Editorial Board
Editor-in-Chief
John Ingram
Cardiff, UK
https://orcid.org/0000-0002-5257-1142
Deputy Editors
Eleni Linos
California, USA
https://orcid.org/0000-0003-2538-0700
Neil Rajan
Newcastle, UK
https://orcid.org/0000-0002-5850-5680
Evidence-Based Dermatology
Section Editor
Carsten Flohr
London, UK
https://orcid.org/0000-0003-4884-6286
Associate Editors
Katrina Abuabara
San Francisco, USA
https://orcid.org/0000-0002-7736-6946
Ching-Chi Chi
Taoyuan, Taiwan
https://orcid.org/0000-0001-5699-0283
Esther Burden-Teh
Nottingham, UK
https://orcid.org/0000-0002-0033-2836
Laurence Le Cleach
Créteil, France
https://orcid.org/0000-0003-1385-6839
Zenas Yiu
Manchester, UK
https://orcid.org/0000-0002-1831-074X
Anna Chaimani
Paris, France
Clinical Trials
Section Editor
Aaron Drucker
Toronto, Canada
https://orcid.org/0000-0002-7388-9475
Associate Editors
Joerg Albrecht
Chicago, USA
https://orcid.org/0000-0002-5998-7773
Gudula Kirtschig
Tübingen, Germany
https://orcid.org/0000-0002-1433-2407
Antonia Lloyd-Lavery
Oxford, UK
https://orcid.org/0000-0002-2339-0596
Mahtab Samimi
Tours, France
https://orcid.org/0000-0001-6742-9088
Rosalind Simpson
Nottingham, UK
https://orcid.org/0000-0002-8093-7965
Emma Veysey
Melbourne, Australia
https://orcid.org/0000-0002-1782-9945
Emilie Sbidian
Créteil, France
Epidemiology
Section Editor
Tamar Nijsten
Rotterdam, Netherlands
https://orcid.org/0000-0001-9940-2875
Associate Editors
Anne Cust
Camperdown, Australia
https://orcid.org/0000-0002-5331-6370
Marcus Schmitt-Egenolf
Umeå, Sweden
https://orcid.org/0000-0002-3858-8474
Axel Svedbom
Stockholm, Sweden
Nicolai Loft
Hillerød, Denmark
Catherine Olsen
Queensland, Australia
https://orcid.org/0000-0003-4483-1888
Julia-Tatjana Maul
Zürich, Switzerland
Biography
Christian Vestergaard
Aarhus, Denmark
https://orcid.org/0000-0001-6485-3158
Marlies Wakkee
Rotterdam, Netherlands
https://orcid.org/0000-0001-8578-901X
Translational Research
Section Editor
Eli Sprecher
Tel Aviv, Israel
https://orcid.org/0000-0002-4093-1032
Associate Editors
Johann Bauer
Salzberg, Austria
https://orcid.org/0000-0002-6085-9170
Regina Betz
Bonn, Germany
https://orcid.org/0000-0001-5024-3623
Brian Kirby
Dublin, Ireland
https://orcid.org/0000-0001-7596-892X
Barbara Horvath
Groningen, Netherlands
https://orcid.org/0000-0001-8559-3674
Kenji Kabashima
Kyoto, Japan
https://orcid.org/0000-0002-0773-0554
Martin Laimer
Salzburg, Austria
Goran Micevic
Connecticut, USA
https://orcid.org/0000-0003-0329-1053
Lavinia Paternoster
Bristol, UK
Bastian Schilling
Würzburg, Germany
https://orcid.org/0000-0001-8859-4103
Amanda Toland
Columbus, USA
https://orcid.org/0000-0002-0271-1792
Stephan Weidinger
Kiel, Germany
https://orcid.org/0000-0003-3944-252X
Thomas Wiesner
Vienna, Austria
https://orcid.org/0000-0001-5877-2992
Masashi Akiyama
Nagoya, Japan
https://orcid.org/0000-0001-5863-9315
Xianyong Yin
Anhui, China
Global Health and Equity
Section Editor
Esther Freeman
Boston, USA
https://orcid.org/0000-0001-7751-9466
Associate Editors
Francisco Bravo Puccio
Lima, Peru
Alaina James
Pittsburgh, USA
Linda Oyesiku
Seattle, USA
Valeska Padovese
Msida, Malta
Archana Singal
New Delhi, India
https://orcid.org/0000-0001-9201-3391
Anisa Mosam
Durban, South Africa
Rie Yotsu
Nagasaki, Japan
Outcomes and Qualitative Research
Section Editor
Viktoria Eleftheriadou
Walsall, UK
Associate Editors
Christine Blome
Hamburg, Germany
https://orcid.org/0000-0002-1163-1639
Fiona Cowdell
Birmingham, UK
https://orcid.org/0000-0002-9355-8059
Paul Leighton
Nottingham, USA
Robert Ofenloch
Heidelberg, Germany
https://orcid.org/0000-0002-3532-6110
Andrew Thompson
Cardiff, UK
https://orcid.org/0000-0001-6788-7222
Linnea Thorlacius
Roskilde, Denmark
https://orcid.org/0000-0002-3734-9607
Correspondence and Case Reports
Section Editor
Ignacio Garcia-Doval
Vigo, Spain
https://orcid.org/0000-0002-6881-5260
Associate Editors
John Frew
Sydney, Australia
https://orcid.org/0000-0001-5042-3632
Roderick Hay
Chipping Norton, UK
https://orcid.org/0000-0002-5835-1167
Hamish Hunter
Manchester, UK
Jemima Mellerio
London, UK
https://orcid.org/0000-0002-2670-8117
Luigi Naldi
Bergamo, Italy
https://orcid.org/0000-0002-3160-2835
Statistics
Section Editor
Serigne Lo
Sydney, Australia
https://orcid.org/0000-0001-5092-5544
Associate Editors
Sonia Gran
Nottingham, UK
https://orcid.org/0000-0002-2443-5100
Jo Leonardi-Bee
Nottingham, UK
https://orcid.org/0000-0003-0893-6068
Saharon Rosset
Tel Aviv, Israel
Digital Media
Section Editor
Nour Kibbi
Stanford, USA
https://orcid.org/0000-0003-0065-7849
Podcast Associate Editor
Jonathan Guckian
Leeds, UK
https://orcid.org/0000-0002-8162-1583
Specialist Associate Editors
Philippe Bahadoran
Nice, France
https://orcid.org/0000-0002-2481-0556
Eduardo Calonje
London, UK
Shadmehr Demehri
Massachusetts, USA
Catherine Harwood
London, UK
Steffen Emmert
Rostock, Germany
Biography
Manabu Ohyama
Tokyo, Japan
https://orcid.org/0000-0002-2662-5717
Mi Ryung Roh
Seoul, Korea
https://orcid.org/0000-0002-6285-2490
Julia Scarisbrick
Birmingham, UK
https://orcid.org/0000-0002-8011-4408
Stephan Schreml
Regensburg, Germany
https://orcid.org/0000-0002-2820-1942
Emmanuella Guenova
Lausanne, Switzerland
https://orcid.org/0000-0001-5478-8735
Rubeta Matin
Oxford, UK
https://orcid.org/0000-0002-9695-5412
Patient Associate Editors
Bernd Arents
Nijkerk, Netherlands
https://orcid.org/0000-0001-6884-8014
Olivia Hughes
Cardiff, UK
https://orcid.org/0000-0001-9587-9430
Social Media Associate Editors
Kemi Fabusiwa
Newcastle, UK
Sara Mirali
Toronto, Canada
https://orcid.org/0000-0001-6233-9067
Editorial Trainees
Rebecca McCarthy
London, UK
David Zheng
Ohio, USA
Editorial Office
Director of Research and Publishing
Shehnaz Ahmed
London, UK
https://orcid.org/0000-0003-0744-4985
Editorial Manager
John Caulfield
London, UK
https://orcid.org/0000-0002-5100-9860
Editorial Coordinator
Jide Ibitoye
London, UK
Journal Development Manager
Laura Prescott
London, UK
Editorial Advisory Board
Masayuki Amagai, Tokyo, Japan
Mike Ardern-Jones, Southampton, UK
Jonathan Barker, London, UK
Martine Bagot, Paris, France
Tanya Bleiker, Derby, UK
Christine Bodemer, Paris, France
David Burden, Edinburgh, UK
Leena Bruckner-Tuderman, Freiburg, Germany
Jian-Min Chang, Beijing, China
Wen-Hung Chung, Taipei, Taiwan
Janet Fairley, Iowa, USA
Steven Feldman, Winston-Salem, USA
Andrew Finlay, Cardiff, UK
Kamran Ghoreschi, Tübingen, Germany
Paolo Gisondi, Verona, Italy
Chris Griffiths, Manchester, UK
Allan Halpern, New York, USA
Eugene Healy, Southampton, UK
Sally Ibbotson, Dundee, UK
Akemi Ishida-Yamamoto, Asahikawa, Japan
Pascal Joly, Rouen, France
Sewon Kang, Baltimore, USA
Sinead Langan, London, UK
Irene Leigh, London, UK
Eun-So Lee, Suwon, Korea
Ruoyu Li, Beijing, China
John McGrath, London, UK
Akimichi Morita, Nagoya, Japan
Celia Moss, Birningham, UK
Richard Motley, Cardiff, UK
Dedee Murrell , Sydney, Australia
Kishwer Nehal, New York, USA
Amanda Oakley, Hamilton, New Zealand
Jorge Ocampo-Candiani, Monterrey, Mexico
Ginette Okoye, Washington DC, USA
Edel O’Toole, London, UK
Carle Paul, Toulouse, France
Vincent Piguet, Toronto, Canada
Susannah Puig, Barcelona, Spain
Yuping Ran, Chengdu, China
Nick Reynolds, Newcastle upon Tyne, UK
Lesley Rhodes, Manchester, UK
Vinod Sharma, New Delhi, India
Catherine Smith, London, UK
Peter Soyer, Brisbane, Australia
Phyllis Spuls, Amsterdam, The Netherlands
Kim Thomas, Nottingham, UK
Hensin Tsao, Boston, USA
Maurice van Steensel, Dundee, UK
Beatrix Volc-Platzer, Vienna, Austria
Rachel Watson, Manchester, UK
Richard Weller, Edinburgh, UK
Victoria Werth, Philadelphia, USA
Sean Whittaker, London, UK
Xuejun Zhang, Hefei, China
Biographies
John Ingram
I am a Clinical Senior Lecturer and Honorary Consultant Dermatologist at Cardiff University, UK. My contributions to the BJD began in 2006, as an author, reviewer, and subsequently Section Editor and then Deputy Editor. I will take over as Editor in 2019. My main research and clinical interest is in inflammatory dermatoses, principally hidradenitis suppurativa (HS), supported by a five year Research Fellowship from Health and Care Research Wales (Welsh Government) from 2014-19.
