Before the SSDV Annual Congress, we asked the Key Speakers what they are looking forward to at the Congress in Lausanne and what the take-home message of their presentation is. Many thanks for this beautiful collection of answers.

Professor Richard Weller, Professor of medical dermatology at the University of Edinburgh and currently President of the Scottish Dermatology Society. He has a particular focus on eczema and run the severe eczema service for south east Scotland. «I am most looking forward to spending time with Swiss colleagues. We all treat the same conditions and use the same pharmacological agents, but I will be very interested to hear of any similarities and differences in our methods of practice.» Take home message of his lecture «Opening lecture: Sunscreens for all?»:

«Sunlight has significant health benefits, independent of vitamin D synthesis.»

Elisabeth Roider, MD, PhD, MBA, Department for Dermatology, University Hospital Basel. Her scientific focus is in the field of redox biology and its influence on ageing and pigmentation processes. Her personal highlight at the congress: «Seeing all the great colleagues, as well as Richard Weller's presentation on sunscreen products - a topic I've been working on for a long time.» Take Home of her presentation: «Future outlooks lecture: Skin longevity: is it the dermatologist's next frontier?»:

«That longevity medicine, in terms of healthy ageing, may be a solution to many of our current problems in the healthcare system.»

Vincent Piguet, MD, PhD, FRCP, Professor and Department Division Director of Dermatology, University of Toronto. «I look forward to networking with my Swiss colleagues and hearing lectures from excellent national and international speakers on advances in dermatology.
It is a great opportunity for me, as I did my medical school in Lausanne and Geneva, but now direct the dermatology program at the University of Toronto to reconnect with friends after the COVID-19 pandemic situation. The location is also excellent at the SwissTech
Convention Center and it is wonderful to see how the Lausanne scientific community is growing. I would like to thankthe SSDV and in particular Profs Gilliet and Conrad for their kind invitation.» Take home message of his lecture «What’s new: Neutrophilic
Dermatoses»:

  • Gain an understanding in neutrophils functions in health and disease
  • An overview on the complex classification of neutrophilic dermatoses
  • Pyoderma Gangrenosum: current concepts and ongoing research
  • Systemic treatments and biologics for neutrophilic dermatoses.

Pr. Laurent Misery, University Hospital of Brest (France), itch expert. Laurent Misery is director of the French national pruritus expert center, head of the department of dermatology and allergology at the University Hospital of Brest, director of the laboratory interactions epitheliums-neurons (LIEN) and holder of the chair of neurosensory dermatology at the University of Westren Brittany, chair of EADV task force of psychodermatology. Take home message of his lecture «What’s New: Treatment of Ich»:

«Thanks to recent progresses in basic research, there are many new treatments for pruritus. Dupilumab and difelikefalin have been recently approved. Further treatments will be nemolizumab, other anti-Th2 cytokines, other kappa opioids, anti-NK1 or Jak inhibitors.»

Dr Paola Pasquali, Pius Hospital of Vall, Universidad de Alcalá. Paola Pasquali is expert in imaging and minimally invasive treatments for non-melanoma skin cancer. Editor of «Photography in Clinical Medicine » and «Cryosurgery: a Practical Manual!» Take home message of here lecture «State of the Art: Medical Photography in Dermatology»:

«Dermatologists have always used medical images for learning and teaching. In the past decades, and mainly during the COVID-19 pandemic, medical photography has become more relevant for diagnosing, monitoring, and prioritizing surgical patients. Medical photography needs to be standardized. Good-quality images are needed for teledermatology. Digitalization has made photographing simpler but also of lower quality. Dermatologists need to know basic concepts to take good images and built-up digital image libraries for
excellent photographs that will be the core of AI algorithms. All this with the aim of managing correctly a larger number of patients including those that have difficulties reaching.

Olivier Chosidow, Professor of Dermatology University-Hospital Pitié-Salpêtrière, Paris, France. Olivier Chosidow is expert for skin infectious diseases and randomized Clinical Trials in Dermatology. «I am most looking forward to meet my Swiss Colleagues and share with them facts and opinions in both myfield and general Dermatology.» Take home message of his lecture «State of the Art: Infections
and infestations»: «As the title of my presentation is Infections AND Infestations, I would give (at least) 2 take-home messages»:

  1. Think to NSTI (Necrotising soft-tissue infection) and call a surgeon to save the patient
  2. Bed bugs, body lice, head lice and scabies may have important psychosocial and even medical morbidity.

Jo W Lambert, Dpt of Dermatology, Ghent University Hospital, Gent, Belgium.«What highlights the congress to me is the full range of topics that will be presented.» Take home message of here lecture «What’s New: Optimising treatment choices in psoriasis»:

  1. Psoriasis has served as a model for progress in translational research and vast progress in treatment choices.
  2. We can finetune in terms of finding response markers to treatment, organizing your clinic and smart use of budgets.
  3. Other immune-mediated inflammatory skin diseases (atopic dermatitis, hidradenitis, alopecia areata, vitiligo, pemphigus) are well on their way to escape from the desert of inferior treatment options.
  4. The challenge of disease severity classification is equally there for these diseases. Touch upon very new approaches such as CAR T treatment and bispecific antibodies for the latter.

Prof. Dr. med. Jürg Hafner, Department of Dermatology, University Hospital Zurich. His core areas are general dermatology
in patients with severe skin diseases and/or in bad medical conditions, dermatosurgery from A-Z, as well as phlebology and wound treatment from A-Z. Take Home of his presentation: «Smart medicine lecture: To Mohs or not to Mohs»:

With the skin cancer epidemic, dermatologists in Switzerland have a very important care mandate towards the population. Mohs surgery is a totally convincing method when well indicated, but it is never possible to treat all malignant skin tumours with Mohs surgery. Most skin cancers are treated in a «simple and straightforward» manner in the doctor's office. We must be grateful to all the physicians who are contributing to the management of the skin cancer epidemic in this country.