Improving Patient Care in Dermatology Through Data, Innovation, Advocacy: AAD 2025 Recap

This content was produced independently by The American Journal of Managed Care® (AJMC®) and is not endorsed by the American Academy of Dermatology.

At the recent American Academy of Dermatology (AAD) annual conference, leading experts in the field of dermatology convened to share the latest advancements. We spoke with various experts about their key takeaways from the event.

• Lawrence F. Eichenfield, MD, FAAD, chief of pediatric and adolescent dermatology at Rady Children's Hospital and professor of dermatology and pediatrics and vice chair of the department of dermatology at University of California San Diego School of Medicine discussed topical therapy like ruxolitnib for treatment of atopic dermatitis.
• Steven Daniel Daveluy, MD, FAAD, associate professor and program director, clinical educator at Wayne State University, shared information on DataDerm, dermatology’s largest clinical data registry. Daveluy also participated in a session on teaching inclusivity of LGBTQ and sexual and gender minority patients in dermatology.
• Marta Jane Van Beek, MD, MPH, FAAD, clinical professor of dermatology at the University of Iowa, Carver College of Medicine, contributed to the DataDerm discussion as well as artificial intelligence.
• Elizabeth Jones, MD, FAAD, dermatologist affiliated with Thomas Jefferson University Hospitals, spoke on scenarios where less expensive, older generic therapies can play a role in treating dermatologic disease.

This transcript was lightly edited for clarity; captions were auto-generated.

Transcript

What are your key takeaways or favorite things from the AAD 2025 annual meeting?

Eichenfield: Atopic dermatitis is still an incredibly hot topic. We're seeing new drugs. We're getting some readouts on some of the OX40L and OX40 ligand drugs, which are the next drugs to really assess their place in relationship to now our expanded set of biologics and oral JAK [Janus kinase] inhibitors. We have continued data on safety as well as efficacy of those agents that are traditional now, since we've had them for a few years.

Then, we hear there's earlier data coming out or groups that are studying newer medications that may include combinations of biologics, bispecifics, and figure out where they might sit in therapy. Then there's also the work being done. What's fun about the AAD is people translating newer information like "What can I do for my patients now, and what's the best way to message that to the individual?" There's a lot happening in the field; it is not slowing down yet, and we're working hard to get our clinical experience after we get the clinical trials data, so we can figure out what will do best for which patients.

Daveluy: One of the things I really loved about this year's conference is that we had a big focus on DataDerm. DataDerm is the AAD's Qualified Clinical Data Registry. It's free to join, so I tell everybody, please join DataDerm. We collect information from all the dermatologists that are members, and we're always expanding. We really use it to help the field of dermatology. You can access it for research, but we also use it for advocacy.

Marta Van Beek did a great job talking about this at the plenary, that if we don't tell the story of what is dermatology, someone else will. If it's up to someone else, and it's the insurance companies or outside players, they're going to just look at things like cost. "It costs too much for derms to take care of these diseases," but when we can use our data to show the impact we have on patients, the differences we make when giving them their life back and treating severe skin disease, that's what we really need to do.

The more data we have, the better. If you're not enrolled in DataDerm, please visit the AAD website, enroll, contribute your data. You can also use it for MIPS [Merit-Based Incentive Payment System] reporting if you need to, so it can be beneficial for you. We're really rolling out some new features with DataDerm that will give you even more to help you guide your practice.

Van Beek: This has been the largest annual American Academy of Dermatology meeting on record. There have been a myriad of subjects that have been covered. The focus on health care policy, new therapeutics, and mitigation of burnout in the practice of medicine have all been covered at this meeting. It's been a wonderful opportunity to interact with colleagues and to really think about how we can advocate more for our patients and our profession.

Jones: I think my favorite thing about the AAD is the tradition of it all, of being here in person, of collaborating with other people who know the ins and outs of the job of being a dermatologist. We know the aches and pains sometimes of doing the job, but we also know the wins. We know things that are working really well for our patients, in terms of successful treatment plans, new research, new ideas, and ways of delivering care. It creates that excitement where you can kind of be reinvigorated and inspired by other people who are doing the same job you do.

You can learn a lot about how you can improve the lives of your patients, as well as your own life. I think right now, with all of the changing regulations, which are pretty fast-paced, one of the nice things to see is that we're really banding together. We're advocating for what's best for our patients, for effective treatments. We're forging forward with creating ways of new health care delivery and new treatments for our patients and research, and I think that inspiration is at the heart of it all.