In the field of HS, I have led several collaborative projects including the HS Priority Setting Partnership, Cochrane review of Interventions for HS, and the British Association of Dermatologists HS Guideline Development Group. I am a founder and Steering Group member of HISTORIC, the HIdradenitis SuppuraTiva cORe outcomes set International Collaboration. I am also the author of both UpToDate® chapters covering HS.
I am currently co-editing the Rook Handbook, a more concise clinical handbook based on the parent Rook textbook, due for publication in June 2019. Previously I led the Cardiff University Diploma in Practical Dermatology, an e-learning course taken by several hundred GP learners.
I am an adviser to the National Institute of Health and Care Excellence (NICE), the HS Trust patient support group and the UK Department for Work and Pensions regarding HS disability. I sit on the Steering Committee of the UK Dermatology Clinical Trials Network and was the previous chair of the network’s Trial Generation and Prioritisation Panel.
I am a graduate of Oxford University’s medical school and I carried out my Oxford DM (PhD) in the field of colitis research. My dermatology training was undertaken in South Wales along with an MSc in Medical Education. I am married with two children and enjoy mountain biking, rowing, football, rugby and opera in my spare time.
Eleni Linos
I studied medicine as an undergraduate at Trinity College, Cambridge before moving to Oxford for my clinical training. Following house jobs, I moved to the United States for a master’s degree in Public Health at the Harvard School of Public Health. Fascinated by epidemiology and research methodology, I stayed on to complete a doctorate degree in Public Health and Epidemiology. I have always enjoyed caring for patients, and so I returned to clinical training, completing residency in Dermatology at Stanford University, before joining the faculty at the University of California San Francisco (UCSF). I am currently a Professor of Dermatology and Epidemiology at Stanford University. My current research interests include skin cancer prevention, technology and health, geriatric dermatology and health disparities. My current research interests include skin cancer prevention, technology and health, geriatric dermatology and health disparities.
Neil Rajan
I am a senior lecturer and honorary consultant dermatologist based in Newcastle upon Tyne, U.K. I have received 8 national awards for my work on patients with rare genetic skin disease and have received fellowships from the Wellcome Trust and the Medical Research Council.
My basic science research programme is coupled with the delivery of early phase clinical trials in rare skin disease. By working in partnership with patients, my work aims to discover cellular mechanisms that cause skin disease that can be targeted for therapeutic benefit.
Carsten Flohr
Professor Carsten Flohr holds the Chair in Dermatology and Population Health Science at St John’s Institute of Dermatology, King’s College London. He has a particular interest in novel methods of atopic dermatitis (AD) prevention (early life risk factors) and therapeutics, especially in severe AD.
He is Chief Investigator of the UK-Irish TREatment of severe eczema in children Trial (TREAT), which compares cyclosporine with methotrexate in children with recalcitrant atopic eczema. He is also Chief Investigator/Principal Investigator of the Softened water for eczema prevention trial (SOFTER) and the UK-Irish Atopic Eczema Systemic Therapy Register (A-STAR), as well as the EU-funded AD biomarker (BIOMAP) and Trans-Foods consortia.
Professor Flohr is a Founding Director of the International Eczema Council and Past President of the British Society of Paediatric Dermatology, as well as an Honorary Member of the Société Française de Dermatologie.
Katrina Abuabara
I joined the faculty at the University of California San Francisco (UCSF) in the Department of Dermatology in 2015.
I hold an undergraduate degree in Human Biology and a Master’s degree in Sociology from Stanford University. I worked in international health research before completing my medical training at Harvard Medical School in 2010, followed by residency training at the University of Pennsylvania (Penn). I also received training in epidemiology and biostatistics and received a Masters of Science degree in Clinical Epidemiology from Penn. My research focuses on understanding long-term outcomes in atopic dermatitis including the impact of environmental and sociocultural factors on disease course.
Ching-Chi Chi
I obtained my medical degree from Taipei Medical University in 1994 and completed my specialist training in dermatology at Chang Gung Memorial Hospital, Taipei in 2000. I further earned a Master of Medical Science degree at Chung Shan Medical University in 2004. I went up to the University of Oxford from 2006 to 2009 and obtained DPhil in Clinical Medicine with my thesis entitled ‘Evidence-based assessment of the safety of topical corticosteroids in pregnancy’. Currently a Professor of Dermatology at Chang Gung Memorial Hospital, Linkou and President of the Taiwan Evidence-Based Medicine Association, I am passionate about evidence-based medicine and clinical epidemiology. I have been involved in over 10 Cochrane reviews and 2 pan-European Dermatology Guidelines. I am Editor of the Cochrane Skin Group since 2011. Having published widely, I have received plenty of awards for my work in evidence-based dermatology.
Esther Burden-Teh
I am an Associate Editor for the Evidence-Based Medicine section of the BJD.
I am currently an Assistant Professor at the Centre of Evidence Based Dermatology, University of Nottingham. I studied medicine at the University of Nottingham and completed my medical training in the East Midlands. I was awarded the Neil Cox Award as a UK Dermatology Clinical Trials Network (UKDCTN) registrar fellow and am now part of the Trial Generation and Prioritisation Group. I was awarded an NIHR Doctoral Research Fellowship and completed my PhD under the supervision of Prof Kim Thomas and Prof Ruth Murphy. The interlinking projects in the fellowship culminated in developing diagnostic for psoriasis in children.
I have an overarching interest in identifying opportunities for early intervention to improve patient outcomes. This encompasses evidence-based medicine, epidemiology and clinical trials, particularly in the disease areas of psoriasis and acne.
Laurence Le Cleach
I’m currently associate professor of dermatology and therapeutic in the department of dermatology and in the EA 7379 – EpiDermE, at Henri Mondor Hospital, University Paris Est Creteil (UPEC) in France. During the first part of my career. I was involved in immunology research and clinical practice on severe cutaneious adverse reactions.
My current research interests since 2011 concerns evidence-based dermatology. I’m involved in systematic reviews and metanalysis and in research on methodology of randomized controlled trials and systematic reviews in dermatology. I lead the French Satellite of the Cochrane skin group and act as methods editor for this group.
Zenas Yiu
I qualified in medicine from the University of Manchester, and was subsequently accepted for clinical academic training in dermatology at the North Western Deanery, U.K. I am currently a Clinical Senior Lecturer in Dermatology at the University of Manchester and an Honorary Consultant Dermatologist at Northern Care Alliance NHS Foundation Trust. My research interests lie in pharmacoepidemiology, evidence‐based dermatology, and dermatology clinical practice guidelines, and I take a particular interest in the evaluation of the safety and effectiveness of therapeutics for chronic inflammatory skin conditions.
My first medical publication was in the BJD, and I have performed peer reviews for the BJD ever since I started training in dermatology.
Aaron Drucker
Aaron Drucker MD, ScM, FRCPC is a dermatologist and clinician scientist in Toronto, Canada. He is an Associate Professor in the Department of Medicine and Institute for Health Policy, Management and Evaluation at the University of Toronto; a Scientist at Women’s College Research Institute, Women’s College Hospital and Scientist at ICES. His research focuses on the epidemiology and evidence-based treatment of skin diseases, with a particular interest in atopic dermatitis.
Along with international collaborators, he leads a living network meta-analysis of systemic treatments for atopic dermatitis, hosted on the website www.EczemaTherapies.com.
As Section Editor for Clinical Trials at the BJD, he aims to promote best practices in clinical trial reporting, including the use of core outcome sets.
Joerg Albrecht
I am clinical dermatologist at a public hospital in Chicago and have been working and training here for about 12 years. I studied medicine and history of architecture in Aachen, Germany; Cambridge, UK, and Johannesburg, RSA. After graduation, I worked and trained in dermatology, internal medicine, and clinical pharmacology in Paisley, UK, Munich, and Duesseldorf, Germany; then in Philadelphia and Chicago. My doctoral dissertation is in molecular biology.
In Duesseldorf, I was the assistant director of a Coordiation Center for Clinical Trials, where I pursued my interest in clinical research and EBM. When I moved to the US to be with my wife, I worked for two years as a research fellow at the University of Pennsylvania with Victoria Werth. The main project was to develop and validate an outcome instrument for cutaneous lupus (CLASI).
After the fellowship, I went back to clinical medicine first in internal medicine, then dermatology at Cook County Hospital. Cook County Health serves primarily un- or poorly insured patients in the Chicagoland area. It is a diverse population. Our patients speak 40 languages, and about a third of them do not speak English. I also run a dermatology clinic at our HIV center that serves around 5000 HIV patients and am the chief the division. Using my training in clinical pharmacology I chair the drug and formulary committee. The committee sets the formulary for primarily uninsured patients, a small insurance, and patients in the hospital.
I am an Associate Editor for clinical trials, and a happy member of the BJD editorial team since 2015. My wife and I have three boys, who seem to pursue the whole range of sports and hobbies that a family would want, leaving us to watch them.
Gudula Kirtschig
I am a Consultant Dermatologist based in Germany and Switzerland. I studied medicine at Ulm University & Muenster University in Germany and have previously practiced dermatology in academic centres in Oxford, UK and Amsterdam, NL. I have special interest in vulval skin disease, pregnancy associated skin disease and blistering skin conditions. I have a strong research interest and my work has contributed towards the production of more than 80 peer reviewed scientific articles, national/international clinical guidelines, and patients’ information leaflets.
Together with more than 20 co-authors I have edited a prize-winning book on vulval diseases. I work with the Cochrane skin group to deliver systematic reviews and sit on the oversight committees of clinical trials. I am committed to excellence in clinical dermatology. I am a member of the Lichen Sclerosus PSP and hope to increase awareness of the project through my international links.
