Laura is the vice president of content for The American Journal of Managed Care® (AJMC®) and all its brands, including The American Journal of Accountable Care®, Evidence-Based Oncology™, and The Center for Biosimilars®. She has been working on AJMC® since 2014 and has been with AJMC®’s parent company, MJH Life Sciences®, since 2011.
She has an MA in business and economic reporting from New York University. You can connect with Laura on LinkedIn or Twitter.
Margaret Rehayem Highlights Strategies From the Employer Playbook on Biosimilars
The Employer Playbook on Biosimilars highlights strategies employers can use to navigate challenges around ensuring employee access to biosimilars at the pharmacy, as well as how to respond to pharmacy benefit managers who aren’t making biosimilars available on the formulary, said Margaret Rehayem, vice president, National Alliance of Healthcare Purchaser Coalitions.
Dr Eva Parker Outlines Why Climate Change Has a Greater Health Impact on Marginalized Communities
Not only are Black and Brown communities, as well as neighborhoods with lower socioeconomic status, disproportionately impacted by climate change, but these communities are not as readily able to adapt to mitigate the impacts climate change has on health.
Dr John Harris Discusses New Information Learned in Extension Studies for Ruxolitinib Cream
Each trial extension has added new and more data and a better understanding of how ruxolitinib cream treats vitiligo in the long term, explained John Harris, MD, PhD, FAAD, director of the Vitiligo Clinic and Research Center at UMass Chan Medical School.
Biosimilars Can Create Huge Savings, but Interchangeability Needs to Be Reviewed
A new report from AHIP indicates that biosimilars have the potential to garner savings of $180 billion over 5 years, but there needs to be a review of the approval process for interchangeability to encourage more approvals.
Dr Charles Wykoff: Some Patients May Need Both Gene Therapy and Anti-VEGF to Treat Wet AMD
While there are benefits of gene therapy, some patients will continue to need anti–vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF) therapy to treat wet age-related macular degeneration (AMD), said Charles C. Wykoff, MD, PhD, of Retina Consultants of Texas and the Blanton Eye Institute at Houston Methodist Hospital.
Atopic Dermatitis Treatment Is Still More Trial and Error Than Personalized: Dr Emma Guttman-Yassky
While the future is bright with potential for personalized medicine to treat atopic dermatitis, current treatment is still more like trial and error, said Emma Guttman-Yassky, MD, PhD, FAAD, of the Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai.
Building Equity Into Value Assessments Requires Changing the Rules of the Game
Equity has to be made front and center in conversations about value assessment, otherwise all stakeholders will continue waiting for someone else to make the first move, said one panelist at the Value-Based Insurance Design Summit.
Dr Sancy Leachman Outlines a “Spectrum of Problems” Between Melanoma Detection and Treatment
There is a “spectrum” of problems and obstacles in a patient’s way once melanoma has been detected before that patient sees the right physician and receives treatment, said Sancy Leachman, MD, PhD, professor and chair in the Department of Dermatology and director of the Melanoma Research Program at the Knight Cancer Institute at Oregon Health and Science University.
Dr Eva Parker Discusses the Nexus of Climate Change, Atopic Dermatitis, and Mental Health
Mental health is an underrepresented issue in dermatology even though numerous skin diseases are associated with mental health diseases, said Eva R. Parker, MD, associate professor of dermatology at Vanderbilt University Medical Center and president of the Nashville Dermatologic Society.
Dr Eleonora Lad: Early Intervention for Geographic Atrophy Prevents Too Much Irreversible Damage
The first FDA-approved therapy for geographic atrophy, pegcetacoplan, slows disease progression but does not reverse it, which means providers need to intervene early before there is too much irreversible damage, explained Eleonora Lad, MD, PhD, associate professor of ophthalmology, Duke University.
Dr Sancy Leachman: Melanoma Metastasizes Quickly, Needs to Be Caught Early
While melanoma is one of the most aggressive cancers, making early detection crucial for outcomes, because it is visible on the surface, there are opportunities to catch it early, said Sancy Leachman, MD, PhD, professor and chair in the Department of Dermatology and director of the Melanoma Research Program at the Knight Cancer Institute at Oregon Health and Science University.
Teledermatology Can Increase Access for Patients With High-Risk Melanoma: Erik Jaklitsch
Dermatology lends itself well to telemedicine, particularly as a screening tool to reduce wait times and increase access to care for patients with high-risk melanoma, said Erik Jaklitsch, second-year medical student at the University of Pittsburgh.
Drs Dellavalle and Rodriguez Discuss Disparities in Prescription Patterns for Atopic Dermatitis
Using the DataDerm database has uncovered disparities in prescription patterns, but it’s still early in the process of understanding why those disparities might exist, said Robert Dellavalle, MD, PhD, MSPH, and Ramiro Rodriguez, MD, both of University of Colorado School of Medicine.
Dr Haley Naik Discusses Using Biologics and the Drug Pipeline for Hidradenitis Suppurativa
There are certain considerations when choosing which patient is the best fit for a biologic to treat hidradenitis suppurativa, said Haley Naik, MD, FAAD, associate professor of dermatology, University of California, San Francisco, School of Medicine.
Dr John Harris Outlines the Outcomes of Stopping Treatment With Ruxolitinib Cream for Vitiligo
Similar to other therapies, approximately 40% of patients with vitiligo who stopped treatment with ruxolitinib cream relapsed, but they achieved repigmentation once treatment was reinitiated, explained John Harris, MD, PhD, FAAD, director of the Vitiligo Clinic and Research Center at UMass Chan Medical School.
Dr Eva Parker: Climate Change Has Been Impacting Skin Diseases for Years
Many people often don’t connect the dots between climate change and its impact on skin health, but these effects have been happening for years, said Eva R. Parker, MD, associate professor of dermatology at Vanderbilt University Medical Center.
Dr Monica Li Highlights Advances in Microneedling
At the American Academy of Dermatology annual meeting there will be multiple presentations on hot topics and the latest advances in microneedling, explained Monica Li, MD, clinical instructor, Department of Dermatology and Skin Science, University of British Columbia.
Dr John Harris: There Are a Lot of Reasons to Talk About Vitiligo at This Year’s AAD Meeting
There is a lot to talk about in the vitiligo space at this year’s annual meeting of the American Academy of Dermatology (AAD), said John Harris, MD, PhD, FAAD, director of the Vitiligo Clinic and Research Center at UMass Chan Medical School.