| EDF Newsletter 2024

The 28^th EDF Annual Meeting is planned to take place on January 23-25, 2025 as a face-to-face meeting in the Hotel Suisse Majestic in Montreux, Switzerland. The program starts with our traditional plenary guest lectures. This year Prof. Thierry Passeron from the University hospital of Nice, will speak about “Unraveling the tight regulation of human skin pigmentation”, followed by a lecture on “CD1a-reactive T cells and lipid antigens in inflammatory skin diseases” by Prof. Graham Ogg from the University of Oxford. Further plenary lectures will follow on Friday afternoon with Prof. Yannick Muller from the University Hospital of Lausanne, speaking about the “CAR T-cell therapy in autoimmune diseases” and Dr. Clemens Krepler, Merck & Co., focusing on “mRNA-based therapeutics developing a new class of drugs: A revolution?”. Two well-established highlights will be our interactive forums. The first interactive forum on “Simulation-based training for residents in dermatology: models and benefits”, chaired by Prof. Kaisa Tasanen-Määttä and Prof. Alexander Navarini, will include: Prof. Claire Biot discussing the “Simulation-based training with Dassault Systèmes’ virtual twins: Medical applications for residents”; Dr. Sebastien Garson who will look into the “Simulation-based training in dermatologic surgery: Cadaveric Simulation vs. FAST (Facial Simulator Aesthetic Training)”, Prof. Antoine Bertolotti talking about “Benefits of simulation using standardized patients for training dermatology residents in breaking bad news”, and Prof. Alexander Salava providing a talk on “Enhancing intuitive recognition skills with perceptual learning models: Experiences from Finland”. This session will be closed with an interactive discussion. The second interactive forum, moderated by Prof. Josep Malvehy and Prof. Charlotta Enerbäck, will be focusing on “Imaging techniques in dermatology: a new way to look at the skin”.

Prof. Stéphanie Christen-Zaech will speak about “Noninvasive examination of healthy skin at different ages of life”, while Prof. Joseph Malvehy and Prof. Ximena Wortsman will discuss “New imaging techniques in skin cancers” and the “Updates on ultrasound imaging in inflammatory skin diseases”, respectively.

The program will be complemented by industry symposia and updates from the commissions groups. We can certainly look forward to interesting and interactive discussions on these stimulating topics.

Prof. Marie Aleth Richard and Prof. Antonio Costanzo at the EDF Annual Meeting 2024

| Euroderm Excellence

| EDF Advanced Euroderm Excellence Program

Participants Advanced Eurodem Excellence Course 2024

After the successful launch of the EDF Advanced Euroderm Excellence course in 2021, the EDF Board decided to integrate the course as an integral part of the EDF activities. Twenty carefully selected participants from the original EDF Euroderm Excellence course, who are promising future opinion leaders in our specialty, are invited to participate in this course. The goal is to select the best young dermatologists in Europe and offer them specific leadership training and mentoring to better prepare them as future leaders within the dermatological field. Renowned speakers from all over Europe are invited to offer in-depth training on how to successfully run a dermatological department in the future. Participants are provided training in areas such as managing a clinical department, risk management, role of global dermatology, compliance regulations, career planning, etc. From 2025 onwards the course will be labeled as “EDF European Dermatology Leadership Course” to better specify the purpose and nature of the course.

| Physician Scientist Fellowship Program

As of this year, EDF introduces a new physician scientist fellowship program across Europe in collaboration with the Skin Science Foundation (SSF). This program aims to equip physician scientists with cutting-edge techniques in translational research, new technologies, and Big Data Science through immersive training programs at specialized centers in Europe. 3-4 physician scientists will be able to complete a fellowship program (3-6 months) at translational research labs focusing on precision medicine to enhance knowledge exchange between labs across Europe in regard to methods for patient’s stratification. If you are interested to support this initiative as hosting center, please contact the EDF office Nadine-estelle.abea@usz.ch).  

| EDF/EADV European Guidelines Alliance

The EDF launched the EuroGuiDerm European Centre for Guideline Development in 2018 to serve as a reliable, central point of reference for high-quality guidelines and consensus statements. Guidelines are based on evidence that has been identified and analyzed according to internationally accepted, transparent methods, and expert synthesis. In order to enhance this important work, the EDF and EADV have formed a new alliance to support the development of living and new European dermatology guidelines: the “EDF/EADV European Guidelines Alliance”.