Antonia Lloyd-Lavery
I am a Consultant Dermatologist at Oxford University Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust and Honorary Senior Lecturer at Oxford University. I graduated with a First class Honours degree with Distinction in Medicine at Oxford University in 2008 and after achieving membership of the Royal College of Physicians, I completed an NIHR-awarded academic clinical fellowship during my dermatology specialist training and subsequently a national fellowship in medical dermatology.
Through my laboratory experience in cutaneous immunology at the Weatherall Institute of Molecular Medicine and extensive training in clinical research methodology as a UK Dermatology Clinical Trials Network (UKDCTN) Specialist Registrar Fellow, I am passionate about promoting high- quality research furthering our understanding of and treatments for skin disease. I have been involved in numerous clinical phase II and III trials investigating new treatments for various inflammatory skin diseases, particularly atopic eczema, and in 2016 I was awarded the Royal College of Physicians-NIHR and NIHR-British Association of Dermatologists’ research awards in recognition of my contribution to NIHR portfolio studies. I am a member of the UKDCTN Trial Generation and Prioritisation Panel and Principle Investigator in Oxford for BADBIR. I am the national lead for the British Association of Dermatologists guideline development group for the management of bullous pemphigoid and a member of the James Lind Alliance Priority Setting Partnership identifying and prioritising unanswered research questions about blistering skin diseases. My clinical and research interests include severe eczema, psoriasis, autoimmune blistering diseases and connective tissue diseases.
Mahtab Samimi
I was promoted to Associate Professor in 2013 and then Full Professor of Dermatology in 2017. I am currently a member of the Board of the French Society of Dermatology (SFD), member of the board of the French Group of Cutaneous Cancers (GCC) and created the French oral mucosae study group (GEMUB) in 2017. At the European level, I have had the pleasure of chairing the EADV Task Force on Non-Melanoma Skin Cancers since 2017.
It was a great honor for me to join the BJD editorial team in 2015, as an Associate Editor in the Clinical Trials section of the journal. Editorial debates and meetings are really enriching, and I think our job within the team allows us to discuss exciting and novel work in the field of dermatology research.
Rosalind Simpson
I am a Clinical Academic at the Centre of Evidence Based Dermatology, University of Nottingham. My particular interest is research into, and the management of, vulval skin disorders, with a focus on lichen sclerosus (LS).
I studied at the University of Nottingham Medical School, Nottingham, U.K., and completed a BMedSci degree in 2002 and BMBS degree in 2004. My general medical training and dermatology specialist training was completed in the East Midlands (Derby, Nottingham and Leicester). I have a research interest in trial methodology, especially for vulval skin disorders and rare conditions; diagnostic criteria development; and selecting suitable outcome measures for clinical trials and clinical practice.
My PhD (awarded 2014), funded through a National Institute for Health Research (NIHR) Doctoral Fellowship, investigated diagnostic criteria, outcome measures and treatments for vulval erosive lichen planus.
Following this, I led an international Priority Setting Partnership (PSP) in LS and my research has subsequently focused on the 'Top 10' priorities identified during this work. My current research portfolio, which is being run alongside clinical practice, includes developing an international core outcome sets for LS (the 'CORALS' initiative), developing a diagnostic tool for LS and investigating long-term maintenance treatment for the condition. My research is funded through a NIHR Advanced Fellowship and Health Technology Assessment grant.
I am a Fellow of the International Society for the Study of Vulvovaginal Disease, and research lead for the British Society for the Study of Vulval Disease.
In my spare time I look after my two young children and enjoy running, Pilates and being outdoors.
Emma Veysey
I am from the UK where I trained as a dermatologist and was an active member of the UK Dermatology Clinical Trials Network. I moved to Australia in 2011 and now live in Melbourne where I have consultant positions at St Vincent’s and the Royal Women’s Hospitals.
I have a Masters in Public Health and am committed to the practice and dissemination of the principles of evidence based dermatology. I have experience working on clinical trials as a steering group member and principal investigator. My current research is focused on vulval disorders and I am part of a steering group determining a core outcome set for vulvodynia.
Emilie Sbidian
I’m currently professor of dermatology and therapeutics in the Department of Dermatology at Henri Mondor Hospital, University Paris Est Creteil (UPEC) in France. I’m leading a research unit called EpiDermE, which is a pharmacoepidemiology unit dedicated to (i) benefit/risk balance of treatments for chronic skin inflammatory disorders and (ii) severe cutaneous adverse events. We use both data from large cohorts or national health-insurance database and randomized controlled trials to perform systematic reviews and network meta-analysis in collaboration with the French satellite of the Cochrane Skin group. This collaboration allows me to improve my knowledge on RCTs specifically regarding both reporting and quality of evidence.
Tamar Nijsten
I am Chair of the Department of Dermatology, Erasmus MC, Rotterdam (The Netherlands). My research group has a strong focus on epidemiology and public health issues related to skin disease.
I studied medicine, completed my dermatology residency and defended my PhD thesis at the University of Antwerp (Belgium). During my dermato-epidemiology PhD I spent 1 ½ year at Harvard Medical School (Boston, USA) with Robert Stern. I left Belgium in 2005 and returned to The Netherlands to practice dermatology. In the following years, besides seeing patients, I have established a dermato-epidemiology group at the Department of Dermatology Erasmus MC resulting in a full professorship in dermatology in 2014. I have been chair of the Dutch Dermatology Society between 2011-2015. Currently, I’m appointed as a honorary professor at the University of Nottingham (UK).
The dermato-epidemiology research group consists of more than a dozen PhD students, several post-docs and research-oriented dermatologists. We apply epidemiology, public health and clinical research principles on a variety of skin conditions raging from psoriasis, varicose veins, to skin aging and cancer. The goal has always been to deliver high quality research introducing new concepts and methodology aiming to impact patient care. Looking back, another theme in science seems to be that I like ‘to swim against the current’ if needed.
My research group has published over 250 peer-reviewed international papers. I have given invited lectures at many national dermatology meetings. I have received multiple grants from The Netherlands Organisation for Health research and Development (ZonMw) including a Vidi in 2010, insurance companies and (pharmaceutical) industry.
I chair the European Dermato-Epidemiology Network (EDEN) steering committee. I have been section editor of epidemiology & clinical research for both the Journal of Investigative Dermatology for eight years and for the British Journal of Dermatology since 2015.
My children, who think they are young adults, and cycling, balance my work life and keep me sane.
Anne Cust
I am a cancer epidemiologist, and Deputy Director of the Daffodil Centre, a joint venture between Cancer Council NSW and the University of Sydney, in Sydney, Australia. I am also a Faculty member of the Melanoma Institute Australia, where I co-lead the ‘Prevention, Risk and Clinical Detection’ research theme. I am currently the recipient of a National Health and Medical Research Council (NHMRC) Investigator Grant. I completed a Bachelor of Science and Bachelor of Arts at the University of Queensland, Australia, in 1998, and subsequently a Master of Public Health (Honours) degree from The University of Sydney in 2002. I worked in perinatal research and clinical trials at The University of Sydney before completing a PhD in cancer epidemiology from 2004-2007, under a cotutelle agreement between the University of Sydney and the Université Claude Bernard Lyon 1 in France, where I was based with the WHO International Agency for Research on Cancer. Subsequently, I obtained a NHMRC postdoctoral fellowship working on the genetic epidemiology of melanoma at the University of Melbourne. I returned to Sydney in 2011 to continue my research in collaboration with the University of Sydney and Melanoma Institute Australia, and in 2021 I joined the new Daffodil Centre, which is one of the University’s Flagship research centres. My research interests are predominantly in skin cancer aetiology, prevention and early detection, including risk- stratified approaches to care, with a strong emphasis on multidisciplinary, translational and implementation research. I led the Australian sunbed research that was instrumental in informing government bans on commercial solaria now in effect across all states of Australia, and in 2015, I received an inaugural Sax Institute Research Action Award to recognise this research and its impact on health policy. In 2018, I received the NSW Premier’s Award for Outstanding Cancer Research Fellow of the Year. I have expertise in epidemiology, clinical trials, observational studies, and qualitative research.
I lead several large research programs on topics such as melanoma screening and surveillance, genomics for cancer early detection, genetic epidemiology of melanoma, preventive behavioural interventions, and biomarkers for melanoma survival. I have over 200 publications. I am the immediate Past-President of the Australasian Epidemiological Association (AEA) and have had positions on the COSA Epidemiology Group Executive, Melanoma and Skin Cancer Trials Group (MASC Trials) Board, and PC4 Primary Care Collaborative Cancer Clinical Trials Group Scientific Committee.
I have two children and enjoy rowing, travel and languages.
Marcus Schmitt-Egenolf
I am professor in dermatovenereology at Umea university, the most northern medical university in Sweden. I am also currently working for the National Board of Health and Welfare with the national psoriasis guidelines. In Scandinavia, health-registers are a democratic approach to improve public health. This encouraged me to establish the Swedish psoriasis register PsoReg in 2006 and co-found PsoNet together with Luigi Naldi.
I fell in love with dermatology early in life. To look at the skin and immediately recognize a disease fascinated me.
After visiting several departments in Germany to find a place for my thesis, I chose Kiel because I felt that I could learn a lot from Enno Christophers and Wolfram Sterry, who offered me a project on T-cell-receptor-rearrangement in psoriasis. I started with my psoriasis research in 1989 in Kiel at the age of 23, so I have been a researcher for the better part of my life. After my medical studies I received an education stipend from the German Research Council and went to Vienna to work with Georg Stingl. Thereafter, I worked at the Charité in Berlin where I completed my training in both dermatovenereology and allergology. In 2001 I was appointed associate professor in dermatovenerology at NTNU, Trondheim, Norway. Since 2002 I have been working in Umea, where I was appointed head of the dermatovenereology division in 2012, professor and distinguished teacher in 2014.
Besides psoriasis I am interested in melanoma, genodermatoses, real-world-evidence and health economy. I am thankful to have learned from and worked with colleagues who were excellent researchers and clinicians. Their commitment to the field of dermatovenereology inspired me. I also enjoy learning from my doctoral students, who have diverse backgrounds like analytics, economy, medicine, nursing and statistics.
