of the European Society for Dermatological Research. He received the David Martin Carter Mentor Award of the American Skin Association, and was given the American Academy of Dermatology Eugene Van Scott Award for Innovative Therapy of the Skin and provided the Phillip Frost Leadership Plenary Lecture for the American Academy of Dermatology in 2009. Dr. Voorhees was honored with the Master Dermatologist Award of the American Academy of Dermatology at its 68th Annual Meeting in 2010 and was bestowed Honorary Member at its 76th Annual Meeting in 2018. He is listed among Bowling Green State University’s 100 Most Prominent Alumni of 201,977 graduates (Top .05%) between the years of 1910-2019. He received the Michigan Institute for Clinical and Health Research (MICHR) Distinguished Clinical and Translational Research Mentor Award in 2021. Elected as Fellow of the American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS) for extraordinary contributions to skin biology and dermatology, in particular psoriasis, the skin response to ultraviolet radiation, and skin aging, and an exemplary and sustained record of leadership in dermatology in 2022. He received the Distinguished Service Medallion Award from the Dermatology Foundation in 2023. In 2023, he was listed in the American Men and Women of Science, a premier biographical reference on North American scientists. He received the European Academy of Dermatology & Venereology (EADV) International Award by the EADV Executive Committee, in recognition of his accomplishments, 2023. He is ranked #952 in the USA and #1608 in the World by 2023 Edition of Best Scientists in Medicine.

Dr. Voorhees has been President of the Society for Investigative Dermatology, President and the Chairman of the Board of the Dermatology Foundation, President of the Association of Professors of Dermatology, President of the Michigan Dermatological Society, President of the American Dermatological Association, and has served on the board of directors and executive committees of several national and international dermatology organizations. Dr. Voorhees was a member of the Executive Committee of the Board of Directors of the American Academy of Dermatology from 1982-1984. In 1993, he received the Lifetime Achievement Award of the National Psoriasis Foundation and in 1994, the Psoriasis Research Award of the American Skin Association. In 1998, he received the Research Award of the European Society for Dermatological Research in recognition of substantial contributions to the progress of dermatological research.

Dr. Voorhees has served on the editorial board of eight scholarly journals and has authored more than 700 full publications that are published or in press. His publications have been cited in the medical literature more often than any other dermatologist in the world (data contained in Stern, RS and Arndt, KA: Top Cited Authors in Dermatology. Archives of Dermatology 135: 299-302, 1999). His position as the most cited author in world dermatology (1999) is still true as of June, 2020. (Data contained in Maymone, MBC, et al: The most cited articles and authors in dermatology: A bibliometric analysis of 1974-2019. Journal of the American Academy of Dermatology 83: 201-205, 2020). During his career his publications have been cited 71,126 times (As of June 21, 2023 - data obtained through Google Scholar) as well as 45,917 times (As of June 21, 2023 - data obtained through ISI Web of Science). Dr. Voorhees’ Hirsch-Index in Google Scholar (as of June 21, 2023) is 132. A Hirsch score of 132 means that 132 of Dr. Voorhees’ publications have been cited 132 or more times in Google Scholar. Dr. Voorhees’ Hirsch-Index in ISI Web of Science (as of June 21, 2023) is 105. A Hirsch score of 105 means that 105 of Dr. Voorhees’ publications have been cited 105 or more times in ISI Web of Science.

Dr. Voorhees has supplied invited lectures throughout the world (United States, Europe, Africa, Australia, Japan, Southeast Asia, South America, and China), including the Dohi Memorial Lectureship (Japan, 1996) and Arthur Rook Oration (Great Britain, 2004). He is an honorary member of 15 foreign dermatological professional societies including Canadian Dermatological Association, Finnish Dermatologic Association, European Academy of Dermatology, Chilean Dermatologic Association, German Dermatological Society, French Dermatologic Society, Danish Society of Dermatology, Swedish Dermatological Society, British Association of Dermatologists, Hong Kong Dermatological Society, Polish Association of Dermatologists, Japanese Dermatological Association, Korean Society for Investigative Dermatology, Netherlands Society of Dermatology and Philippine Dermatological Society.

Dr. Voorhees divides his time among medical research, education of medical students and physicians training to become dermatologists and mentorship of faculty. His research focuses on psoriasis and aging of skin. The demonstration of psoriasis as a disease mediated by an overactive immune system, treatable by immunosuppressive drugs, has been his major accomplishment in the study of psoriasis. In sun-induced premature skin-aging and in natural aging, he and his colleagues have unraveled mechanisms whereby UV light and passage of time destroy the skin’s collagen support. This understanding has provided insight into treatment and prevention of aging /photoaging skin by pharmacologic agents.

Dr. Voorhees' research focuses on psoriasis and aging of skin.