On June 8, 2016, NIAMS director Stephen I. Katz, M.D., Ph.D., participated in a series of meetings on Capitol Hill, at the invitation of the American Academy of Dermatology Association (AADA). Dr. Katz accompanied AADA’s current President, Abel Torres, J.D., M.D., to discuss the state of dermatological science supported by the NIAMS.

Drs. Torres and Katz met with Senator Roy Blunt (R-MO), Senator Mark Kirk (R-IL), and Representative Andy Harris (R-MD), as well as staff from the offices of Senator Lamar Alexander (R-TN), Representative Rosa DeLauro (D-CT), and Representative Tom Cole (R-OK). They discussed the impact of skin diseases in nearly every family, and how recent breakthroughs in treatments for metastatic melanoma, psoriasis, and eczema have transformed the outlook for patients, especially in the past decade. Dr. Torres noted that, as a result of the basic research that NIAMS supports, dermatologists now understand that these diseases do not only affect the skin. Rather, they are systemic diseases, and are associated with multiple co-existing conditions.