Nikolai Loft
Dr. Loft is a Danish medical doctor who graduated from the University of Copenhagen in 2018. He is currently based at the Department of Dermatology and Allergy at Gentofte Hospital, where he works part time clinic and part time as a senior researcher. His primary research focus is dermato-epidemiology, with an emphasis on inflammatory skin diseases. Dr. Loft successfully defended his PhD thesis in 2022, titled "Biologics in Psoriasis – Epidemiological Studies," and has been an active contributor to the dermatology research community since then. He has supervised or co-supervised more than 10 bachelor's, master's, and PhD students and has authored over 50 peer-reviewed articles.
Catherine Olsen
I am a cancer epidemiologist with a science background. I originally trained as a field botanist, completing my PhD in 1996. After a short career break, I enrolled in a Master of Public Health at the University of Queensland and retrained in public health and epidemiology. I was subsequently awarded a highly competitive re-entry fellowship for women and thereafter pursued a career in cancer epidemiology. I am currently a Senior Research Officer in the Cancer Control Group of the QIMR Berghofer Medical Research Institute in Brisbane, Australia and hold an adjunct appointment as an Honorary Senior Research Fellow with the School of Public Health, the University of Queensland.
I have research interests in the causes and prevention of cancer particularly skin cancer. Current research activities encompass modifiable lifestyle risk factors and environmental exposures in disease aetiology as well as risk prediction for melanoma and keratinocyte cancer. I currently co-lead a large prospective cohort of over 43,000 Queensland residents established in 2011 with the aim of defining the role of environmental and host/genetic factors in the development of melanoma and other cancers of the skin. The cohort is also measuring the impacts of protective behaviours and estimating the burden of skin cancer in Australia in terms of incidence, morbidity, mortality and the costs associated with diagnosis and treatment.
I have collaborated with international consortia focused on skin cancer research including the EPI-UV-HPV-CA Consortium, the International Melanoma Analysis Group (IMAGE), and currently with the Keratinocyte Carcinoma Consortium (KeraCon). In addition to my research activities, I have served as a member of the Evaluation Subcommittee of the Medical Services Advisory Committee for the Australian Government and am a sitting member of the Human Research Ethics Committee of QIMR Berghofer Medical Research Institute.
Julia-Tatjana Maul
PD Dr. Julia-Tatjana Maul is a senior physician in the Department of Dermatology at the University Hospital of Zürich (USZ), Switzerland, and completed her habilitation at the Faculty of Medicine of the University of Zürich (UZH) awarding her the title of Privat Dozent (PD). She is the head of the clinical trials team in dermatology and leading physician of the psoriasis and hidradenitis suppurativa clinic. In addition, she is the principal investigator (PI) of several clinical trials such as the national PI of the Swiss psoriasis registry SDNTT (Swiss Dermatology Network for Targeted Therapy) and the International pustular psoriasis registry IRASPEN.
PD Dr. Maul graduated from Medical School at the University of Tübingen, Germany, in 2011. Between 2011 and 2013 she did part of her residency in the Oncology Department at the University Hospital of Zürich prior to transitioning to the department of Dermatology.
PD Dr. Maul's main research activities are aimed at inflammatory skin diseases. Since 2018, she has been leading her own research group at the USZ with the aim of elucidating gender differences and underlying immunological mechanisms, as well as differences in response and access to treatments, with a particular focus on psoriasis.
She holds a leadership position at the Global Psoriasis Atlas (GPA) as their `Global Medical Coordinator` and is a Councilor of the International Psoriasis Council (IPC). Furthermore, she is involved in the European Psoriasis Guidelines and co-authored the chapters’ cancer, pregnancy, and diabetes.
Due to her strong interest in psoriasis-associated gender medicine she is a part of the commission "Sex and Gender in Medicine" of the Medical Faculty of the University of Zurich, American Women´s Society of Dermatology and Co-Chair of the Pregnancy Task Force of the European Association of Dermatology and Venereology.
In recent years, she has been leading the international research project "Access to treatment" to facilitate access to medications and therapies for affected individuals around the globe with the `Global Healthcare Study on Psoriasis` (GHSP).
Marlies Wakkee
I am based in Rotterdam, the Netherlands, working at the department of dermatology at the Erasmus MC as a dermatologist, Mohs surgeon and researcher. Before starting my specialist training at the Erasmus University, I was already involved in dermato‐epidemiological research under the supervision of Tamar Nijsten, which resulted in successfully defending my PhD on ‘Psoriasis, Comorbidities and Treatment’ in 2010. Since then, I have continued my research in dermato‐epidemiology being part of the dermato‐epidemiology research group at Erasmus MC. I have a special interest in analyzing and interpreting large medical datasets from varying sources, which become more and more available nowadays due to the digital revolution. What I enjoy about dermato‐epidemiology is the hypothesis generating and testing aspect, which at is best leads to improving patient care.
Eli Sprecher
I was born in Waterloo, Belgium and moved to Israel in 1981. I received a MD and a PhD degree from the Hebrew University of Jerusalem and an MBA degree from Tel Aviv University. I specialised in dermatology at the Rambam Medical Center, Haifa and in Health Management at the Tel Aviv Medical center.
During the course of my residency, I spent a post-doc fellowship at Thomas Jefferson University, Philadelphia, and served as attending physician at the Rambam Medical Center until 2008. During this period, I was Deputy Director for Academic affairs of the Rappaport Institute for Research at the Technion-Israel Institute of Technology, Haifa, Israel, and founded as well as directed the Center for Translational Genetics at the same institution.
I became Chair of the Division of Dermatology at the Tel Aviv Medical Center in 2008 and Frederick Reiss Professor of Dermatology at the Sackler Faculty of Medicine, Tel Aviv University in 2010. I served as Deputy Director for Patient Safety at the Tel Aviv Medical Center until 2019, and I am currently the VP for R&D at the same institution.
I have co-authored over 350 scientific publications and have mentored over 40 students. My research focuses on the genetic basis of skin diseases. Our group aims at understanding the molecular genetics of both simple and complex cutaneous traits, deciphering their pathogenesis and then attempting to translate this new knowledge into innovative therapeutic tools.
Johann Bauer
After studying medicine at the University of Innsbruck, Austria I then undertook foreign postdoctoral fellowships awarded by the Austrian Science Foundation at the Department of Dermatology, Emory University School of Medicine, Atlanta, U.S.A. and the J. Kyrle Travel Grant from the Austrian Society of Dermatology and Venerology at the Department of Dermatology, Thomas Jefferson University, Philadelphia, U.S.A.
In 2001 I was appointed as an Associate Professor at the Department of Cell Biology, Faculty of Natural Sciences, University of Salzburg for Medical Molecular Biology.
From 2006 to 2014 I was the principal investigator of the Division of Molecular Dermatology at the Department of Dermatology, Paracelsus Medical University (PMU) Salzburg and Scientific Director of EB House Austria in Salzburg. In 2009 I graduated as a Master of Business Administration in health care management from the Department of Economics, University of Salzburg. In 2014 I was appointed Chair of the Department of Dermatology of the PMU Salzburg.
I am the inventor on four patents granted or pending. I have received numerous scientific prizes ad personam (for example the Ferdinand v. Hebra Award of the Austrian Society of Dermatology and Venerology 2012) and as a senior investigator.
As a principal investigator I have supervised 16 diploma and thesis students. I have served on several boards including the board at the European Society of Dermatological Research and the Foundation Rene Touraine and I have published over 100 peer-reviewed articles and book chapters.
My main area of interest is developing novel therapies for patients with the blistering skin disease epidermolysis bullosa.
Regina Betz
I am an Associate Editor of the BJD. I am Professor of Dermatogenetics at the Institute of Human Genetics at the University of Bonn in Germany, and I am a medical specialist for human genetics.
After studying medicine at the University of Saarland and the Karolinska Institute Stockholm, I worked as a postdoctoral fellow at the Universities of Stockholm, Freiburg, Bonn and Antwerp before I started my Emmy Noether young investigator research group in Bonn in 2004. In 2010, I was appointed as Heisenberg Professor for Dermatogenetics in Bonn, which became tenure in 2015. The particular research focus of my working group is dermatogenetics, with a main interest in diverse forms of monogenic and genetically complex alopecias and hyperpigmentation disorders. My group is composed of nearly 10 people. Our work, and primarily the elucidation of several disease genes, was rewarded by a number of prizes and awards and is documented in more than 150 publications, among them several publications in high-ranking international journals (e.g. Nature Genetics, American Journal of Human Genetics, The Journal of Clinical Investigation).
I am happy if I can contribute as Associate Editor with my genetic knowledge to the BJD, and intend to help within our section in advancing the category Translational Medicine.
Kenji Kabashima
I graduated from Kyoto University in 1996 and trained in Medicine/Dermatology at the United Naval Hospital, Kyoto University Hospital, and University of Washington Medical Center. After which I started research on lipid mediators in immunology at Kyoto University, which led to a PhD. I then studied at the Dermatology at Kyoto University (Prof. Yoshiki Miyachi), UCSF (Prof. Jason Cyster), and University of Occupational and Environmental Health (Prof. Yoshiki Tokura). Currently, I am a chair and professor in Dermatology at Kyoto University, and have been researching on the mechanism of inflammatory skin diseases by gene‐targeted mice and visualization of the skin.
My hobbies are running (full marathon, 2:58:15 @ Feb 1, 2015), climbing, and traveling.
Martin Laimer
Martin Laimer, MD, MSc, is Professor of Dermatology and Deputy Head of the Department of Dermatology and Allergology, University Hospital of the Paracelsus Medical University (PMU) Salzburg. He additionally heads the Clinical Study Center of the EB House Austria, a designated national center of expertise for Epidermolysis bullosa within the European Reference Network for Rare Skin Diseases (ERN Skin). Dr Laimer works both clinically and scientifically in the field of rare diseases, with special interest in Epidermolysis bullosa, for more than 20 years. He holds a Diploma in Dermatopathology awarded by the Austrian Chamber of Physicians and a master‘s degree in Health Science and Leadership from the PMU. In 2014 he was appointed co-chairman of the Executive Board of Directors of Salzburg Centre for Rare Diseases. He further directs the Austrian Academy for Dermatological Education since 2018 and is Member of the Presidium of the Austrian Society of Dermatology and Venerology.
