Faculty

Peter Lio

MD, FAAD
Partner
Medical Dermatology Associates of Chicago

Peter Lio, MD, FAAD is a Clinical Assistant Professor of Dermatology & Pediatrics at Northwestern University Feinberg School of Medicine and an adjunct Clinical Professor of Dermatology at the Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai. Dr. Lio received his medical degree from Harvard Medical School, completed his internship in Pediatrics at Boston Children’s Hospital, and his Dermatology training at Harvard where he served as Chief Resident in Dermatology. While at Harvard, he received formal training in acupuncture. Dr. Lio is the founding director of the Chicago Integrative Eczema Center and a founding partner of Medical Dermatology Associates of Chicago. He serves as a board member and scientific advisory committee member emeritus for the National Eczema Association. He is a member of the American Academy of Dermatology’s Atopic Dermatitis Expert Resource Group, a Councilor for the International Eczema Council, and is a founding faculty member of the Integrative Dermatology Certificate Program. He has over 400 publications and 4 textbooks.

2026 Sessions

Masterclass: Optimizing Management of Pediatric Atopic Dermatitis: Integrating Advanced Targeted Topicals into Patient-Centered Care

Pediatric atopic dermatitis is a common chronic inflammatory skin disease that can significantly affect quality of life for children and their caregivers. This session reviews current approaches to diagnosis and disease assessment while addressing the challenges of managing diverse clinical presentations across age groups and skin types. Faculty will discuss the evolving role of nonsteroidal topical therapies and strategies for integrating them into individualized treatment plans. Attendees will gain practical, evidence-based tools to optimize long-term disease control and improve patient outcomes.

Learning Objectives
• Apply current guideline-directed and evidence-based strategies to improve the recognition, diagnosis, and assessment of pediatric AD across diverse patient populations
• Evaluate the safety, efficacy, indications, and appropriate clinical use of newer nonsteroidal topical therapies for pediatric AD
• Employ individualized, patient-centered management for pediatric AD that incorporates shared decision-making with patients/caregivers and addresses diverse skin types and patient populations

Supported by an educational grant from Arcutis Biotherapeutics, Inc.

Presenter

Saturday, September 19 8:30–9:15 AM
Faculty

Peter Lio

MD, FAAD
Partner
Medical Dermatology Associates of Chicago

Peter Lio, MD, FAAD is a Clinical Assistant Professor of Dermatology & Pediatrics at Northwestern University Feinberg School of Medicine and an adjunct Clinical Professor of Dermatology at the Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai. Dr. Lio received his medical degree from Harvard Medical School, completed his internship in Pediatrics at Boston Children’s Hospital, and his Dermatology training at Harvard where he served as Chief Resident in Dermatology. While at Harvard, he received formal training in acupuncture. Dr. Lio is the founding director of the Chicago Integrative Eczema Center and a founding partner of Medical Dermatology Associates of Chicago. He serves as a board member and scientific advisory committee member emeritus for the National Eczema Association. He is a member of the American Academy of Dermatology’s Atopic Dermatitis Expert Resource Group, a Councilor for the International Eczema Council, and is a founding faculty member of the Integrative Dermatology Certificate Program. He has over 400 publications and 4 textbooks.

Your Questions, Their Answers: September Q&A

Join a panel of leading dermatology experts for a dynamic, interactive Q&A session addressing the most pressing questions facing today’s dermatology practices. This session will focus on real-world clinical challenges, emerging trends, and practical strategies to optimize patient care, practice efficiency, and clinical decision-making. Attendees will have the opportunity to engage directly with faculty, gain expert insights on controversial and evolving topics, and leave with actionable takeaways they can immediately apply in practice on Monday.

