MEDICAL ADVISORS

Eli Sprecher chairs the Division of Dermatology. He is Frederick Reiss Professor of Dermatology at the Sackler Medical School, Tel Aviv University. He received an MD degree from the Hebrew University, a PhD degree in Molecular Virology from the Hebrew University and an MBA degree from Tel Aviv University. He is board certified in Dermatology and in Health administration. He also spent a post-doctoral fellowship in Human Genetics at the Thomas Jefferson University, Philadelphia.

His research focuses on the genetic basis of skin diseases. He has co-authored over 350 scientific publications, has earned several patents, and has received numerous national and international prizes and honors.

A tenured Professor and Stiefel endowed Chair of Medical Dermatology at the Dr Phillip Frost Department of Dermatology at the Miller School of Medicine at University of Miami. He is the Director of the Miami Itch Center, which focuses on chronic itch as a disease state. The center serves as an institutional hub for patient-focused care, research collaborations and interactions among investigative dermatologists, neuro- and other bio-medical scientists. Prior to joining the faculty of University of Miami, Dr. Yosipovitch was the Founding Chair of the Department of Dermatology at Temple University and directed the first translational, clinical and research center dedicated to the study of chronic itch in the US. He has published more than 550 articles in books and peer reviewed journals and has edited 5 books. He is the founder and past President of the International Forum for the Study of Itch and a member of its board. He served as Chairman of the Scientific Board of the National Eczema Association and a member of the Scientific Board of The National Psoriasis Foundation and The International Eczema Council. In addition, he received the Marion B. Sulzberger lectureship award, at the 2016 AAD meeting for his work on itch, as well as many other prestigious awards. Dr. Yosipovitch treats a variety of chronic itch conditions, including itch without rash, neuropathic itch, and itch associated with systemic diseases. He treats patients from all over the US.

Professor of Molecular Dermatology and Centre Lead, Centre for Cell Biology and Cutaneous Research, Barts and the London School of Medicine and Dentistry, Queen Mary, University of London and Honorary Consultant Dermatologist, Royal London Hospital, London, UK.
Edel O’Toole is a clinical academic at Barts and the London School of Medicine and Dentistry with an active research group working on rare genetic skin disease biology. She trained in Medicine at University College, Galway, Ireland, followed by general medical and dermatology training in Dublin and London. She was a Howard Hughes Medical Institute Post-Doctoral Fellow with David Woodley at Northwestern University in Chicago from 1994-1998. Her main clinical interests are ichthyosis and palmoplantar keratodermas. She is the current clinical lead for the British Association of Dermatologists Dermatology and Genetic Medicine network. She is also on the steering committee of Pachyonychia Project and is actively involved in 100K Genomes, a gene discovery project within the NHS.

Professor of Medical Genetics and Director of INSERM department UMR 1163, Laboratory of Genetic skin diseases, University Paris Descartes – Sorbonne Paris Cité (France). Alain Hovnanian studied Medicine at the Medical school of Paris XII University. In 1993, he identified COL7A1 encoding type VII collagen, as the defective gene for recessive dystrophic epidermolysis bullosa (RDEB) and completed his Ph.D at Paris VII University on the molecular aspects of inherited dystrophic epidermolysis bullosa. In 1993, he joined Prof. Mark Lathrop’s laboratory as a postdoctoral scientist at the Welcome Trust Centre for Human Genetics at Oxford University, United Kingdom. During his stay in Oxford, he also identified the genes for Darier disease and for Netherton syndrome. Since 2009, he has been appointed full professor of Genetics in the department of Genetics at Necker hospital for sick children in Paris. He is the director of INSERM research laboratory on genetic skin diseases and is one of the founders of the IMAGINE Institute for Genetic diseases which opened in 2014 at Necker hospital in Paris.

Amy Paller, MS, MD is the Walter J. Hamlin Professor and Chair of Dermatology, Professor of Pediatrics, and Principal Investigator of the NIH-funded Skin Biology and Diseases Resource-based Center (SBDRC) at Northwestern. An author of almost 600 peer-reviewed publications, Dr. Paller has also edited several major textbooks in dermatology, among them Hurwitz’s Clinical Pediatric Dermatology (now 6th edition) and Fitzpatrick’s Dermatology in General Medicine. She is an NIH-funded investigator in both her laboratory-based and clinical research. She has directed the Pediatric Dermatology Clinical Trials Unit at Northwestern/ Lurie Children’s for the past 30 years and has been the lead investigator on several landmark trials in pediatric skin disease, particularly related to atopic dermatitis (AD), psoriasis, and genetic skin disorders. Her laboratory focuses on cell-cell communication in inflammatory skin diseases and impaired wound healing, as well as on topically delivered gene regulation through nanotherapy. She has defined skin and blood biomarkers for children with atopic dermatitis and ichthyosis towards pathogenesis-directed therapy and has developed new patient-related outcomes scales for itch and stigma in children. Dr. Paller has been president of several organizations, among them the Society for Investigative Dermatology, Society for Pediatric Dermatology, and Pediatric Dermatology Research Alliance. She is currently President of the International Society for Pediatric Dermatology. She has served on Council and the Board of Scientific Councilors for NIH/NIAMS, is a Section Editor for the Journal of Investigative Dermatology, and is active as a Board member for several patient advocacy organizations. She has received several honors for her scholarship, leadership and mentorship, among them election to the American Association of Physicians and the American Dermatological Association. Among her many awards are the Stephen Rothman Award from the Society for Investigative Dermatology, the Tanioku Kihei Memorial Award from the Japanese Society for Investigative Dermatology, the International Award from the European Academy of Dermatology and Venereology, and most recently the Martin D. Carter Mentorship Award from the American Skin Association. She is an honorary member of the American Academy of Dermatology and the Society for Investigative Dermatology.