Lavinia Paternoster
I am an Associate Professor in Genetic Epidemiology at the Medical Research Council – Integrative Epidemiology Unit at the University of Bristol, UK. My expertise is in the genetic epidemiology of atopic dermatitis.
I have led several large international GWAS meta-analyses of atopic dermatitis within the EAGLE consortium. My research now also includes functionally characterising the identified genetic associations using in silico bioinformatic approaches that combine multiple layers of omics data, as well as using these genetic associations as instruments to assess causality in observational associations using a statistical technique called Mendelian Randomisation.
I teach genetic epidemiology to undergraduate, Master and postgraduate students.
My interest in genetics started during A-levels at School. I studied Biology at York University and then moved to Edinburgh for an MSc in Quantitative Genetics and Genome Analysis. I also received my PhD in Stroke Genetics from the University of Edinburgh, before taking up my first post-doc position in Bristol in 2009 to analyse the newly generated genome-wide data in the ALSPAC cohort. A love of Bristol ensued, and I remain here over a decade later, now with a family, including two young children, who occasionally let me practice yoga and Pilates, cycle, paddle-board and go sailing.
Bastian Schilling
Currently, I’m Deputy Chair (Leitender Oberarzt) of the Department of Dermatology at the University Hospital of Würzburg in Germany, where I’m also an associate professor in the department. I received my medical degree from the University of Duisburg-Essen and underwent residency training in dermatology at University Hospital Essen. I completed a postdoctoral fellowship in the Department of Pathology at the University of Pittsburgh Cancer Institute, in the US in 2010/11.
I’m a clinician treating patients with skin cancer and heading a lab focused on tumour immunology. As a medical doctor and translational researcher, I want to understand how skin cancer develops and how we can improve treatment. I’m searching for new therapeutic targets for vaccines or T cell- based immunotherapies. In addition, I want to understand how oncogenes contribute to immune evasion and how myeloid cells influence melanoma therapy. As a clinician scientist, I am trying to unravel clinical observations in my laboratory and to translate research findings back into patient care.
Amanda Toland
I am a Professor in the Department of Cancer Biology Genetics with a joint appointment in the Division of Human Genetics, Department of Internal Medicine at the Ohio State University (OSU). I also am co-Director of the OSU Comprehensive Cancer Center Genomics Shared Resource. My expertise is in the genetics and genomics of skin cancer.
My laboratory studies the role of genetic variants in modifying disease risk of hereditary and sporadic cancers using a variety of in vitro, in vivo and population-based approaches. My postdoctoral work using mouse models to identify human skin cancer susceptibility genes was where I began my interest in understanding the genetics of cutaneous squamous cell carcinoma. More specifically, my research focuses on identifying and characterising genetic factors important in cancer susceptibility to cSCC as well as understanding the molecular events leading to metastasis in cSCC.
New areas of interest include the use of polygenic risk scores in clinical settings. I coordinate the KeraCon Consortium Immunosuppression Working Group and am involved in numerous additional national committees, including being a member of the NCI PDQ Cancer Genetics Editorial Board.
I received my PhD in Human Genetics from the University of Utah in the laboratory of Dr. Mark Keating where I identified the genetic cause of Williams syndrome. I next completed a clinical fellowship in medical genetics from the University of California San Francisco and became board certified as a PhD Medical Geneticist. I am married with two children and enjoy baking, hiking and trying to game the weeds in my garden in my spare time.
Stephan Weidinger
I am currently Professor for Dermatology at Christian-Albrechts-University Kiel, and Vice Head of the Department of Dermatology at the University Hospital Schleswig-Holstein, Kiel, Germany, where I supervise the Center for Inflammatory Skin Diseases. I qualified as a physician from the University of Regensburg, Germany; following this I received my MD and PhD from the Technische Universität Munich, Germany. Prior to my current position, I was senior physician at the Department of Dermatology and Allergy, Technische Universität Munich, where I led the atopic dermatitis and psoriasis outpatient departments.
My main research interests lie in the molecular mechanisms and treatment of chronic inflammatory skin diseases, in particular atopic dermatitis, and I have published and reviewed articles in these areas of interest. I am principal investigator of the German Excellence Cluster ‘Inflammation at Interfaces’, principal investigator of the ‘sysInflame’ systems medicine consortium funded by the German Ministry for Health and one of the principal investigators of the German atopic dermatitis registry TREATGermany. I have also been involved in multiple clinical trials, predominantly in the field of atopic dermatitis.
In addition to my clinical and research roles, I am an associate editor of the Journal of Allergy and Clinical Immunology and Allergy, as well as an editorial board member of the Journal of the European Academy of Dermatology and Venereology.
Masashi Akiyama
I am a vice dean in the Graduate School of Medicine and the chair and professor of the Department of Dermatology at Nagoya University in Nagoya, Japan.
My main research and clinical interests lie in the genetics of skin disorders, especially genetic keratinization diseases including ichthyoses, the mechanisms of keratinization and stratum corneum barrier function.
I received my M.D. and Ph.D. degrees from Keio University in Tokyo, Japan, in 1986 and 1991 (Prof. Takeji Nishikawa), respectively. From 1992 to 1994, I was a senior research fellow in the departments of Biological Structure and Medicine/Dermatology (Prof. Karen A. Holbrook) at the University of Washington School of Medicine in Seattle. Returning to Japan, I worked as an associate professor in the Department of Dermatology at Teikyo University School of Medicine, Ichihara Hospital (Prof. Itsuro Matsuo) in Chiba (1999-2001) and as an assistant/associate professor in the Department of Dermatology at Hokkaido University (the late Prof. Hiroshi Shimizu), Sapporo (2001-2010).
I have co-authored over 600 scientific publications. I am currently a section editor for the Journal of Dermatological Science and The Journal of Dermatology and an advisory board member of Acta Dermato-Venereologica.
Xianyong Yin
I received my M.D. and Ph.D. degree from Anhui Medical University, China. I worked as an associate professor at the Institute of Dermatology, Anhui Medical University before moving to the United States in 2015. I held a position as a research assistant professor of genetics in the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill in 2015-2017. To receive training of statistical genetics, I moved to the Department of Biostatistics, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor in 2017 and worked as a postdoctoral research fellow initially and later a research area specialist senior. I am now a full-time professor at the Department of Epidemiology, School of Public Health, Nanjing Medical University, China. My research area focuses on genetic epidemiology of inflammatory and metabolic diseases including psoriasis and systemic lupus erythematosis. My research was supported by the National Natural Science Foundation of China and American Diabetics Association.
Esther Freeman
I am Section Editor of the Global Health & Equity section of the BJD, which was launched in 2021.
I am Director of Global Health Dermatology at Massachusetts General Hospital, Harvard Medical School, in Boston Massachusetts. I trained in infectious disease epidemiology with a PhD from the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine as a Marshall Scholar, focusing on the HIV epidemic in sub-Saharan Africa, before completing my medical training at Harvard Medical School and my Dermatology training at the Harvard Combined Dermatology Residency Program.
I am currently an Associate Professor at Harvard Medical School. I have worked to improve healthcare, especially for those affected by HIV, in sub-Saharan Africa, Latin America, and southeast Asia since 2003. I have collaborated with the World Health Organization (WHO) since 2011, to establish guidelines for the treatment of HIV-associated skin conditions in resource limited settings.
I am founding Chair of GLODERM, the International Alliance for Global Health Dermatology. I also serve as an External Advisor to the International League of Dermatologic Societies (ILDS) in the areas of COVID-19 and the WHO. I am the Principal Investigator of the international COVID-19 Dermatology Registry, which is a collaboration between the American Academy of Dermatology and the ILDS.
Francisco Bravo Puccio
I am a Peruvian dermatologist and dermatopathologist, working both in a public hospital as well as in a private practice.
My main academic interest is the topic of infectious diseases. I became interested in this subject from my undergraduate days, thanks to the influence of great teachers at my medical school, Universidad Peruana Cayetano Heredia, in Lima, Peru.
After 7 years of training in the United States, including a residency in internal medicine, a residency in dermatology and a fellowship in dermatopathology, I came back to Peru 30 years ago. Since then, I have dedicated my academic career to teaching and learning about dermatology, dermatopathology, as well as infectious and tropical diseases at the Hospital Cayetano Heredia and the Instituto de Medicina Tropical Alexander von Humboldt of the Universidad Peruana Cayetano Heredia.
My publications are mainly centered on emerging infectious diseases, including parasitic infections, mycobacterial infections, and about viruses and lymphoma. I have written several chapters in different textbooks including the Chapter on Parasitic Infections in the Bolognia Textbook in Dermatology. I am a co-author of a book entitled Dermatopathology of Tropical Diseases, among other textbook contributions.
I have an active role in teaching dermatology and pathology residents as well as visitor scholars from abroad, including the participants at the Gorgas Course in Tropical Medicine.
Linda Oyesiku
I am a dermatology resident at the University of Washington in Seattle, Washington. I graduated with a medical degree from the University of Miami Miller School of Medicine. While completing my medical training, I was a global health dermatology fellow at Massachusetts General Hospital/Harvard Medical School. I am a founding member of the International Alliance for Global Health Dermatology (GLODERM) and current trainee representative.
Prior to starting my training and career in clinical medicine, I earned a MPH from Boston University School of Public Health as a Peace Corps Master’s International graduate student and served for two years as a health volunteer in Mozambique. I have a Bachelor of Arts degree in Anthropology and Global Health from Emory University.
My interests include paediatric, global health, infectious disease dermatology; follicular disorders; and health equity in dermatology.
Valeska Padovese
Dr Padovese is an Italian medical doctor who graduated at the medical school of Trieste University in 1998 and obtained a post-degree diploma in dermatology and venereology in 2002. After her specialisation she collaborated with the National Institute for Health, Migration and Poverty (INMP) in Rome (Italy), a public institute which focuses on tropical medicine and migrants’ health. During this time, she was involved in national and international projects. In 2003 she started travelling to
Africa and working in northern Ethiopia (2003-2007) where she opened the Italian Dermatological Hospital, which was the only hospital providing skin care to a population of over 4 million people. She was responsible of the hospital in- and out-patients’ department, in charge of training health professionals and clinical epidemiological survey in collaboration with the local Ministry of Health. She carried out operational research in the rural communities of Tigray region aimed at early detection of HIV infection through skin signs and symptoms to determine prevalence and type of skin conditions/STIs related to HIV infection in the area.
