PeDRA Pearls

In this episode of PeDRA Pearls, Jenn Dawson is joined by PeDRA Executive Director Mike Siegel and Outcomes Committee Chair Dr. Marcia Hogeling to recap key themes from the Society for Investigative Dermatology (SID) meeting. They discuss emerging trends in dermatology research, including the growing role of genetics, molecular diagnostics, multi-omics, and biologic therapies, as well as highlights from PeDRA’s featured session on vascular anomalies, rare skin diseases, and RIME. The conversation also explores the importance of patient advocacy, collaboration between clinicians and basic scientists, and the exciting future of pediatric dermatology research.

Announcements:

• Register for the Epidermolysis Bullosa webinar with Dr. Peter Marinkovich
• Register for the 14th PeDRA Annual Conference

Meredith Weiss joins the podcast to discuss a study that was presented in the inaugural Gorlin Syndrome Alliance Round Table session at the Society for Investigative Dermatology (SID) meeting. Meredith is the Executive Director for the Gorlin Syndrome Alliance.

Novel PTCH1 Variants in Gorlin Syndrome Identified through Genomic Analysis of 118 Patients. The authors of this study are:

Ryan Kern*1, Amy Xiong1, Qianqian Wang2, Philip Beachy2, Jean Tang1

1Department of Dermatology, Stanford University School of Medicine, Stanford, California, United States; 2Department of Developmental Biology, Stanford University School of Medicine, Stanford, California, United States

Please click here for more information about the Gorlin Syndrome Alliance.

Lynn Petukhova, PhD, is an Assistant Professor in the Ronald O. Perelman Department of Dermatology and the Department of Population Health.

Ganna Bilousova, PhD, is an Associate Professor of Dermatology at the University of Colorado and mentor to Stefanos Koutsoukos, a PhD candidate at the University of Colorado. Dr. Bilousova and Stefanos received a 2025 PeDRA Research Fellowship Award for their project, Characterizing Deficits in Early-Stage Autophagy and Lipid Accumulation in iPSC-Derived Fibroblasts and Keratinocytes from Individuals with Recessive Dystrophic Epidermolysis Bullosa. In this episode, they discuss findings from the study as presented at the Society for Investigative Dermatology (SID) Annual Meeting.

1. Tammy Esohe Ehimwenma Point Du Jour, Medical Student, Meharry Medical College
2. Neha Momin, Medical Student, University of Houston
3. Rachel Zhang, Johns Hopkins University
4. Sarah Commaroto, Research Fellow, University of South Florida
5. Madeline Guy, Medical Student, Northwest Ohio Medical University

Dr. Chiu joins the podcast to share an update on her ongoing study, Clinical and Genetic Characterization of Recurrent Reactive Infectious Mucocutaneous Eruption (RIME).

Michael Howell, PhD, is an immunologist and the Founder and President of Mountaineer Biosciences.

Dr. Joy Wan is a pediatric dermatologist and an Assistant Professor of Dermatology at Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine.

Dr. Beth Drolet is Professor and Chair, Geneva F. and Sture Johnson Distinguished Chair at the University of Wisconsin, Madison.

Dr. Megha Tollefson, Department Chair of Dermatology, Professor of Pediatrics and Dermatology at the Mayo Clinic, and PeDRA President-Elect, shares her key takeaways from the PeDRA session at SID.