64th Annual Meeting of the GSDDS
November 22-24, 2019
Ritz-Carlton, Amelia Island

Faculty



Adewole Adamson MD, MPP		 Assistant Professor, Department of Internal Medicine
Dell Medical School at UT Austin
Austin, TX

Dr. Adewole (Ade) Adamson is a board certified dermatologist and assistant professor in the Department of Internal Medicine at Dell Medical School at the University of Texas at Austin. He is interested in improving the quality of care delivered to dermatology patients particularly those with skin cancer.

Dr. Adamson's work involves understanding patterns of health care utilization including overuse and underuse in dermatology. More specifically, he is interested in how effectively and efficiently the health care system delivers care to patients with skin cancer, the most common type of cancer in the United States. He is also passionate about health care disparities, access to specialty health care, and health care costs. He speaks nationally about health care quality, value, and the application of evidence based medicine within dermatology.

Dr. Adamson is a proud graduate of Morehouse College where he received a BS in Biology and French. He later earned an MD with honors at Harvard Medical School as part of the Health Sciences and Technology Program with the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. While in medical school he spent a year conducting basic science research in immunology at the National Institutes of Health and later earned a Master in Public Policy at Harvard Kennedy School as a Zuckerman Fellow in the Center for Public Leadership. He completed his internship in internal medicine at The Mount Sinai Hospital followed by residency training in dermatology at the University of Texas Southwestern in Dallas, TX, where he was recognized with awards for his professionalism, leadership and community service work.

When not participating in pick up soccer or ice hockey, he can be found lecturing / blogging / tweeting about evidence based medicine, health care costs, and race in medicine.


Amanda Cohn, MD, MPH		 Dr. Amanda Cohn currently serves as Executive Secretariat of the Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices and Acting Chief Medical Officer for the National Center for Immunization and Respiratory Diseases (NCIRD). She previously served as the Deputy Director of NCIRD’s Immunization Services Division. Dr. Cohn came to the CDC in 2004 where she focused on prevention and control of meningococcal disease, both domestically and internationally. She is board-certified in pediatrics and is a fellow of the American Academy of Pediatrics.


Ben Kaffenberger, MD		 Associate Professor, Dermatology
Director of Inpatient Consultation Services
Director of Teledermatology Outreach
The Ohio State University
Columbus, OH

Education:
Residency program: The Ohio State University Wexner Medical Center Integrated Dermatology Residency. 2014
MD: The Ohio State University College of Medicine, 2010
BS: University of Akron, Natural Sciences, Chemistry, 2006

Honors:
OSU Community Service Excellence Award, 2007
OSUCOM Outstanding Academic Merit Scholarship, 2007-2010
Mildred Horton Ansel Scholarship for Academic Achievement
The Clinical Excellence Award Winner for the OSUCOM Class of 2010 for the highest clinical grades.
OSUMC Dept. of Internal Medicine Intern Teaching Excellence Award, 2010-2011
OSUMC Division of Dermatology Chief Resident, 2013-2014
Outstanding Achievement in Patient Service 2014 for satisfaction greater than the 90th percentile nationally, 2013-2014
2015 Mikhail Novikov Faculty of the Year Award from OSUWMC Department of Family Medicine
Outstanding Achievement in Patient Service 2016 for patient satisfaction greater than the 90th percentile nationally, 2015-16
Outstanding Contribution in Reviewing (top 10% of reviewers) JAAD, 2016
Outstanding Contribution in Reviewing (top 10% of reviewers) JAAD Case Reports, 2016
American Academy of Dermatology Academic Dermatology Leadership Program, 2017
Outstanding Achievement in Patient Service 2017 for patient satisfaction greater than the 90th percentile nationally, 2016-17


Neelam Vashi, MD		 Associate Professor of Dermatology
Boston University School of Medicine
Founder and Director, Center for Ethnic Skin
Director, Cosmetic and Laser Center

Dr. Neelam A. Vashi is the Director of the Boston University Cosmetic and Laser Center, Founder and Director of the Boston University Center for Ethnic Skin, and an Associate Professor of Dermatology at the Boston University School of Medicine. Dr. Vashi received her medical degree from Northwestern University’s Feinberg School of Medicine where she was inducted into the prestigious Alpha Omega Alpha Honor Medical Society. Dr. Vashi completed her dermatology residency at New York University (NYU) in the Ronald O. Perelman Department of Dermatology, one of the country’s top academic dermatology centers.

Dr. Vashi is a recognized leader in medical and cosmetic dermatology, including the care of patients with skin of color. She has written extensively on the approach to cutaneous hyperpigmentation, disorders of pigmentation, and cosmetic treatments. Dr. Vashi is widely published in the peer-reviewed literature, author of several book chapters, and is a frequent lecturer at both national and international dermatology meetings. She has published two textbooks, Beauty and Body Dysmorphic Disorder: A Clinician’s Guide and Dermatoanthropology of Ethnic Skin and Hair, both available on www.amazon.com. She has been featured in the media, including Ebony Magazine, Prevention, Reader’s Digest, Dr. Oz The Good Life Magazine, Yahoo, Web Talk Radio, Doctor Radio, and WCVB-ABC affiliated Television. She has received numerous awards and honors, including the prestigious Presidential Citation Award from the American Academy of Dermatology.

As one of the only few in the United States, Boston University’s Center for Ethnic Skin uniquely specializes in the diagnosis and treatment of skin and hair conditions unique to men and women from ethnic backgrounds. This center is led by Dr. Vashi who is specially trained to care for the cosmetic and medical issues unique to individuals with skin of color. She offers a comprehensive and personalized care plan that is individually designed for each patient’s color, tone, and texture of skin and hair.

Dr. Vashi’s research interests include a wide variety of topics related to cosmetics and ethnic skin. She currently has many active projects including topics of skin hyperpigmentation, chemical peels, health literacy, and sun protection. She is also the Director of the International Training Program in Cosmetic Medicine in which she trains fellows from around the world. Dr. Vashi’s international fellows have published with her in journals such as the Journal of the American Academy of Dermatology (JAAD), JAMA Dermatology, Journal of Clinical and Aesthetic Dermatology, textbooks, and have presented at national conferences. In addition, as part of the Boston University School of Medicine, Dr. Vashi teaches dermatology to BU residents, international trainees, and medical students. She has received Teacher of the Year Award twice by both the international trainees and resident physicians.


Reed Abelson		 Reed Abelson has been a reporter for The New York Times since 1995. She currently covers the business of health care, focusing on health insurance and how financial incentives affect the delivery of medical care. She witnessed the Affordable Care Act become law and is actively keeping an eye on what happens next. Before she began covering health care in 2002, Ms. Abelson covered a broad range of topics, from the collapse of Enron to the oversight of charitable organizations to accounting to personal investing. Before joining The Times, Ms. Abelson was a staff writer for Smart Money from 1993 to 1995, where she wrote in-depth investing features. From 1990 to 1993, she was a reporter for Forbes, where she profiled public and private companies. She began her journalism career as a reporter at the Philadelphia Business Journal, where she covered health care, venture capital, technology and the ports of Philadelphia. She graduated cum laude from Bryn Mawr College in 1983 with an A.B. in English literature, and she earned an M.A. in English literature from Columbia University in 1984.