Masterclasses in Dermatology Saturday Morning Live

MCD SML

Saturday Morning Live is a free, virtual dermatology education series designed for busy clinicians seeking timely, practical insights without disrupting the workweek. Each episode features expert-led, case-based discussions covering the latest research, emerging data, and real-world clinical challenges across inflammatory, medical, surgical, aesthetic, and diagnostic dermatology. Recorded from live Saturday morning sessions, the podcast delivers concise, clinic-ready education you can apply immediately to patient care. Topics include inflammatory skin diseases, atopic dermatitis, emerging biologics, AI in dermatology, and more—bringing key takeaways from leading faculty straight to your headphones. Note: Podcast episodes are provided for educational purposes only and do not count toward earning CME credit.

Episodes

  1. Aug 12

    Hyperpigmentation Prevention and Treatment: Melasma, PIH, and Oral Tranexamic Acid

    Dr. Andrew Alexis (Weill Cornell Medicine) joins hosts Dr. Alice Gottlieb and Dr. Joseph Merola to break down a practical, stage-by-stage approach to hyperpigmentation in skin of color. Topics covered: preventing post-inflammatory hyperpigmentation (PIH) by treating the underlying inflammatory disorder early, photoprotection counseling for patients with darker skin types, visible-light protection with tinted (iron oxide) sunscreens, and dosing and timing for oral polypodium leucotomas. Dr. Alexis walks through his treatment algorithm for melasma and PIH, including hydroquinone dosing and duration, the triple combination formula (hydroquinone, tretinoin, and a topical steroid), when to add procedures like non-ablative fractional lasers, picosecond lasers, or chemical peels, and how he uses a Wood's lamp to assess pigment depth and set patient expectations. The conversation also covers oral tranexamic acid for melasma and PIH, including dosing, duration, and how to screen out patients with clot risk, plus a look at diagnoses that mimic hyperpigmentation and can derail treatment, including lichen planus pigmentosus, acquired dermal macular hyperpigmentation (ADMH), discoid lupus, morphea, and medication-induced hyperpigmentation from drugs like diltiazem. Saturday Morning Live is a free virtual dermatology education series from Masterclasses in Dermatology (MCD), co-chaired by Dr. Alice Gottlieb and Dr. Joseph Merola. Sessions run a few hours on a Saturday, no travel required. Thank you for listening.

  2. May 13

    New Targets for Atopic Dermatitis and Chronic Itch: Neuroimmune Biology, OX40, JAK Inhibitors, and What's Coming

    Dermatologists, NPs, and PAs: this session cuts straight to the clinical questions that matter most in atopic dermatitis right now. Dr. Shawn Kwatra, MD — chair of dermatology at the University of Maryland School of Medicine and director of its dedicated itch center — joins hosts Joseph Merola, MD, MMSc, FAAD, FACR and Alice Gottlieb, MD, PhD to break down the neuroimmune biology of chronic itch, why pruritus persists even after skin clears, and what to do about it in your next clinic. Topics covered: Why chronic itch is a neuroimmune disorder — not just a downstream symptom of inflammationThe cytokine players: IL-4, IL-13, IL-31, TSLP, and how they directly sensitize sensory neuronsDisease control redefined: the IEC consensus statement on low disease activity and remission in AD (published in JAMA Dermatology)What to do when skin clears but itch doesn't — JAK inhibitors, IL-31 inhibition, and neuromodulatorsBispecific and trispecific approaches: why AD's biological redundancy may require layered targetingOX40 and OX40 ligand: the upstream "prequel to inflammation" and its potential for off-therapy remissionPhenotype-driven treatment: TH17/TH22 involvement, skin of color presentations, and where the field is headingDevice-based modalities: phototherapy, TENS units, cold plasma — what the evidence actually supportsWant CME credit? Attend the next Saturday Morning Live session  — free to register at mcdsml.com. Thank you for listening.

  3. Apr 29

    Cardiodermatology and Cardiovascular Risk in Inflammatory Skin Disease

    Dermatologists and rheumatologists may be the first clinicians to catch cardiovascular disease in patients with psoriasis, hidradenitis suppurativa, and cutaneous lupus — but most aren't screening for it systematically. In this episode, Dr. Joseph Merola and Dr. Alice Gottlieb (dermatologist-rheumatologists, UT Southwestern Medical Center) are joined by Dr. Brittany Weber, one of the first cardiodermatologists in the United States, to lay out the clinical case for owning cardiovascular risk assessment in inflammatory skin disease. The discussion covers why standard CV risk calculators underestimate risk in this patient population, how the PREVENT calculator improves on the pooled cohort equation by incorporating lifetime risk and younger-age calibration, and what a practical screening workflow looks like across different practice settings — from academic medical centers to community dermatology. Dr. Weber also breaks down when to manage risk in-house, when to refer to primary care, and when to send directly to a preventive cardiologist. The episode closes with a forward-looking discussion on imaging: coronary artery calcium (CAC) scoring, coronary CT angiography, cardiac MRI, and the emerging use of AI algorithms to identify unrecognized cardiovascular burden in CT scans already sitting in the medical record. Hosted by Masterclasses in Dermatology Saturday Morning Live — a free virtual education series for dermatologists, nurse practitioners, and physician associates produced by HMP Global. Thank you for listening.

  4. Apr 21

    Remission in Dermatology: What Does "Clear" Really Mean for Psoriasis and Atopic Dermatitis?

    The bar for treating psoriasis has moved dramatically — from PASI 50 to PASI 75 to complete clearance — and the field is now seriously asking whether remission is an achievable clinical goal, not just an aspirational one. In this episode, Dr. Joseph Merola and Dr. Alice Gottlieb break down how remission is currently defined in dermatology, where those definitions came from, and what they actually mean for patients in the clinic. The conversation covers the NPF's recently published on-treatment remission criteria for plaque psoriasis, the concept of the molecular scar — what's still happening under visibly clear skin — and why tissue-resident memory T cells may be the reason patients who stop therapy don't always get back to where they were. Dr. Merola also presents new AAD data applying remission definitions to real-world trial outcomes with bimekizumab and guselkumab, including how many patients sustained on-treatment remission at three and five years. From there, the discussion expands to atopic dermatitis, where Dr. Merola led the International Eczema Council consensus on low disease activity and remission — now in press at JAMA Dermatology — and to psoriatic arthritis, where a similar framework is actively in development. Dr. Gottlieb draws on her rheumatology background to examine what dermatology should borrow from RA and PsA remission models, and where the analogy breaks down. The episode closes on the question of cure — what it would actually require, what early-intervention data in guttate psoriasis suggests, and how far off a true immune reset really is. Hosted by Masterclasses in Dermatology Saturday Morning Live, a free virtual education series for dermatologists, nurse practitioners, and physician associates. Thank you for listening.

About

Saturday Morning Live is a free, virtual dermatology education series designed for busy clinicians seeking timely, practical insights without disrupting the workweek. Each episode features expert-led, case-based discussions covering the latest research, emerging data, and real-world clinical challenges across inflammatory, medical, surgical, aesthetic, and diagnostic dermatology. Recorded from live Saturday morning sessions, the podcast delivers concise, clinic-ready education you can apply immediately to patient care. Topics include inflammatory skin diseases, atopic dermatitis, emerging biologics, AI in dermatology, and more—bringing key takeaways from leading faculty straight to your headphones. Note: Podcast episodes are provided for educational purposes only and do not count toward earning CME credit.

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