I hope everyone enjoyed the holiday season and I wish you all the best for the new year. The start of this next decade presents a fitting opportunity to reflect on the Division of Dermatology's past successes and highlight our key initiatives going forward in 2020.
Several faculty members have been recognized recently with various awards and appointments: Dr. Cheryl Rosen was presented the Sean Faught Change-Maker Award by the Melanoma Network of Canada, Dr. Afsaneh Alavi was awarded the SHSA Award at the 2019 Symposium for Hidradenitis Suppurativa Advances, and Dr. Trevor Champagne received junior promotion from Lecturer to Assistant Professor within the Department of Medicine - congratulations all on these exceptional achievements!
The Division once again hosted a highly successful ToPS & Robert Lester PG Seminar, inviting several local, national and international experts in dermatology to speak on topics related to the theme of 'Skin Inflammation'. The meeting was one of our best attended yet and we look forward to using the positive feedback received to plan an even better event this year.
Along with our usual newsletter updates, I am pleased to introduce a new initiative: the 'Alumni Corner'. The Division of Dermatology values its alumni, and I know that our readers will benefit from their insight earned from their time at the University of Toronto.
Another exciting announcement is the publication of the Division's Strategic Plan, which reflects the strengths, challenges and opportunities of the Division of Dermatology and acts as a guide to accomplishing our goals - to meaningfully impact health through international leadership in education, research and service and the translation of new knowledge into better dermatological care and health outcomes. Thank you to everyone who initially attended the Strategic Planning Retreat in 2018 and to the Dermatology Executive Committee for their constructive input on this document.
I would also like to express gratitude to the TDS for its continuing support to our division, to Dr. Sam Hanna for his former leadership as TDS President and to Dr. Maha Dutil, who has recently resumed the role and kindly provided an update on the TDS and the upcoming Women’s Dermatology Symposium (WDS) for this newsletter.
