Hidradenitis Suppurativa Series

Dr. Kirby is a dermatologist and clinician-researcher at Penn State Hershey. She earned her Medical degree from the University of Virginia, then completed her Dermatology Residency at the University of Pennsylvania. In her clinical and research work, she is interested in acneiform conditions including acne, rosacea, and, especially, hidradenitis suppurativa – its effects on people, outcome measurement, and pathomechanisms. She is the PI of a number of clinical research trials. All of this is made possible by the support of her husband and two daughters.

Dr. Sayed is an Associate Professor of Dermatology at the University of North Carolina Department of Dermatology and Director of the Hidradenitis Suppurativa Clinic. He leads NIH-funded translational research project in HS and has been a site principal investigator on several clinical trials evaluating new medications for HS. He is a direction member of the HS Foundation and medical lead for the NC Triangle chapter of Hope for HS. He is a Tarheel through-and-through having completed undergraduate, medical school, and residency training at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.

Dr. Vivian Shi, MD is an Associate Professor of the Department of Dermatology at the University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences (UAMS), where she directs the Eczema Clinic and Hidradenitis Suppurativa Clinic.

Dr. Shi received her undergraduate degree in physiological sciences from UCLA, and
subsequently spent a year performing research on gene regulation in pathogenic bacteria in the department of microbiology at UCLA. She learned her medical degree from the University of Illinois at Chicago. During that time, she also completed a fellowship in the Skin Immunology Laboratory. She was an integral part of the team characterizing the pathophysiology of atopic dermatitis. She then completed her internship in Internal Medicine at the University of Chicago – NorthShore Health System, followed by a dermatology residency at the University of California, Davis, where she also served as chief resident.

Dr. Shi’s research and clinical interests are in complex inflammatory skin conditions (such atopic dermatitis, hidradenitis suppurativa, and psoriasis), skin barrier repair, transepidermal drug delivery, and integrative dermatology. She has served as the principal investigator for numerous industry-sponsored and investigator-initiated clinical and translational studies. She has published over 150 peer-reviewed articles and is the editor for two reference dermatology textbooks on atopic dermatitis and hidradenitis suppurativa. She is on the Board of Directors for the Hidradenitis Suppurativa Foundation, advisory board of the National Eczema Association, and is a member of the International Eczema Council.

Dr. Hadar Lev-Tov is a board-certified dermatologist with extensive research experience. Throughout his training and in daily practice, he has always believed that the key to achieving health for his patients is grounded in his ability to truly connect to their experiences and perceptions of health and well-being. Maimonides, one of the greatest philosophers of all time realized that human knowledge, often represented as "science," is limited. As a physician, he feels he would be a fool to believe all is known. Maimonides said, "The physician should not treat the disease but the patient who is suffering from it." LearnSkin is his journey to a better understanding of his patients.

Dr. Raja Sivamani is a board-certified dermatologist and practices as an integrative dermatologist at Pacific Skin Institute. He is an Adjunct Associate Professor of Clinical Dermatology at the University of California, Davis and Director of Clinical Research and the Clinical Trials Unit.He is also an Adjunct Assistant Professor in the Department of Biological Sciences at the California State University, Sacramento and an Associate Professor of Dermatology at California Northstate University, College of Medicine.He engages in clinical practice as well as both clinical and translational research that integrates bioengineering, nutrition, cosmetics, and skin biology. With training in both Allopathic and Ayurvedic medicine, he takes an integrative approach to his patients and in his research.He has published over 100 peer-reviewed research manuscripts, 10 textbook chapters, and a textbook entitled Cosmeceuticals and Active Cosmetics, 3rd Edition with a passion for expanding the evidence and boundaries of integrative medicine for skin care.

Dr. John Frew is a fellow of the Australasian College of Dermatologists and a globally recognized researcher in Hidradenitis Suppurativa. He completed his medical degree (with Honours) from the University of New South Wales in 2009, followed by a Masters of Medicine in clinical epidemiology from the University of Sydney in 2011, followed by completing his dermatology specialist training in 2016. Dr. Frew recently completed a highly competitive post-doctoral fellowship at the prestigious Rockefeller University in New York City between 2018-2020 (under the guidance of Professor James Krueger), identifying immunological pathways and novel therapies for the treatment of Hidradenitis Suppurativa. Dr. Frew has over 100 peer-reviewed publications and contributed to numerous dermatology and immunology textbooks. He currently holds a staff specialist position at Liverpool Hospital and is a conjoint lecturer at the University of New South Wales, supervising dermatology trainees and postgraduate research students.