Managing Use of Systemic Immunosuppressive Medications: HS, Psoriasis, Atopic Dermatitis, Bullous Diseases, and Beyond

Dr. Raja Sivamani is a board-certified dermatologist and practices as an integrative dermatologist at Pacific Skin Institute. He is an Adjunct Associate Professor of Clinical Dermatology at the University of California, Davis and Director of Clinical Research and the Clinical Trials Unit.He is also an Adjunct Assistant Professor in the Department of Biological Sciences at the California State University, Sacramento and an Associate Professor of Dermatology at California Northstate University, College of Medicine.He engages in clinical practice as well as both clinical and translational research that integrates bioengineering, nutrition, cosmetics, and skin biology. With training in both Allopathic and Ayurvedic medicine, he takes an integrative approach to his patients and in his research.He has published over 100 peer-reviewed research manuscripts, 10 textbook chapters, and a textbook entitled Cosmeceuticals and Active Cosmetics, 3rd Edition with a passion for expanding the evidence and boundaries of integrative medicine for skin care.

Dr. Vivian Shi, MD is an Associate Professor of the Department of Dermatology at the University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences (UAMS), where she directs the Eczema Clinic and Hidradenitis Suppurativa Clinic.

Dr. Shi received her undergraduate degree in physiological sciences from UCLA, and
subsequently spent a year performing research on gene regulation in pathogenic bacteria in the department of microbiology at UCLA. She learned her medical degree from the University of Illinois at Chicago. During that time, she also completed a fellowship in the Skin Immunology Laboratory. She was an integral part of the team characterizing the pathophysiology of atopic dermatitis. She then completed her internship in Internal Medicine at the University of Chicago – NorthShore Health System, followed by a dermatology residency at the University of California, Davis, where she also served as chief resident.

Dr. Shi’s research and clinical interests are in complex inflammatory skin conditions (such atopic dermatitis, hidradenitis suppurativa, and psoriasis), skin barrier repair, transepidermal drug delivery, and integrative dermatology. She has served as the principal investigator for numerous industry-sponsored and investigator-initiated clinical and translational studies. She has published over 150 peer-reviewed articles and is the editor for two reference dermatology textbooks on atopic dermatitis and hidradenitis suppurativa. She is on the Board of Directors for the Hidradenitis Suppurativa Foundation, advisory board of the National Eczema Association, and is a member of the International Eczema Council.

Dr. Hawkes is a board-certified dermatologist and Investigator at the Oregon Medical Research Center in Portland, Oregon. He completed his medical school and residency at the University of Utah. During medical school, he completed a fellowship in translational immunology in the NIH-HHMI Research Scholars Program. He also received a Master’s Degree in Clinical Investigation from Rockefeller University, where he was Chief Clinical Scholar and Principal and sub-Investigator on multiple human research protocols in the Laboratory for Investigative Dermatology. He has held academic appointments in the Departments of Dermatology at the University of Utah, University of California-Davis, Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai.

Dr. Hawkes is a current Councilor in the International Psoriasis Council and serves on the NPF Medical Board and Scientific Advisory Committee. He also serves as the official delegate of the AAD as a member of the international guidelines and workgroup committee for urticaria. His research has been funded by the NIH, NSF, NPF, and Dermatology Foundation, and he is the recipient of several teaching awards including NPF Outstanding Educator in Psoriatic Disease and Exceptional Teacher of the Year in the Department of Dermatology at Mount Sinai. His primary clinical and research interests include novel immune therapies for inflammatory conditions like psoriasis, atopic dermatitis, HS, alopecia areata, vitiligo, and urticaria.

Dr. Hadar Lev-Tov is a board-certified dermatologist with extensive research experience. Throughout his training and in daily practice, he has always believed that the key to achieving health for his patients is grounded in his ability to truly connect to their experiences and perceptions of health and well-being. Maimonides, one of the greatest philosophers of all time realized that human knowledge, often represented as "science," is limited. As a physician, he feels he would be a fool to believe all is known. Maimonides said, "The physician should not treat the disease but the patient who is suffering from it." LearnSkin is his journey to a better understanding of his patients.