Since 2015 Dr Padovese has worked as consultant at the Genito-Urinary (GU) Clinic at Mater Dei Hospital in Malta. She leads the GU Clinic team, which serves the entire Maltese population and she oversees postgraduate trainees. She is also a lecturer at the Medical School, University of Malta, Course of Venereology and at the Master on International Humanitarian Action of the NOHA programme. Since 2015 she has also been an IUSTI Europe board member and in 2020 she was
appointed external advisor of the International Foundation for Dermatology Migrants Health Dermatology Working Group.
Since 2017 Dr Padovese has collaborated with the WHO Human Reproduction Programme for the implementation of research projects on clinical base evaluation of Point of Care Test (POCT) for STIs screening in Malta, targeting key populations, particularly Men who have Sex with Men (MSM).
Archana Singal
Dr Archana Singal (MD, FAMS) is the Director Professor and head of the Department of Dermatology & STI, University College of Medical Sciences, New Delhi, India. She is also the head of dermatology, Faculty of Medical Sciences, University of Delhi. She is the founding president of the Nail Society of India (NSI).
She has been a teaching faculty for over 25 years at University College of Medical Sciences, New Delhi. Her chief areas of interest include tropical dermatology (cutaneous tuberculosis, leprosy and mycoses in particular), nail disorders and genodermatoses. She has published approximately 230 scientific journal articles, and has contributed more than 40 chapters related to skin, STI and leprosy in various textbooks. She has also been the chief editor of several books including, ‘Comprehensive Approach to Infections in Dermatology’, ‘Atlas of Infections in Dermatology’, ‘Superficial Dermatophytosis’ and ‘Comprehensive Approach to Nail Disorders’.
Dr. Singal is especially passionate about the Neglected Tropical Diseases (NTDs) that affect the economically underprivileged strata worldwide. In the past, NTDs were largely limited to the global south, and have been neglected by clinicians/dermatologists, researchers, and funding agencies alike. However, with the world becoming more interconnected, NTDs are no longer confined to specific geographic zones. Therefore, she feels strongly about the uniform incorporation of clinical training and research on NTDs in all parts of the world.
Anisa Mosam
Associate Professor in the Department of Dermatology attached to Nelson R Mandela School of Medicine, UKZN and Head Clinical Unit at Inkosi Albert Luthuli Central Hospital.
The following are the areas of interest: HIV/AIDS dermatoses, skin cancers in HIV, Kaposi's sarcoma, auto-immune bullous diseases, HIV psoriasis, epidemiology of HIV skin disease; dermatology training and education; quality of life and skin disease, drug reactions in HIV/AIDS and atopic Eczema.
In addition to research and clinical service she is dedicated to training of undergraduates and postgraduates in medicine and allied disciplines. She has co-authored and edited an “Atlas of skin conditions associated with HIV/AIDS” and “A Comprehensive Textbook of Skin Diseases for Africa”
She is keen to empower and develop those around her so as to improve dermatological services and academic dermatology in Sub-Saharan Africa.
Rie Yotsu
I currently hold positions at the Department of Tropical Medicine, Tulane School of Public Health and Tropical Medicine (New Orleans, USA), School of Tropical Medicine and Global Health, Nagasaki University (Nagasaki, Japan) and at the Department of Dermatology, National Center for Global Health and Medicine (Tokyo, Japan). Being both a dermatologist and a global health researcher, I have cultivated my expertise in skin infections, especially in the field of skin-related neglected tropical diseases (skin NTDs). My recent work has been on epidemiology, surveillance, and management of Buruli ulcer and leprosy. I am also working on development of novel diagnostic tools and therapies for skin NTDs. These works have been funded by the Japan Agency for Medical Research and Development (AMED), Leprosy Research Initiative (LRI), Global Health Innovative Technology Fund (GHIT), and National Institutes of Health (NIH).
I also work as a consultant to the World Health Organization in the field of Skin-related Neglected Tropical Diseases (Skin-NTDs), being one of the pioneers in promoting Skin-NTDs integration, and having both clinical and global health expertise. This work has involved evaluating NTD control programs in LMICs, contributing to the writing of NTD treatment and control guidelines, and developing training guides and materials.
Viktoria Eleftheriadou
I am a Consultant Dermatologist at the New Cross and Walsall Manor Hospital and Honorary Associate Professor at the Institute of Applied Health Research, University of Birmingham. My dermatology training was undertaken in the East and West Midlands, UK.
In 2023 I was awarded my PhD on vitiligo and phototherapy which was funded by the National Institute for Health Research (NIHR). My work in the field of vitiligo includes Priority Setting Partnership, national multi-centre, randomised controlled trials on hand-held phototherapy and the international initiative on outcomes for vitiligo trials (INFO). More recently, I led the British Association of Dermatologists guidelines for the management of people with vitiligo 2021.
I regularly contribute to the BJD by publishing my research, commentaries and frequently act as a reviewer. Additionally, I have presented my research at national and international meetings and have won awards from the BAD, AAD and EADV. I have published chapters in several books on vitiligo and phototherapy. In addition to vitiligo, my research interests include trials methodology, outcome measures and qualitative research.
Christine Blome
Christine Blome, PhD, is a psychologist and head of the research group Patient-Reported Outcomes’ at the Institute for Health Services Research in Dermatology and Nursing (IVDP), University Medical Center Hamburg-Eppendorf (UKE). She is also core member of the Hamburg Center for Health Economics (HCHE). Her group's research focuses on the development and use of patient-reported outcome measures in dermatology and beyond, for example, the Wound-QoL and the Patient Benefit Index (PBI), and uses both qualitative and quantitative methods. Major research subjects include health-related quality of life, patient needs and benefits, subjective well-being, shared decision-making, and ambulatory assessment.
Fiona Cowdell
I am a Professor of Nursing and Health Research at Birmingham City University, UK and an Associate at the Centre of Evidence Based Dermatology, University of Nottingham.
As a registered nurse I worked for many years in the National Health Service at senior levels both operational and strategic whilst developing close links with academia.
My research work focuses on clinically relevant studies in skin health with particular reference to long-term skin conditions and skin health for the older person using innovative knowledge mobilisation and health behaviour change techniques.
I am a qualitative methodologist and am committed to Patient and Public Involvement and Engagement in research.
Robert Ofenloch
After graduating from the faculty of social science at the University of Mannheim I wanted to sharpen my statistical and methodological skills and was eager to work in epidemiological research. Thus, I started as a research fellow at the department of Clinical Social Medicine at University Hospital Heidelberg. My first important project was an international epidemiological survey assessing the prevalence of fragrance allergy in the general European population, where I was responsible for coordination of data assessment in the region of Heidelberg and afterwards for analysis of the whole dataset. By this route I entered the dermatological field of research. I recognized quickly that patient reported outcomes (PROs) are of major importance in epidemiological as well as clinical research to adequately assess the burden of disease in those affected. I started my PhD-equivalent studies on the development and validation of the Quality of Life in Hand Eczema Questionnaire (QOLHEQ), which is available in eight language versions. In performing this work and in translating and validating other PROs in dermatology, I became aware of the pitfalls that await when we attempt to perform not only a high-quality development process (where qualitative research is an important aspect) but also a quantitative international validation process.
Andrew Thompson
I am currently a Professor of Clinical Psychology and Consultant Clinical Psychologist working in Cardiff in the UK. I am the Programme Director for the South Wales Clinical Psychology Doctorate. This role involves leading the delivery of Clinical Psychology Training and workforce development across mid, west, and south Wales. I have worked in the NHS for 30 years and I previously provided clinical health psychology services to patients living in South Yorkshire, UK. I have a longstanding interest in psychological aspects of skin conditions. I have sought to raise the profile of ‘psychodermatology’ within a number of professional bodies, and I am the psychological adviser to the UK All Party Parliamentary Group on Skin. I'm also a Trustee for the charity Changing Faces, and I have been a scientific board member for a number of other patient organisations. The research that I conduct centres on understanding the role played by psychosocial variables in adjustment to skin conditions and developing better ways of treating this distress.
Linnea Thorlacius
I started my dermatology training at the Department of Dermatology, Zealand University Hospital, Roskilde, Denmark in 2014. Before this, I was in involved in hyperhidrosis research. In Roskilde, my interest in hidradenitis suppurativa (HS) was aroused and my research has focused on outcomes measures in HS since then. I defended my PhD on outcomes measures in HS in 2019. I am founder and steering group member of HISTORIC (HIdradenitis SuppuraTiva cORe outcomes set International Collaboration) and founding board member of CHORD (Consortium for Harmonizing Outcomes Research in Dermatology). In C3 (CHORD COUSIN Collaboration; CS COUSIN: The Cochrane Skin - Core Outcome Set Initiative), I am a board member and a member of the methods group.
In addition to HS, development of core outcome sets and development and validation of outcome measurement instruments, I have a special interest in quality of life and psychological comorbidities to skin diseases. I am currently placed at both the Department of Dermatology in Roskilde and the Department of Dermato-Venereology & Wound Healing Centre, Bispebjerg Hospital in Copenhagen. I have regularly contributed to the BJD by publishing my research and commentaries and have frequently acted as a reviewer.
Ignacio Garcia-Doval
I completed my residency training in dermatology in Santiago de Compostela, Spain, in 1995. My PhD was on the immunohistochemistry of mesodermal skin tumours. I felt strongly attracted to epidemiology following this period spent in basic research.
I was awarded a master’s degree in statistics and design in health research from the Universidad Autonoma de Barcelona, Spain and a Master of Science degree in epidemiology from the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine, U.K.
I have worked as a clinician with a special interest in autoimmune disorders since completing my residency training.
I currently work in Vigo, Spain.
Since 2010, I have also been a distance learning tutor of epidemiology at the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine and, since 2012, the Director of the Research Unit of the Spanish Academy of Dermatology.
My main research interest is about how to apply research methods to improve dermatological clinical research. I am the coordinator of BIOBADADERM (the Spanish registry of systemic therapy in psoriasis) and participate in the organization of studies about Mohs surgery, haemangiomas, contact dermatitis and other topics in addition to systematic reviews and clinical practice guidelines.
John Frew
I am a dermatologist and dermatological researcher at The Ingham Institute for Applied Medical Research at the University of New South Wales in Sydney, Australia.