Moderator

Panelist

Saturday, September 19 10:00–10:30 AM
Co-Chairs

Alice Gottlieb

MD, PhD
Department of Dermatology
UT Southwestern Medical Center

Dr. Alice B. Gottlieb is an internationally recognized expert in the field of psoriasis and psoriatic arthritis. Her research uses targeted immunobiologics as pathogenic probes, providing a new understanding of the pathogenesis of psoriasis and providing the foundation for biologic drug development in these two debilitating diseases. In addition, she is a noteworthy researcher, but she is also an exceptionally outstanding clinician and educator. She is triple board-certified in dermatology, rheumatology, and internal medicine, making her one of only a handful of doctors in the United States to be certified in all three specialties. Her research has helped the numerous students, residents, and fellows she has trained, as well as the dermatologic community at large, which wants to understand how to diagnose and manage psoriatic arthritis. Dr. Gottlieb is the recipient of numerous awards, including the American Academy of Dermatology’s (AAD) 2023 Master Dermatologist Award and the 2016 National Psoriasis Foundation (NPF) Outstanding Educator in Psoriatic Disease Award.

Co-Chairs

Joseph Merola

MD, MMSc, FAAD, FACR
Department of Dermatology and Department of Medicine, Division of Rheumatology
UT Southwestern Medical Center and O'Donnell School of Public Health

Joseph F. Merola, MD, MMSc is Chair of Dermatology at UT Southwestern Medical Center in Dallas, TX; he is Professor of Dermatology, Medicine and Rheumatology at UTSW and the Peter O’Donnell Jr School of Public Health. He holds the Mary Kay Distinguished Chair in Dermatology. Dr. Merola is board-certified in Dermatology, Internal Medicine, and Rheumatology. He earned his medical degree at the NYU School of Medicine and his Masters at Harvard Medical School. He completed an internship in Internal Medicine at the Hospital of the University of Pennsylvania, residency in Dermatology at NYU Medical Center. He continued with a residency in Internal Medicine and a fellowship in Rheumatology at the Brigham and Women’s Hospital / Harvard Medical School in Boston. He was elected to the Board of Directors of the American Academy of Dermatology, is the Founding President of PPACMAN, is on the Scientific and Medical Boards of the National Psoriasis Foundation, Board of the International Dermatology Outcome Measures Group and president-elect of GRAPPA, the Board of the American Skin Association, on the Medical and Scientific Board of the Lupus Foundation of America. He is also the recent past president of the Medical Dermatology Society and is president-elect of the Rheumatology-Dermatology Society. He is a councilor for the International Eczema Council as well as the International Psoriasis Council. He has served on multiple committees including the AAD Guidelines Committee. Dr. Merola has published over 340 peer-reviewed publications and received numerous awards for education, research and mentorship.

Faculty

Oyetewa Boluwatito Asempa

MD, FAAD
Assistant Professor, Director of Skin of Color Clinic
Baylor College of Medicine, Department of Dermatology

Dr. Oyetewa Asempa is an Assistant Professor of Dermatology at Baylor College of Medicine, and the Director of the Skin of Color Clinic for Baylor's Department of Dermatology. She was born and raised in Atlanta, GA, and then went on to graduate summa cum laude from Howard University in Washington, DC. She completed her medical training at University of Illinois at Chicago College of Medicine, during which time she also completed a year of research at the National Institutes of Health. She completed her internship at George Washington University, and then her residency training at the Harvard Dermatology program, where she served as Chief Resident in her final year. She specializes in hair loss and scalp disorders. Outside of medicine, she enjoys writing short stories, as well as writing and performing spoken word poetry.

Faculty

Peter Lio

MD, FAAD
Partner
Medical Dermatology Associates of Chicago

Peter Lio, MD, FAAD is a Clinical Assistant Professor of Dermatology & Pediatrics at Northwestern University Feinberg School of Medicine and an adjunct Clinical Professor of Dermatology at the Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai. Dr. Lio received his medical degree from Harvard Medical School, completed his internship in Pediatrics at Boston Children’s Hospital, and his Dermatology training at Harvard where he served as Chief Resident in Dermatology. While at Harvard, he received formal training in acupuncture. Dr. Lio is the founding director of the Chicago Integrative Eczema Center and a founding partner of Medical Dermatology Associates of Chicago. He serves as a board member and scientific advisory committee member emeritus for the National Eczema Association. He is a member of the American Academy of Dermatology’s Atopic Dermatitis Expert Resource Group, a Councilor for the International Eczema Council, and is a founding faculty member of the Integrative Dermatology Certificate Program. He has over 400 publications and 4 textbooks.

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