About Us

From the clinic’s inception in 2008, Dr. Alanen has devoted his clinical dermatology practice to skin cancer surgery and prevention as well as medical dermatology. He has been partners from the beginning with the incomparable Ildikó Juhasz. Dr. Alanen states that:

“….In my thirty years in medicine, I have never met anyone like Ildikó. She is truly passionate about dermatology. She is kind, funny, incredibly intelligent, absolutely full of life and she is remarkably skilled. So many people in health care have book smarts but she is uniquely effective as a clinician, since she knows how to combine therapies, be it laser, injectables, cosmeceuticals or medical therapies. She knows how to push the envelope to get the best results. You just can’t read these things in a book; you have this gift, or you don’t. She has put in what Malcolm Gladwell has memorably called the mandatory 10,000 hours for greatness”. 

Ildikó is the CEO of the clinic and Director of Cosmetic Medicine at Derm.ca. So many of her clients have had many, many years of sun exposure in childhood years and Ildikó’s skills with lasers, cosmeceuticals and injectables reverse this. But that is only part of the story. She has an excellent “eye” for detecting potentially worrisome spots on her clients (remember – almost every issue that is deemed “cosmetic” or “anti-aging” comes from sunshine, just like skin cancer). On practically every day, she will call Dr. Alanen into her room to double-check a potentially worrisome lesion; she regularly finds skin cancers at an early stage. You just don’t get that at a MediSpa... Not surprisingly, she has developed a very large and loyal client base.

Ildikó trained as a nurse in Europe before coming to Canada twenty years ago and she is an active member of the Dermatology Nurses’ Association as well as the American Society of Laser Medicine and Surgery. Also, Ildikó regularly attends the Aesthetic & Anti-aging Medicine World Congress in Europe, the leading anti-aging conference in the world. She has used her extensive laser experience and skincare knowledge and this has resulted in Revoderm – the ultimate luxury skincare line.

Ildikó sees her own cosmetic clients and patients (but, happily, you don’t need a referral to see her although many physicians do indeed refer to her). She creates individualized treatment plans for everyone and does detailed before and after pictures. Her favourite procedures are the non-surgical facelift, deep non-surgical wrinkle treatments (e.g. resurfacing laser, platelet-rich plasma, acne scar therapies and MiraDry for disabling excessive sweating) and “anything where I can use my nursing background. Also, I want to be able to show results after just one treatment”. She specializes in advanced cosmetic procedures including PRP, stem cell treatments, facial rejuvenation, hair restoration, advanced acne treatments, medical resurfacing, and the Profound non-surgical Facelift.

“What I enjoy the most about non-surgical procedures is that you can see results immediately if you know what you’re doing. There is an art to it and I enjoy the artistic element more than anything !”

Dr. Ken Alanen is a triple certified dermatologist, dermatopathologist and laboratory medicine specialist. He is also credentialled for providing Mohs’ micrographic surgery and has performed over 10,000 skin cancer surgeries in his career. No other dermatologist in Canada has this recognized skill set. Dr. Alanen does neuromodulator and filler injections in the clinic as well as subscision for acne scars, cosmetic mole removal as well as “lump and bump” removal. His interests also include telemedicine (having one of Canada’s busiest services – teledermatology.ca. He has recently launched acne.ca – the first Canada-wide service for expert subspecialty acne care). He has spoken numerous times on the local, national and international levels. He has co-authored many articles in peer-reviewed medical journals and is regularly called upon for medico-legal expert testimony.

Dr. Alanen has a very busy medical, surgical, and cosmetic dermatology practice. His practice philosophy is rooted in evidence-based medicine. He has a subspecialty interest in skin cancer diagnosis, therapy and prevention. He runs one of the largest skin cancer surveillance programs in Western Canada. This includes the Derm.ca mole-mapping program also referred to as “mole patrol”, a computerized diagnostic aid for the early diagnosis of melanoma – the most deadly skin cancer.

Dr. Alanen has extensive experience with filler and Botox injections, having treated thousands of patients at the Derm.ca clinic over the last ten years. He also performs cosmetic surgery, mole removal, “lump and bump” removal as well as subcision acne scar surgery. He oversees the platelet-rich plasma (vampire lift) service in his capacity as a certified laboratory medicine specialist.

Since opening his clinic Derm.ca over ten years ago, he has seen over 100,000 patients with all times of skin care concerns. He has performed well over 10,000 skin cancer surgeries and has diagnosed over 250,000 skin biopsies under the microscope in his capacity as a dermatopathologist. Derm.ca is a certified Non-Hospital Surgical Facility and the entire range of skin care is provided in this facility. The Calgary Herald have recently recognized the efforts of Dr Alanen and Ildikó Juhasz and named Derm.ca the Gold Medical Clinic for Best Dermatologist in Calgary.

Dr. Alanen also has a very successful Teledermatology practice, which has been operational for ten years and is ever-expanding. Through this online service, he provides rapid expert dermatology opinions and treatment to primary care physicians from all over Western Canada every single day. Dr. Alanen has recently launched acne.ca – Canada’s first patient-to-dermatologist secure online service for acne patients. This service is a natural extension of teledermatology.ca and is envisioned to provide rapid, evidence-based subspecialist care that is available 24/7, 365 days a year to patients anywhere in Canada.