2025 pediatric dermatology research alliance (pedra) annual conference

The National Institute of Arthritis and Musculoskeletal and Skin Diseases (NIAMS) awarded $144,998 to the Pediatric Dermatology Research Alliance Inc. (PEDRA) on August 1, 2025, under the Arthritis, Musculoskeletal and Skin Diseases Research program (CFDA 93.846) to support the organization of the 13th Annual PEDRA Conference scheduled for October 2025. The primary deliverable is a comprehensive research conference that provides education, networking, and consensus-building opportunities for pediatric dermatology investigators and stakeholders. The conference programming includes didactic lectures, expert-led small group discussions, poster sessions, and training workshops designed to advance collaborative research in pediatric dermatology while addressing critical gaps in the field related to understaffing, limited FDA-approved treatments, and slower-than-needed research and guidelines development.

The conference will serve as a forum for identifying and prioritizing research needs, developing new research initiatives across high-priority disease areas in pediatric dermatology, and disseminating research results to a multidisciplinary audience encompassing patient stakeholders, industry representatives, researchers, and potential National Institutes of Health collaborators. Expected outcomes include a more developed set of research priorities, advanced existing research projects, enhanced collaborative networks, and improved health outcomes for children with skin disorders through coordinated research advancement across the pediatric dermatology field.

Abstract

Pediatric skin diseases are highly prevalent and impart a devastating burden on children and their families. Yet, the specialty of pediatric dermatology is understaffed, the availability of FDA- approved treatments is inadequate, and the pace of research and guidelines development in the field is too slow. The pediatric dermatology research alliance (pedra) was founded in 2012 to address these crucial yet unmet needs. Pedra's primary mission is to create, inspire, and sustain research to prevent, treat, and cure childhood skin disease. The long-term goal of pedra is to leverage such research to improve the health outcomes of children with skin disorders. Annual conferences have been integral to the success of pedra, providing a forum for educating investigators, identifying and prioritizing research needs and opportunities, and developing and initiating innovative projects. A combination of didactic lectures and panels, expert-led small group discussions, poster sessions, and unique training opportunities are the foundation of every pedra annual conference. This proposal is for the 13TH pedra annual conference, set to take place in october of 2025 with the following aims: 1) provide education, presentation, and networking opportunities while advancing consensus-building skills related to collaborative pediatric dermatology research and shared decision making for the care of children with skin diseases; 2) advance existing research projects and develop new research priorities and initiatives in disease areas and high-priority topics spanning the field of pediatric dermatology; and 3) provide a forum for the dissemination of final and ongoing research results to an audience that includes patient stakeholders, industry representatives, and researchers from multiple fields including potential NIH collaborators. The expected outcomes of this conference are a more developed set of research skills for current and future physician- scientists, enhanced productivity, strengthened multi-stakeholder networks, and the conduct of high-quality research. These activities will accelerate the pace of pediatric dermatology research, allowing clinicians to better understand, prevent and treat skin disease in children, and give patients and families options to manage diseases and make informed treatment decisions in the future.