GUIDEMAP – Dermatology guidelines

Carsten Flohr studied at Cambridge and Oxford Universities and then trained in both paediatrics and dermatology.

He was the first UK National Institute for Health Research (NIHR) Clinician Scientist in Dermatology (2009-2014) and the only dermatologist who held a Career Development Fellowship from the NIHR (2014-2019).

Professor Flohr directs the Unit for Population-Based Dermatology Research at St John’s Institute of Dermatology, King’s College London, where he holds the Chair in Dermatology and Population Health Science.

He has a particular interest in novel methods of atopic dermatitis (AD) prevention (early life risk factors) and therapeutics, especially in severe AD.

He is Chief Investigator of the UK-Irish TREatment of severe eczema in children Trial (TREAT), which compares cyclosporine with methotrexate in children with recalcitrant atopic eczema.

He is also Chief Investigator of the Softened water for eczema prevention trial (SOFTER) and the UK-Irish Atopic Eczema Systemic Therapy Register (A-STAR).

Prof Flohr is a Founding Director of the International Eczema Council and President of the British Society of Paediatric Dermatology. He is Founding Editor of the Evidence-Based Dermatology Section of the British Journal of Dermatology and the Clinical Trials Editor of the F1000 Atopic Dermatitis Section.

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Prof Ching-Chi Chi is Professor of Dermatology and General Convenor for Evidence-Based Medicine at Chang Gung Memorial Hospitals, Taiwan.

He is also the President of Taiwan Evidence-Based Medicine Association. He obtained medical degree from Taipei Medical University and completed dermatology specialist training at Chang Gung Memorial Hospital, Taipei.

Prof Chi obtained DPhil in Clinical Medicine from University of Oxford with doctorate thesis entitled ‘Evidence-based assessment of the safety of topical corticosteroids in pregnancy’.

He is passionate about evidence-based medicine and epidemiology, and has been involved in over ten Cochrane reviews and two pan-European Dermatology Guidelines.

Prof Chi is Editor of the Cochrane Skin, Associate Editor of British Journal of Dermatology and Dermatologica Sinica, and Academic Editor of Evidence-Based Complementary and Alternative Medicine. Having published widely, Prof Chi has received plenty of research awards.

Dr Ali Al-Janabi trained in Medicine at the University of Cambridge. He started his dermatology training as an Academic Clinical Fellow in the North West Deanery and is currently an MRC Clinical Research Fellow at The University of Manchester. He has an interest in Medical Dermatology and therapeutics.

Bernd Arents has lived with severe atopic dermatitis since birth (1964) and has severe allergies, such as for pollen, animals and food (some of them anaphylactic). He also has ocular rosacea.

Since 1996, he has developed himself, within the Dutch Association for People with Atopic Dermatitis (VMCE), from being a patient to being a patient advocate, in the broadest meaning of the term. He also served on the national board for three years as secretary and seven years as president.

By mastering some of the knowledge, language and methodology used in the world of dermatology and research, he has been able to further serve those with atopic dermatitis by means of patient participation.

As such, he helps researchers apply for grants, (co-)publish (original) research, is involved in doing systematic reviews, advises the European Medicines Agency in scientific procedures and does patient-review for several medical journals.

For the Dutch Association of Dermatologists, he has co-authored four evidence based guidelines (topical corticosteroids, atopic eczema, hand eczema and rosacea), to ensure the patient perspective, and currently serve on two of its committees. In appreciation for his contributions, they awarded him in 2019 an honorary membership.

Twitter: @bernd_020

Dr Asfour has completed training in Dermatology at Salford Royal Foundation Trust and is due to commence an international fellowship in hair and scalp disorders under the mentorship of Professor Sinclair, Melbourne.

She gained a bachelor’s degree in medical ethics and law, and has an ongoing interest in patient safety and regulatory frameworks.

Twitter: @leila_asfour

Lesley Exton currently works as a Guideline Research Fellow for the Clinical Standard Unit, British Association of Dermatologists.

She is involved in the development of their guidelines, which uses the GRADE methodology, including data extraction and critical appraisal, data syntheses and meta-analyses.

Prior to this she had over 30 years’ experience as an information scientist.

