PeDRA

Pediatric Dermatology Research Alliance

In honor of PeDRA’s 10th Anniversary, we’re sharing your memories. Take a walk down memory lane and be sure to send in your own memories here.

The Birth of PeDRA! Courtesy of Jeff Sugarman, MD, PhD
(Pictured left to right: Wynnis Tom, MD, Larry Eichenfield, MD, Jeff Sugarman, MD, PhD, Amy Paller, MD, MS, and Kelly Cordoro, MD)
The meeting we had in Monterey, California in 2012 to launch PeDRA was a memorable one. We sat together in a small conference room for many hours and the energy was palpable! We knew that collaboration was already happening within the SPD, but we all agreed that the idea of formalizing an organization to promote collaborative research in Pediatric Dermatology had the potential to take it to another level. We were optimistic about this, but even with our optimism, I don’t think we could have imagined the magnitude of that success!
One thing I do remember was having dinner afterward with Beth Drolet. We talked about who should lead PeDRA as it was launched. We knew that both Larry Eichenfield and Amy Paller were interested in doing this. Our thought was… why pick one chair (or president) when they are both great! Maybe it would be better to have them be co-Chairs of PeDRA as it was launched. That is how PeDRA was launched, and though it has gradually morphed over the years to a more traditional President and President-Elect structure, it was the right move at the time, and we were off to a great start! -Ilona Frieden, MD, Founding Member of PeDRA and current President
I love the community that PeDRA has built! The annual meeting is always so energizing and sparks new ideas for research that our teams take forward throughout the year. It is a great venue to discuss research questions, plan study projects, and catch up with old friends. – Yvonne Chiu, MD. (Pictured left to right: Megha Tolefson, MD, Yvonne Chiu, MD, Jen Huang, MD, Heather Brandling-Bennett, MD)
Mike Siegel, PhD
Executive Director
David Roberts
Development Director
Jenn Dawson
Associate Director of Educational Programs
Katherine Devenport
Research Coordinator
My favorite PeDRA memories are the conferences! My first dermatology conference was the 2020 Annual Meeting, and I felt so energized by the positive culture within PeDRA. I was inspired for a career in pediatric dermatology and to become more involved with the organization. It has since been an amazing experience being the 2021-22 PeDRA Fellow and I’m so grateful for the opportunity to contribute to the PeDRA mission. Happy 10th Birthday, PeDRA! – Holly Neale 2021-22 PeDRA Fellow
I was so impressed with the agility of the PeDRA leadership and members leading up to the 2020 PeDRA Annual Conference when we made the tough decision to pivot the conference to be 100% virtual. I was proud to be a part of such a creative and engaging meeting. I continue to be inspired by the PeDRA leaders and members. I am grateful to be a part of such an amazing organization. Happy 10th birthday, PeDRA! – Heather Miller, Meetings Manager
In 2018 I won the PeDRA Shark Tank award and obtained funding to co-lead my first collaborative study, Development and Validation of the Morphea Activity Measure. -Maria-Teresa Garcia-Romero, MD
My favorite memory has been being taken under the wings of so many strong women! Most notably Dr. Jillian Rork and everyone in the amazing genetic skin disorders study group! -Morgan Dykman, MD Candidate
Happy 10th Anniversary PeDRA! I am so thankful to be a part of this community. I remember how many great people I met during my first conference in 2019. I got to help out as a medical student to take notes during work group sessions and learned about fragile neonatal skin, new tools for measuring severity of ichthyosis and eczema, and how tape-strips on skin can measure biomarkers. There were so many booths and poster presentations to explore! It made me so happy to see that patient advocacy groups were the stars of the conference. We also got to listen to Jason Fried, PeDRA’s invited guest speaker, talk about his humble beginnings with starting Basecamp and ways we could take our time back from often non-productive meetings as well as from emails. There’s so much that PeDRA has accomplished since its inception, and I can’t wait to continue improving the lives of children with skin disease and their caregivers with research and collaboration. – Milie Fang, DO (Pictured Left to Right: Jacqueline Sink, MD, Milie Fang, DO, and Camille Tuazon, MD)