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New Science, Hot Topics Featured at AAD Meeting

— First-time sessions account for 25% of program

Ƶ MedicalToday

ORLANDO -- Consistent with the ongoing evolution of healthcare, the world's largest conference devoted to skin conditions incorporated dozens of new programs to educate and inform specialists in dermatology.

A fourth of the 375 sessions at the 2017 (AAD) meeting will make their inaugural appearance. New sessions cover both dermatology-specific topics -- autoinflammatory skin disorders, practice-changing dermatology literature, and light-based strategies to stimulate hair growth -- and issues affecting the healthcare field at large -- value in healthcare, translating clinical trial data into clinical practice, and practitioner burnout.

Meeting the varied educational and informational needs of more than 16,000 participants expected to attend this year's AAD meeting required development of a varied and contemporaneous program.

"The program will address some of the hottest topics in dermatology," said AAD scientific assembly chair , of the Cleveland Clinic. "These include oncology, psoriasis, vascular malformations and tumors, prevention of medical errors, updates in laser technology, nail disorders, hospital consultations, and aesthetic dermatology."

While availing themselves of opportunities to learn about the latest approaches to diagnosis and treatment of dermatologic conditions, attendees can engage in valuable networking with residents and experienced dermatologists, she added.

Participants in recent AAD annual meetings "voted with their feet," as large audiences identified popular and high-interest topics and sessions. Members of AAD planning committees took notice, and many historically well-attended sessions will return this year. At a "Hot Topics" session on Saturday, speakers will address a wide range of issues attracting considerable interest in the dermatology community: cosmeceuticals, new developments in acne and atopic dermatitis, the latest information on melanoma, emerging trends in contact dermatitis, and post-election healthcare reform.

Clinical controversies sessions scheduled throughout the meeting will focus on unresolved and "hot button" issues in dermatology. The topics include vitamin D, use of biologic therapies, management of cutaneous lupus, phototherapy, contact dermatitis, acne treatment, and calciphylaxis. One session will be devoted to the FDA and the "evolving regulatory landscape."

Late-breaking abstracts will return to the annual meeting at four sessions on Saturday. The late-breaking science begins with a clinical trials session in the morning and continues with sessions focusing on clinical studies in pediatrics, new research in procedural dermatology, and a session incorporating presentations in basic science, cutaneous oncology, and pathology.

Several high-interest, patient-focused workshops will return again this year: the difficult patient, breaking bad news, medication management, and the total-body skin exam.

Each year the AAD annual meeting has keynote addresses by national and international authorities, who discuss topics that cover the gamut from basic science to clinical issues to socioeconomic issues. , of the University of Pennsylvania in Philadelphia will review the evolving role and future and telemedicine in dermatology. , of the University of Bordeaux in France, will discuss the successful repurposing of an old drug (propranolol) for a new indication (infantile hemangiomas).

Other keynote presentations will focus on the evolution of moles into melanomas (, University of California San Francisco), heart disease and other comorbidities of psoriasis (, University of Pennsylvania), and the Ebola epidemic and global health security (, of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention).

"The number of maintenance of certification sessions is increased this year and will include many sessions that utilize an audience response system," said Vidimos.

The 2017 AAD annual meeting begins here Friday and continues through mid-day Tuesday at the Orange County Convention Center.

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    Charles Bankhead is senior editor for oncology and also covers urology, dermatology, and ophthalmology. He joined Ƶ in 2007.