What to Expect at Dr Peter Lio's AD Session: 2023 Fall Clinical Dermatology Conference

Peter A. Lio, MD, clinical assistant professor of dermatology and pediatrics at Northwestern University Feinberg School of Medicine, talks about some of the topics he will be discussing during his session to be presented at the 2023 Fall Clinical Dermatology Conference, which takes place October 19-22, 2023, both in-person and virtually. This session will delve into the variations in atopic dermatitis (AD) among patients with diverse skin tones globally, address potential differences in treatments, and emphasize the crucial need for a comprehensive understanding of these distinctions so that each patient can get the care they need, explained

Transcript

What are some topics you’ll be highlighting in your session on mild to moderate AD in skin of color?

There has been an incredible revolution, finally, after a very long drought and a long delay, we are understanding more than we've ever understood before about atopic dermatitis. I call this the virtuous cycle of drug development. We get new treatments that actually treat the condition better, and then that not only helps those patients directly—which is great, we need new treatments, of course—but it also informs us about the disease itself. We learn more about it, which then in turn gives us better treatments. We're in this process of refinement, and one of the areas we realized has been, and I think we're realizing this as the society overall but it's been really underreported [and] understudied, is looking at skin of color, because we know there are some important differences that have been unaddressed. Finally, I think we're starting to see how we're able to learn more about it, to pay better attention to it, and of course to bring better treatments so those patients can do great as well. We want to make sure everybody is well taken care of.

In this session, we're going to explore some of the reasons why maybe we have some differences between atopic dermatitis in patients with darker skin types and those with lighter skin types and regionally around the globe, what this means, why some of those treatments might be a little bit different, and also discussing why it's so important that we understand those differences, because I think no matter where you practice, we're still going to see patients that span the range. Some areas are certainly more diverse than others, but I think everybody wants to be in a good place so that they can take care of whatever comes through that door. And the world is increasingly global, so I think we all understand that it's our job and, honestly, it's a pleasure to try to understand and take good care of every individual patient, and to do that we need some more tools in our toolbox.

Who is your target audience for this session?

We're talking to a wide range of practitioners. Dermatologists of course are, in some ways, the main thrust, but there are many nurse practitioners and physician assistants who are taking tremendously great care of patients and are very much involved. Of course, there are even practitioners who are nonspecialized in dermatology, maybe pediatricians and primary care physicians, they are seeing a lot of skin problems. Try as we might, we're only a small group of physicians across this larger landscape of people who are required to help us take the best care of our patients. We literally can't see everybody, so we want everyone to be informed. I think anybody taking care of skin problems, in particular atopic dermatitis, I think they're going to learn something and bring home some new ideas.