Interview with Mark Lebwohl, MD, Warren R. Heymann, MD, and Dedee Murrell, MA, BMBCh, MD, FAAD, FACD, FRCP.

Why did you feel that it was important to write Treatment of Skin Disease, 6th Edition? What does it add to the field?  

Lebwohl: There are dozens of dermatologic diseases, some common and others uncommon, for which there are no approved therapies.  Nonetheless, there are many case reports, anecdotal treatments, and other logical therapies which can and have been used for these diseases and are effective.  Presenting these in an organized manner that allows the practicing dermatologist to quickly peruse management strategy, specific investigations, first-line, second-line, and third-line therapies in a few seconds expedites our ability to practice in an efficient manner that provides optimal care to our patients. 

Heymann: First and foremost, I am a clinical dermatologist, confronted daily with therapeutic questions and conundrums. I agreed to get involved with this project from its inception for one fundamental reason – that I would actually use the book on a daily basis to help guide me therapeutically. 

Murrell: Dermatology is undergoing its own ‘industrial revolution’ with many new therapeutics owing to the investment in the past 20 years into disease pathogenesis. We are seeing many chronic skin diseases which were previously not even well controlled, being suppressed almost to the point of invisibility by the modern era of biologics and other new pipeline treatments. Hence new editions of the textbooks on treatments are needed. 

What is the most exciting aspect of Treatment of Skin Disease, 6th Edition? What chapter or topic covered in the new edition are you most excited about?  

Lebwohl: Not only are the many new therapies introduced into our specialty over the past few years included in many of the chapters, but new entities like MIS-C, the syndrome associated with COVID infection in children, are thoroughly covered as well. 

Heymann: I think it is wonderful that we were able to pivot and cover cutting edge biologics and introduce relevant new chapters on COVID-19. 

Murrell: I am most excited about the new JAK inhibitors being used to treat conditions such as alopecia areata – not approved yet but making huge impacts – and atopic dermatitis, along with inhibitors such as dupilumab. 

Who will find the greatest value from Treatment of Skin Disease, 6th Edition?  

Lebwohl: Practicing dermatologists and dermatology residents will find this to be the book they take off their shelf more often than any other, as it will help them treat conditions that they see every day as well as conditions that they see infrequently.

Heymann: This will help every dermatologist, regardless of subspecialty. 

Murrell: Busy practicing dermatologists will need this book when patients are not responding to traditional treatments. Of course, this book is essential for every dermatology training program in the world. 

What new ideas, practices, or procedures do you hope your readers take away from your text?  

Lebwohl: Many of our current biologic therapies for psoriasis and atopic dermatitis were not available when the last edition was published.  New agents on the verge of approval such as JAK inhibitors are also well covered.  Many of our newest treatments have been underutilized in past years, and hopefully now even more of our colleagues will embrace these new therapies.

Heymann: Despite the advances in the biologic realm, this book offers many options for recalcitrant inflammatory and neoplastic disorders. 

Murrell: Dermatologists who are cautious about using new therapies should now feel confident in the use of biologics for psoriasis, hidradenitis, atopic dermatitis and new small molecules such as the JAK inhibitors to treat various inflammatory skin diseases; if not, the patients will travel far or use teledermatology to access these treatments elsewhere. Using disease severity scores will become second nature for some of these conditions to monitor and approve therapies. 

What problem do you hope the future generation of your specialty will be able to solve?  

Lebwohl: We still have many diseases, some common, like warts, Grover’s disease, vitiligo, and alopecia areata, and many rare, like pseudoxanthoma elasticum and epidermolysis bullosa, for which we still need more reliably effective treatments.  Hopefully, we’ll have newer and better treatments in the next edition of this book.

Heymann: I hope there will be renewed focus on chronic granulomatous conditions such as sarcoidosis, now that other classic dermatoses such as psoriasis atopic dermatitis are reasonably controlled. 

Murrell: I have been involved in research to find better treatment for epidermolysis bullosa for many years, the ‘worst disease you never heard of’; hopefully by the 7th edition we will have at least one of the new treatments in trials approved. Pemphigus and bullous pemphigoid are also conditions in need of more convenient and safer treatments that I hope are around the corner from current trials. Scleroderma and vitiligo are diseases that hopefully future generations will solve. 

Is there anything else about the book you’d like to say? 

Lebwohl: Everyone needs 2 copies! 

Heymann: It has been such an incredible honor to work with Drs. Lebwohl, Coulson, and Murrell! 

Murrell: It’s been a pleasure to join this incredible editorial team with such vast experience in therapeutics and I am honored to be included for the first time in the team. 

About the Authors 

Mark Lebwohl, MD, Dean for Clinical Therapeutics at the Icahn Medicine at Mount Sinai. I am Professor of Dermatology and Chairman Emeritus of the Department of Dermatology at the Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai.  I am also Chairman Emeritus of the Medical Board of the National Psoriasis Foundation and a past-President of the American Academy of Dermatology.

Warren R. Heymann, MD. I am Head of the Division of Dermatology at Cooper Medical School of Rowan University where I am a Professor of Medicine and Pediatrics. I am also a Clinical Professor of Dermatology at the Perelman School of Medicine at the University of Pennsylvania. I am the editor of the American Academy of Dermatology’s website Dermatology World Insights and Inquiries. I also have the honor of serving as a Director of the American Board of Dermatology.  

Dedee Murrell, MA, BMBCh, MD, FAAD, FACD, FRCP. I am Professor and Chair of the Department of Dermatology at St George Hospital, University of New South Wales (UNSW), in Sydney, Australia. I specialize in medical dermatology – inflammatory and genetic skin diseases – and run a busy clinical trials centre with more than 25 years of experience in novel therapeutics. 

Purchase your copy of Treatment of Skin Disease, 6th Edition here!