After graduating with honors from University of New South Wales (UNSW), I obtained a Master of Medicine from the University of Sydney and a PhD at Flinders University. After completion of my dermatology specialist training in 2016, I undertook translational research at The Rockefeller University in New York City investigating the inflammatory mechanisms in Hidradenitis Suppurativa. I currently hold a clinical appointment at Liverpool Hospital in Sydney, Australia, and am Head of the Laboratory of Translational Cutaneous Medicine at the Ingham Institute for Applied Medical Research.
I have authored over 100 peer-reviewed articles and have a special interest in the pathogenesis and molecular mechanisms in Hidradenitis Suppurativa and other inflammatory dermatoses.
Roderick Hay
I graduated from Oxford University and Guy’s Hospital Medical School in 1971. My training in Dermatology and Infectious Disease was in Guy’s Hospital, the St John’s Institute of Dermatology, the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine (LSHTM) and the Centre for Disease Control, Atlanta, USA. My first appointment as a consultant dermatologist was at St Johns in 1979 and as a Senior Lecturer at LSHTM and honorary consultant microbiologist at University College Hospital. I moved to the Mary Dunhill Chair of Cutaneous Medicine, Kings College London (KCL) in 1989, becoming Dean of the St John’s Institute in 1996. I moved to Queen’s University Belfast as Dean of the Faculty of Medicine and Health Sciences in 2001 and returned to KCL as Professor of Cutaneous Infection in 2009 where I am currently emeritus.
My clinical and scientific interests are skin infections and global health dermatology and have worked or carried out research in different parts of Africa, Latin America and the West Pacific. I was Chairman of the International Foundation for Dermatology between 2001 and 2015 and am a technical adviser to WHO on Neglected Tropical Disease of the Skin.
Hamish Hunter
I undertook my preclinical training in Medicine at the University of St Andrews where I attained an intercalated Bachelor of Medical Sciences with Honours. I spent my clinical years at the University of Manchester, graduating in 2001. Following medical rotations in Manchester I took up a training number in Dermatology on the Mersey rotation. Having completed my specialist training in Liverpool I returned to Manchester to embark on a PhD investigating various aspects of the brain–skin axis under the watchful eyes of Dr Elise Kleyn and Professor Chris Griffiths. I am currently a consultant dermatologist at Salford Royal NHS Foundation Trust, and an Honorary Clinical Senior lecturer at the University of Manchester. I am the Trust lead for specialty training in dermatology and serve on the clinical informatics board; the trust has recently been awarded Global Digital Exemplar status by NHS England. My current research interests are directed towards all aspects of the management of psoriasis and its comorbidities, and the complex bidirectional relationship between the skin and the psyche. I have been involved in multiple clinical trials, predominantly in the field of psoriasis, and eagerly await my involvement in the anticipated explosion of studies investigating the use of novel biological therapies in eczema. I have published and reviewed articles in these areas of interest and am an editor and co-author of Clinical Dermatology.
Jemima Mellerio
I completed my undergraduate medical training at the London Hospital Medical College and undertook my medical rotation in London. My first exposure to dermatology was at St John’s Institute of Dermatology where, as DEBRA Clinical Research Fellow, I completed my MD thesis in genotype-phenotype correlation in epidermolysis bullosa (EB), a research and clinical interest that has endured since. Having finished my dermatology training in South London, I took up consultant posts at St John’s and Great Ormond Street Hospital in 2003, later to become Honorary Professor of Paediatric Dermatology at King’s College London in 2016. At St John’s, I am Clinical Lead for Paediatric and Genetic Dermatology, and lead the nationally commissioned Adult EB Service, promoting holistic multidisciplinary care for paediatric and adult skin diseases. My research activities have focused on the field of gene discovery for novel forms of EB and other genodermatoses, as well as on clinical trials of emerging translational therapies, including cell and gene therapy, and other rare disease clinical trials. I have published over 130 peer-reviewed papers and 17 chapters in major dermatology textbooks and have presented widely in the U.K. and internationally on EB, other genodermatoses and paediatric dermatology. Over recent years, I have driven the development of the new Rare Disease Centre for paediatric and adult complex skin disease at Guy’s and St Thomas’, a facility that will be a focus for pre-eminent multidisciplinary management, clinical trials, and education and fostering of trainees in this arena from the U.K. and overseas.
Luigi Naldi
I earned a diploma in Classical Studies and a Degree in Industrial Design at the School of Engineering and Design of Milan, before moving to medicine. I graduated as a medical doctor at the University of Pavia in 1981 and then spent three years as an investigator at the Laboratory of Clinical Pharmacology of the Mario Negri Institute in Milan. In 1988 I entered the clinical arena at the Department of Dermatology of the University of Milan, Bergamo General Hospital. I qualified as a full professor of Dermatology in 2012.
My research interests focus on classical and clinical epidemiology in Dermatology and on methods to assess the safety of medical interventions. Following my mentor Dr Gianni Tognoni, I have always considered the health care system as the ‘natural laboratory’ of a clinical epidemiologist. I tried to translate this concept into practice by establishing in 1986 a network of clinical centres to conduct collaborative research, The Italian Group for Epidemiologic Research in Dermatology (GISED) which is still active.
Sonia Gran (née Ratib)
I have a BA in Mathematics and French studies from the University of Birmingham and a MSc in Medical Statistics from the London School of Hygiene & Tropical Medicine.
Before commencing my PhD in the Division of Epidemiology & Public Health at the University of Nottingham, I worked as a medical statistician at the former Trent Institute for Health Services Research, a study co-ordinator for the Trent Hepatitis C cohort, and as a project manager for the MRC's Institute of Hearing Research.
In August 2014 I completed my PhD in liver disease epidemiology using the Clinical Practice Research Datalink and Hospital Episode Statistics. In October 2014, I joined the Centre of Evidence Based Dermatology as an Assistant Professor of Medical Statistics. I provide statistical/epidemiological support and lead projects using large routine healthcare data sources. I am particularly passionate about conducting epidemiological research in rare skin conditions and working along patient partners who help inform my research.
Jo Leonardi-Bee
I am a Professor of Medical Statistics and Epidemiology in the School of Medicine at the University of Nottingham. I am a Co-Director of the Nottingham Centre for Evidence Based Health Care, which is a Joanna Briggs Institute (JBI) Centre of Excellence. I am also an accredited Systematic Reviewer Trainer and have significant experience in providing and leading Continued Professional Development Training courses in relation to workshops on different methodological aspects of systematic reviews, scoping reviews, and meta-analysis.
I undertake several roles in relation to systematic reviews, including as an Editor of the Cochrane Diagnostic Test Accuracy Group, Member of the JBI Effectiveness Methodology Group and the JBI Psychometrics Methodology Group, and am the former Statistical Editor of the Cochrane Skin Group.
I have published nearly 100 high-quality peer-reviewed systematic reviews of randomised controlled trials and observational studies, using aggregate and individual patient data, and meta-syntheses using qualitative data. My systematic reviews have informed several guidelines and policy in the areas of global health, tobacco control, and dermatology.
Serigne Lo
I am a Senior Research Fellow in Biostatistics at the University of Sydney, with over 15 years of teaching/research experience. In 2015, I was appointed as head of the Research & Biostatistics Group (R&BG) at the Melanoma Institute Australia Sydney, a world leader in clinical research in melanoma. The R&BG consists of seven staff members (three statisticians and four data managers) and is responsible for the provision of statistical expertise to support the research done globally at the Institute. The group is in charge of maintaining the Institute’s research database. As its senior biostatistician, I am responsible for the statistical aspects of a range of prospective and
observational studies addressing critical clinical and epidemiological questions.
I have a strong background in quantitative methods. I completed a MSc in Econometrics in 2002 and was awarded a PhD in Statistics/Econometrics by the University of Geneva in 2006. I moved to Sydney in 2006 for a conjoint postdoctoral fellowship at Macquarie University and the George Institute for Global Health (GIGH), Australia. In 2007, I was appointed as a research and applied biostatistician at the GIGH to work on large-scale studies in cardiovascular and renal diseases, neurological and mental health, critical care and injury prevention. I have worked across numerous disease areas and have been responsible for the design, analysis and reporting of health and medical studies for academic, drug regulatory agencies and government agencies. I am interested in the development of new statistical methods. My personal research includes clinical trials, adaptive design and dynamic predictive models.
I have made an intensive editorial contribution to the scientific community. Over the last 5 years, I have completed over 50 invited peer reviews of manuscripts for different scientific journals, including highly ranked general and specialist journals.
Saharon Rosset
I am a professor of Statistics and Operations Research at Tel Aviv University. My research interests include modern statistical methodology, statistical learning, computational biology and statistical genetics. I completed my PhD in Statistics at Stanford University in 2003 and have been at Tel Aviv since 2007. My role at the BJD mainly involves critical review of statistical analyses and machine-learning methodologies in submitted papers.
Nour Kibbi
I am an academic dermatologist and dermatologic surgeon at Stanford University. I completed medical school and dermatology residency at Yale School of Medicine. I am interested in better understanding the behavior of skin cancer, translating clinical experience into best practice. Beyond skin cancer, I am delighted to be working with the BJD social media editorial team as well as the editorial board to promote the journal’s online global footprint. Follow us on Twitter, Instagram, or Facebook to learn more!
Jonathan Guckian
I am a dermatology registrar at Leeds Teaching Hospitals Trust, having trained at Newcastle University. I am Director of Social Media and Communications at the Association for the Study of Medical Education (ASME). I am also Co-Chair of the Royal College of Physicians Edinburgh Trainees and Members Committee. I completed my Masters in Medical Education (MMedEd) at Newcastle University in 2021 and now work on the Medical Education Masters Programme at Sunderland University School of Medicine.
My research interests include the impact of social media on medical education and dermatology, in addition to education within dermatology. As Podcast Associate Editor, I am excited to advance the BJD's scholarship through this rapidly evolving, creative media.
Philippe Bahadoran
I am a Professor at the Department of Histology and Consultant Dermatologist at Nice University, France. My contributions to the BJD began as an author and reviewer in 2013 and I subsequently became an Associate Editor in 2015.
My main research and clinical interest is in non-invasive diagnosis of skin diseases by means of skin imaging, principally dermoscopy, and reflectance confocal microscopy.
