CDA 2019 Annual Conference - Interviews with presenters

Dr. Patrick Ott speaks with Dr. Kerri Purdy about the Herculean effort currently underway to design a vaccine against melanoma. Developing a vaccine for melanoma is particularly challenging because it needs to be different for every person.

Dr. Ott discusses:

Dr. Ott is Clinical Director of the Melanoma Center and the Center for Immuno-Oncology at the Dana Farber Cancer Institute. He is a physician and an Associate Professor of Medicine at Harvard Medical School.

CDA President Dr. Kerri Purdy sits down with AAD president Dr. George Hruza to have a conversation about the challenges dermatologists face on both sides of the Canada-US border. They discuss:

Dr. Hruza is a dermatologist and Moh’s surgeon practicing in St. Louis. He is an adjunct professor of dermatology at St. Louis University. He has written four laser dermatology textbooks and published more than 150 articles.

Dr. Anna Bar speaks with Dr. Kerry Purdy about how the tremendous technological evolution in device-based treatments over the past 15 years makes this an exciting time for dermatology. In this conversation from the floor of the CDA’s 2019 Annual Conference in Calgary, Dr. Bar and Dr. Purdy discuss:

Dr. Bar is an associate professor of dermatology and a Mohs micrographic surgeon at Oregon Health & Science University. She is also the director of the fellowship program in Mohs micrographic surgery and dermatologic oncology.

Immense change is coming to the field of healthcare. Zayna Khayat believes medicine will advance more in the next ten years than it has in the last 100. And according to Dr Khayat, dermatologists are perfectly positioned to take advantage of the coming waves of innovation

Zayna Khayat is Future Strategist with SE Health (formerly, Saint Elizabeth Health Care) a health and social impact enterprise with a major focus on creating a better future for aging adults in their homes and communities. Zayna is Faculty of Singularity University’ Exponential Medicine stream and is adjunct faculty in the Health Sector Strategy stream at the Rotman School of Management at the University of Toronto.

In this conversation with Dr Kerri Purdy, Zayna Khayat says:

Dr. Heidi Kong is an Adjunct Investigator at the National Cancer Institute. She is a board-certified Dermatologist and currently directs a research program at the National Institute of Arthritis and Musculoskeletal and Skin Diseases (NIAMS) that includes clinical and translational investigations on the human microbiome and inflammatory skin diseases.

Dr Kong spoke at the CDA’s 2019 Annual Conference about the human microbiome and its roles in health and disease, particularly in inflammatory skin diseases.

Some takeaways from her conversation with Dr Kerri Purdy:

Generations of dermatologists know from clinical experience that microbes likely plays a role in several dermatologic disorders

Atopic dermatitis “low-hanging fruit” for assessing the role of the microbiome

Understanding microbiome reinforces the use of antimicrobials to treat atopic dermatitis

Still at early stages of research with the microbiome – still seeing associations rather than showing causation

Rare primary immunodeficiency populations helping to understand differences in the microbiome

Be skeptical of microbiome research and temper enthusiasm until solid evidence emerges

Professor Dr Swen Malte John is a world-renowned expert in occupational dermatology. In this conversation with CDA president Dr Kerri Purdy they discuss:

Occupational dermatology as a neglected field

A global group of scientists is assessing the burden of occupational skin cancer

In-patient contact dermatitis care permits proper diagnosis, keeping patients away from exposure to materials of concern and allowing for proper education and training of patients

Reporting of occupational dermatologic cases (50% of all occupational diseases) essential to properly address the issue

For the first time in Canada, provincial-level work has been done to assess UV exposure in the workplace

Outdoor workers must be regularly screened for skin cancer

Professor John is Chairman of the Department of Dermatology and Environmental Medicine at the University of Osnabrueck. He is also chair of the Institute for Interdisciplinary Dermatological Prevention and Rehabilitation at the University of Osnabrück (iDerm) and of the Lower-Saxonian Institute of Occupational Dermatology.