Dr Douglas Grindlay is Information Specialist in the Division of Rheumatology, Orthopaedics and Dermatology at the University of Nottingham, working on various aspects of evidence-based medicine, systematic reviews and database searching, and developing methods for disseminating research and assessing impact.

His time is split between the Centre of Evidence Based Dermatology and the Orthopaedics and Trauma Group.

Douglas has an MA in Information and Library Studies from Loughborough University and a biological science PhD from the University of Nottingham.

Dr William Haw is a National Institute for Health Research (NIHR) Doctoral Research Fellow at The University of Manchester and a Specialty Registrar in Dermatology at Salford Royal NHS Foundation Trust, UK.

Combining research alongside his clinical work has made his dermatology training much more variable and interesting.

His research focuses on using cutting edge computational and risk prediction tools to personalise treatment in skin diseases.

Dr Sidra S. Khan studied at the University of St Andrews, Scotland, before completing her undergraduate medical education at The University of Manchester, UK.

She undertook her medical training in the west of Scotland and is now working as a dermatology trainee at The Dermatology Centre, Salford Royal Hospital, Manchester.

Her interests include tropical dermatology and global health. She has completed the diploma in Tropical Medicine and Hygiene and spent three months working as a general physician at the Kwai River Christian Hospital in Thailand.

She has run dedicated dermatology clinics in the Cox’s Bazar Refugee camp in Bangladesh and is currently working to set up a teledermatology service within the camp.

She has also carried out field work and data collection with the Global Psoriasis Atlas in Moshi, Tanzania.

She is the current chair of the GLODERM Trainee Committee and is part of the International Foundation for Dermatology’s Migrant Health Dermatology Working Group.

Twitter: @k_sidra

Lina works as a Guideline Research Fellow at the British Association of Dermatologists (BAD), where she produces systematic reviews that underpin NICE accredited BAD guidelines.

Prior to joining the BAD she worked as a systematic review analyst in a health economics and outcomes research consultancy and worked on various disease areas including melanoma, ovarian cancer, biosimilars, rheumatic disease, and brain aneurysms.

As a qualified pharmacist Lina has a Master of Pharmacy degree from King’s College London and has a Master of Public Health degree from the University of Birmingham.

Dr Esther van Zuuren obtained her medical degree from the University of Leiden in the Netherlands. She trained to be a dermatologist at the Leiden University Medical Centre, where she has remained a staff member in the Dermatology Department since qualifying in 1999.

Currently, she heads the Allergy Department within the Department of Dermatology, and she is responsible for the training of dermatologists in this context, in addition to clinical work.

From 1999 to 2004 she also worked for the Medicines Evaluation Board as a clinical assessor for dermatology products. She was a Methods Editor for the Cochrane Skin Group from 2012 to 2018.

Her expertise lies in allergy and evidence‐based medicine, topics on which she has extensively published in the Cochrane Library and in journals such as the British Journal of Dermatology (BJD), Journal of the American Academy of Dermatology, JAMA Dermatology, JAMA, New England Journal of Medicine, Contact Dermatitis and Allergy.

She has been a Recommendation Editor for DynaMed since 2014, a consultant for Oxford Pharmagenesis as well as for Veritas Health Sciences Consultancy since 2019, and a member of the GRADE working group since 2012.

She has written many systematic reviews and updates for the treatment of rosacea, female pattern hair loss, eczema, urticaria, hirsutism and fungal infections, and also in other fields.

In addition, she is involved in the development of Dutch dermatology guidelines.  

• View research profile
• Twitter: @Ezzoef
• ORCID: 0000-0002-4780-0182
• Researchgate: https://www.researchgate.net/profile/Esther_Van_Zuuren  

Dr Hsi (Kevin) Yen studied medicine at National Cheng Kung University in Tainan, Taiwan. After medical school, he received a Master of Public Health in Quantitative Methods from the Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health, during which his interests focused on the relationship between diet and skin cancer.

After graduation, he returned to Taiwan, where he currently works as a resident physician at the Department of Dermatology at Linkou Chang Gung Memorial Hospital.

His current research interests include systematic reviews and meta-analyses on various clinical dermatological conditions and skin cancer epidemiology.