I am the founder of the committee of non-invasive skin imaging of the French Society of Dermatology in 2012, and I have organized the 1st European Course of non-invasive skin imaging under the sponsorship of the European Academy of Dermatology and Venerology (EADV) in 2015. I also sit on the Project Proposal Review Committee of the EADV.
I am a graduate of Paris Necker University’s medical school (MD, 1995) and I also hold a Masters in Immunology from Institut Pasteur Paris, and a PhD in Cell Biology from Nice Sophia Antipolis University.
Shadmehr Demehri
I am an Associate Professor in the Center for Cancer Immunology and Cutaneous Biology Research Center at Massachusetts General Hospital/Harvard Medical School. I have received my medical degree (MD), PhD in Cell Biology and Dermatology residency training at Washington University in St. Louis. I conducted postdoctoral research in Immunology at Washington University. I am a physician- scientist performing basic science and translational research in the field of cancer immunoprevention related to skin, breast and other epithelial cancers.
My research is focused on determining the role of the immune system in maintaining normal tissue homeostasis and preventing the early stages of cancer development. I am a recipient of several awards including the American Academy of Dermatology Young Investigator Award, American Society for Clinical Investigation Young Physician-Scientist Award, NIH Director’s Early Independence Award, Burroughs Wellcome Fund Career Award for Medical Scientists, Breast Cancer Alliance Young Investigator Award, Kimmel Scholar Award, and LEO Foundation Award.
Steffen Emmert
Steffen Emmert is a full professor for Dermatology and Venereology and additionally certified in Allergology, Phlebology, and Medicamentous Tumor Therapy. Since 2015 he is Director of the Clinic for Dermatology and Venereology at the University Medical Center in Rostock, serves as Dean for Student Affairs since 2021, and is Speaker of the Center for Rare Diseases at the University Medical Center Rostock. Since 2000 he is running a research laboratory focused on DNA repair and skin carcinogenesis, epidermal differentiation, genodermatoses as well as plasma medicine.
Manabu Ohyama
Manabu Ohyama received his M.D. and Ph.D. degrees from Keio University Tokyo, Japan, in 1993 and 2002 respectively. During 2002-2005, he was a visiting postdoctoral fellow of Dr. Jonathan C. Vogel’s laboratory at the Dermatology Branch, National Cancer Institute, NIH, Bethesda, MD, USA. He is currently Professor and Chair of the Department of Dermatology, Kyorin University Faculty of Medicine and leads the hair disease clinic at Kyorin University Hospital.
His current interests are in the optimisation of the treatment for hair loss disorders represented by alopecia areata and regenerative medicine of skin appendages. He is the president of the Society for Hair Science Research, an advisor of the Japanese Society for clinical hair restoration, a treasurer of the Japanese Society for Investigative Dermatology, and a director/councilor/ for academic societies, including the Japanese Dermatological Association, and the Japanese Society for Regenerative Medicine.
He has been involved in the editorial teams for established international journals, represented by the British Journal of Dermatology, the Journal of Dermatological Science, and the Journal of Dermatology. He was awarded the William J. Cunliffe Scientific Award at the 15th annual meeting of the European Academy of Dermatology and Venereology and JSID's fellowship Shiseido Award in 2008.
Mi Ryung Roh
I qualified in dermatology from Severance Hospital, Yonsei University College of Medicine in Seoul, Korea.
I am an Associate Professor of Dermatology at Yonsei University College of Medicine, Seoul, Korea and work as a dermatologist/dermatological surgeon at Gangnam Severance Hospital in Seoul.
My research interests are skin cancer (melanoma and nonmelanoma skin cancer), dermatological surgery, scar biology and treatment, surgical, and laser therapeutics.
Stephan Schreml
I studied medicine at the University of Regensburg (Germany) with a scholarship from the National German Merit Foundation. My clinical training included stays in Salzburg (Austria), Coventry (England, U.K.), Los Angeles (CA, U.S.A.) and Basel (Switzerland). Thereafter, I worked on a translational research project funded by the German Research Foundation (DFG). From this point on, my scientific focus has always been on developing luminescence‐based imaging methods to study biological processes, such as wound healing and tumor metabolism. These methods are specifically designed to be applicable on human subjects. Furthermore, a clinical research focus of my work is the study and therapy of cutaneous amyloidoses, leading me to contribute a chapter on this topic in the upcoming edition of Rook’s Dermatology. Currently, I am a consultant dermatologist, dermatopathologist and assistant professor at the University Medical Centre in Regensburg (Germany).
Rubeta Matin
I am a Consultant Dermatologist at Oxford University Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust and Honorary Senior Lecturer at University of Oxford since 2015. I qualified from Guy’s, King’s and St Thomas’ Hospitals Medical Schools in 2001 and trained in dermatology in London and Oxford. I am an academic dermatologist with expertise in skin cancers and skin disease in the immunosuppressed.
I have a national reputation as a skin cancer leader and have published >100 high impact peer reviewed journal publications as well as being frequently invited to present nationally and internationally. I achieved a PhD in Molecular Mechanisms in Melanoma at the University of London (2010). At Oxford I am currently Dermatology Research Lead for Skin Cancer actively undertaking clinical research trials in skin cancer diagnosis and management.
I hold a number of national leadership roles including Skin Cancer Lead in the Thames Valley Cancer Alliance Group, Chair of Trial Generation and Prioritisation Panel for the UK Dermatology Clinical Trials Network, Clinical representative for the UK Translational Research Network (UK TREND) and Thames Valley / Wessex Regional Representative for the British Association of Dermatologists (BAD). I was appointed the Chair of the newly formed BAD Artificial Intelligence (AI) Working Group Party (Sep 2020). I am also a member of the International Telecommunication Union (ITU)/WHO Focus Group on AI for Health (FG- AI4H) developing standardised benchmarking of AI-based technologies for health.
Bernd Arents
I am a person living with severe atopic dermatitis since birth (1964) and have severe allergies, such as for pollen, animals and food (some of them anaphylactic). I also have ocular rosacea.
Since 1996, I have developed myself, within the Dutch Association for People with Atopic Dermatitis (VMCE), from being a patient to being a patient advocate, in the broadest meaning of the term. I also served on the national board for three years as secretary and seven years as president. By mastering some of the knowledge, language and methodology used in the world of dermatology and research, I have been able to further serve those with atopic dermatitis by means of patient participation. As such, I help researchers applying for grants, (co )publish (original) research, am involved in doing systematic reviews, advise the European Medicines Agency in scientific procedures and do patient-review for several medical journals.
For the Dutch Association of Dermatologists I co-authored four evidence based guidelines (topical corticosteroids, atopic eczema, hand eczema and rosacea), to ensure the patient perspective, and currently serve on two of its committees. In appreciation for my contributions, they awarded me in 2019 an honorary membership.
Olivia Hughes
I have lived with psoriasis since the age of seven, which is how I became personally interested in dermatology and psychodermatology. I studied a BA in counselling and psychology at the University of Wales Trinity Saint David and wrote my undergraduate dissertation on differences in coping between males and females with skin conditions. I graduated with first-class honours and won the British Psychological Society prize for the best dissertation. I later studied an MSc in clinical
psychology and mental health at Swansea University, with my postgraduate dissertation focussing on the experiences of anger in people with psoriasis, and I graduated with distinction. I have since been awarded a funded PhD studentship in Cardiff University School of Psychology, and I am currently working on developing a mindfulness-based online intervention for children with skin conditions and their families, importantly involving target users in every step of the design.
I am trustee to Skin Care Cymru and take an active role working alongside other team members providing support to patients with skin conditions across Wales. My experiences as a dermatology
patient, combined with working in academia and my doctoral level scientific expertise and familiarisation with empirical literature provides me with a dual-role of researcher and expert-by- experience. I am incredibly passionate about enhancing existing dermatology services, and the importance of working collaboratively with patients. I am particularly interested in improving patient psychological wellbeing with better informed research and user-centred psychosocial interventions to promote healthy management of skin conditions.
Goran Micevic
I am a resident physician in the investigational track of the Department of Dermatology and a post-doctoral fellow in the Department of Immunobiology at Yale University Prior to residency, I completed undergraduate studies in biochemistry and computer science and graduated from the MD/PhD program at Yale School of Medicine. During my doctoral work, I used genetically engineered mouse models and my passion for computational biology to study the role of epigenetic changes during melanoma development and identify novel therapeutic targets.
My current research is focused on the role of the adaptive immune system in cutaneous malignancies and inflammatory skin disease. I am particularly interested in skin cancer.
Kemi Fabusiwa
I'm doctor Kemi Fabusiwa; digital Media associate editor for the BJD. It's been my pleasure to bring to life BJD editorial content onto our social media pages so that they can be enjoyed by our many diverse readers and reach new audiences. I am an internal medicine doctor at University College London, where my medical interests have been promoting skin of colour issues, geriatric dermatology and hair health. Outside of the hospital setting, I have an active skincare blog called 'Joyful Skin' and have been featured in magazines such as Vogue, Harper's Bazaar and Elle where I discuss aspects of skin and dermatological health for lay audiences.
Sara Mirali
I am a senior MD/PhD student at the University of Toronto. I am interested in evidence-based medicine, translational research, and scientific communication. I have served on the editorial boards of various student publications, including as Editor-in-Chief of Toronto Notes. I am delighted to work with our fantastic editorial team to share the journal’s important work with our diverse readership.
Shehnaz Ahmed
I have been working for over 15 years in academic publishing both in India and the UK having accidentally fallen into it at a book fair! Although I have a Maths degree and a masters in computers, I have mainly worked in medicine in editorial roles including at the Royal College of Surgeons, Lancet, British Society for Rheumatology and Microbiology Society (maternity cover). It has been fascinating to be involved in publishing and watch it really evolve from desktop publishing to present day. I have signed off camera-ready proofs in colour at one time. My favourite project has been with the WHO (India) and Government of India on the Revised National Tuberculosis status report, especially challenging when you have power cuts just before your major deadline. The future of publishing is about to get a whole lot of more interesting and exciting with Plan S, transformative deals, Open Science and incorporating AI into our workflows, although the fundamentals will not. While I am not working, I have a long-suffering husband and two children who haven’t quite worked out whether they are more British or more Indian – the debate rages on.