In addition, we are happy to announce our new collaboration with EDF member Prof. Dr. Dr. Enno Schmidt from the Lübeck Institute for Experimental Dermatology (LIED), Clinic for Dermatology, Allergology and Venereology at the University of Lübeck. We are also grateful that EDF member Prof. Alexander Nast from the Charité Berlin and Director of the EuroGuiDerm European Centre, will further continue his alliance with the EDF and EADV.

This year, the chapter on pregnancy in the living psoriasis guideline has been updated and is currently under review for final approval. The chapters on systemic therapy of the living atopic eczema guidelines are currently being updated. In addition to the publication of the updated chapters on the website, publication in the JEADV is planned. The guidelines on lichen sclerosus, which was finalized last year, has now been published in an abridged form in the JEADV. The long version is available on the website. Further ongoing activities are an update of the urticaria guideline with the consensus conference scheduled for December and acne guideline with ongoing evidence synthesis, working group meetings and consensus meetings in fall and winter.

We would also encourage other EDF members with an interest in guidelines, who would like to actively participate in this project, to get in touch with the EDF office.

The Erasmus+ Strategic Partnership project entitled “Harmonized European Dermato-Venereology Undergraduate blended LEARNing Implementation and Training” led by Professors Harald Gollnick, Günter Burg and Martine Bagot, was successfully completed at the end of 2021. Since then, with the support of the EDF, yearly updates of the long version webbook are ongoing. For the 2024 update, 8 new collaborators (4 from Spain, 1 from Poland, 1 from Italy, 1 from Germany, and 1 from France) joined the current author team. We would also encourage other EDF members with an interest in undergraduate education, who would like to actively participate in this project, to get involved. To join 2025 edition, please send an email to info@hedulearnit.org.

In order to maintain and promote high quality education and training, the EDF has been working to integrate undergraduate teaching activities with an electronic platform: Cyberderm (Dermatology Online with Interactive Technology, www.cyberderm.net) developed by Prof. Günter Burg and now run by Prof. Alexander Navarini. This year, we have developed a new version of Cyberderm in collaboration with the International League of Dermatological Societies (ILDS), specifically tailored for healthcare professionals.

This version features an image gallery, with all images labeled with ICD-11 codes and categorized by Fitzpatrick skin types. Additionally, we have created a section for frontline health workers in partnership with the World Health Organization (WHO). 
www.ilds.cyberderm.net

Geneskin is a comprehensive online database and website dedicated to rare genetic diseases of the skin (genodermatoses).

This platform is designed to enhance the diagnosis, treatment, and management of these conditions by providing cutting-edge information to patients, their families, and healthcare professionals.

Recent updates to the Geneskin website include a practice-oriented article on cutaneous mosaicism by Prof. Veronica Kinsler. Additionally, the website has undergone a reorganization of its table of contents for a clearer, more topic-focused presentation of the genodermatoses. Ongoing efforts are aimed at expanding the database to include further genodermatoses, thereby broadening the scope of easily accessible information.

Currently, Geneskin offers in-depth knowledge on a broad spectrum of rare genetic skin disorders, including Ectodermal Dysplasias, Connective Tissue Diseases, Epithelial Adhesion Disorders, and DNA Repair Disorders. Overseen by a European Dermatology Forum (EDF) steering committee led by Prof. Johann Bauer, the website is regularly updated to reflect the latest research and treatment advances. Explore more at Geneskin.