SCIENCE
Serving the Underserved, Encouraging the Underrepresented
Hidradenitis suppurativa (HS) was a skin disease Dr. Ginette Okoye had never given much thought to before she entered her first faculty appointment.
From the Foundation
2023 Clinical Symposium
The DF Clinical Symposium has a reputation for excellence that attracts hundreds yearly to receive a serious, in-depth medical educational experience and support the Foundation's work.
2023 Annual Meeting of Membership and Annual Reception
New Orleans is renowned for its music, food, and joie de vivre. And now it can add the Dermatology Foundation’s Annual Meeting of Membership to its roster of attractions.
DF Honorary Awards
DF Honorary Awards
They have in common a desire to share knowledge and shape dermatology — its study and research, its practice, and its care of patients. Their distinctive contributions to dermatology set them apart, and DF pays tribute to them through its Honorary Awards Program.
There are four award categories — Lifetime Career Educator, Practitioner of the Year, Clark W. Finnerud Award, and the Distinguished Service Award, which has been presented only seven times.
Meet the 2023 recipients of a DF Honorary Award: Dr. Timothy Berger, Lifetime Career Educator; Dr. Michael Goldfarb, Practitioner of the Year; Dr. Jeffrey Herten, Clark Finnerud Award; and Dr. John Voorhees, Distinguished Service Medallion.
In this issue we present Practitioner of the Year recipient Dr. Michael Goldfarb.
The Value of Connection
In the 38 years he has mentored residents, lectured on dermatology, and run a clinical practice, Dr. Goldfarb has advocated the value of human connection with patients and residents. He believes it inspires trust, enables learning, creates a reciprocal environment of care, and is the central element to bring to a lecture hall, a clinical research unit, or a patient clinic.
BRISTOL MYERS SQUIBB PSORIASIS RESEARCH AWARD
Funding to Elevate Treatment, Patient Care
In the US alone, 7.5 million people suffer from psoriasis. Thanks to Bristol Myers Squibb's generous $1-million donation to the Foundation, a significant opportunity to advance our understanding of this disease or to enhance patient care is available.
The BMS Psoriasis Research Award will fund high-impact research projects of three exceptional mid-career investigators over three years, beginning in 2023 and into 2024 and 2025.
Our sincere gratitude to Bristol Myers Squibb.
Visit the Foundation's website in July for 2024 application deadlines. View submission guidelines.
3 Years, 3 Investigators, $1 Million Donation
Three extraordinary mid-career investigators with established trajectories of excellence in basic, translational and clinical research will receive DF funding through its DF Research Award Program, now enhanced with the BMS million-dollar donation.
CS 2023 Plenary Sessions
CS 2023 Plenary Sessions
It’s not often you can surround yourself with experts in your field who are as willing to engage with you as you are with them—not unless you attend DF’s annual Clinical Symposium. Year after year, the event gathers illustrious speakers as well as kudos. People come to converse, learn, and debate.
We’ve selected summaries of mini-symposia presentations delivered in 2023 by Dr. Adewole Adamson, Dr. Jennifer Huang, Dr. Megan Noe, and Dr. Aimee Payne.
Off to the Races: Engineering CA(A)R-T Cells for Skin Disease Therapy
CAR T cell therapy is a personalized immunotherapy technology. A patient’s T cells are collected, genetically altered to express chimeric antigen receptors, and reinfused. CAR T cells seek out and kill target cells that express the specified antigen, such as CD19 or B cell maturation antigen (BCMA). Additionally, CAR T cells are programmed to proliferate and produce memory CAR T cells in the presence of target cells. Ongoing research into chimeric antigen receptor (CAR) T cell therapy and chimeric autoantibody receptor (CAAR) T cell therapy for cancers and autoimmune diseases, including pemphigus vulgaris (PV) may lead to clinical trials.
Don’t Miss it! Important Skin Diseases in Children
There are rare but important causes of neonatal blistering, diaper rash, and solitary skin nodules. Incontinentia pigmenti (IP), for example, is an X-linked dominant disorder affecting the skin, eyes, and central nervous system. IP is suspected when blisters occur in a blaschkoid distribution. Because IP is lethal in males, presentation of a female patient whose mother has a history of miscarriages can indicate this disease. IP can be diagnosed based solely on rash and skin biopsy results, without genetic testing. Early diagnosis and treatment can significantly reduce morbidity and mortality by preventing seizures and promoting development.
Top 10 Tips for Treating Skin Disease in Children with Cancer
Children with melanoma may present with different clinical characteristics than adults. They are more likely to present as amelanotic, rapidly growing nodules. Incorporate modified diagnostic criteria for pediatric melanoma and consider the evolution of a lesion. Pediatric melanoma is rare but often diagnosed too late.