2025 Annual Conference Recording - Principles of Photobiomodulation

Thomas M. Beachkofsky, MD, FAAD is a Board-Certified Dermatologist (American Board of Dermatology) and serves as the Director of the Cutaneous Rehabilation Clinic at the James A. Haley Veterans Hospital in Tampa, Florida. He received his undergraduate degree from the United States Air Force Academy in Colorado Springs, Colorado and received his Medical Degree from the Uniformed Services University of the Health Sciences in Bethesda, Maryland. Subsequently he completed his internship and residency in Dermatology in San Antonio, Texas all while serving on Active Duty as an Officer in the United States Air Force. During training he was inducted in the Alpha Omega Alpha national medical honors society and earned accolades as the distinguished graduate from his transitional internship and served as Chief Resident of his dermatology training program.

He is an experienced medical and procedural dermatologist as well as clinical researcher with extensive training and experience with the use of lasers, lights and energy-based devices. He is an internationally recognized expert and has lectured on the use of such devices around the world and published his work in multiple textbooks and over 35 peer reviewed journals articles. He is most well-known for his experience with the use of ablative lasers for the treatment of burns, scars and extensive sun damaged skin and currently operates 30+ devices in his clinic. He is passionate about the care of veterans, wounded warriors and amputees and in 2020 was awarded the Henry M. Jackson Foundation Hero of Military Medicine. His current research is focused on rehabilitating scars in the amputee population and restoring the form and function of aging skin.

Dr. Levin completed his MD and PhD degrees at Stanford University in the Schools of Medicine and Engineering, respectively, and was funded by an NIH Medical Scientist Training Program grant. He completed his dermatology residency at Boston Medical Center, where he served as chief resident, and then completed a two-year clinical and research fellowship at the Massachusetts General Hospital's laser and cosmetic center.

He is currently an Assistant Professor of Dermatology at Harvard Medical School and is a faculty physician at the MGH's Wellman Center for Photomedicine and its Department of Dermatology. In his clinical practice, Dr. Levin includes laser treatments of children with challenging congenital malformations both in the operating room and in the clinic, as well as cosmetic and medical dermatology. He also volunteers to treat children internationally in both Vietnam and Israel. His research focuses on the development of novel energy-based devices to improve the treatment of disfiguring birthmarks in children, to prevent cutaneous burns, and to treat and prevent infectious diseases. His work has resulted in multiple awarded patents and numerous peer-reviewed publications.

Peter Shumaker, MD, retired as a Captain in the United States Navy having spent more than a third of his 22 years of service as Chairman of the Department of Dermatology at the Naval Medical Center San Diego (NMCSD). Dr. Shumaker completed a Procedural Dermatology fellowship at Scripps Clinic in La Jolla, CA, and has since developed a special focus in Mohs surgery and laser medicine. Dr. Shumaker and colleagues have been dedicated to facilitating the functional and cosmetic recovery of wounded warriors and other patients with traumatic scarring and other related injuries. He has presented nationally and internationally on cutting edge scar management, co-authored articles published in top journals from 7 different medical specialties, led an annual national multidisciplinary Summit on trauma rehabilitation, served as team lead for a multi-year engagement in burn scar revision and restorative medicine in Vietnam, and served as co-Editor for The Scar Book published in 2017, the first comprehensive textbook on scar pathophysiology and management. He previously served on the Editorial Board for the Society publication Lasers in Surgery and Medicine. He continues his service to veterans as Chief of Dermatology at the VA San Diego and he is a non-salaried Clinical Professor at the University of California, San Diego.

With a strong 30 years’ experience in dermatology, angiology and anti-aging, Michele Pelletier naturally started to specialize in laser technology by creating a dermo-esthetic and anti-aging laser center. After 20 years of light therapy practice, she explored other areas like radiofrequency and other light sources like the non-thermal effects of light emitting diode. Since October 2010 she runs European Led Academy as LedAcademy president. A non-profit organization with a membership opens to physicians, physicists, cell-biologists, optoelectronic engineers, concerned with photobiological mechanisms and treatments related to the use of LED or Low-Level Lasers. She is a member of diverse medical associations including France Medicine Aesthetic, French Laser Society, WALT (World Association for Photobiomodulation Therapy) and IALMS (International Academy for Laser Medicine and Surgery).

Nashwa Cheema, Phd from University of Alberta in Physiology, Cell and Developmental Biology. Her research interest is in mitochondrial/ muscle biology. She is current s research fellow in Rox Anderson lab at Wellman Center for Photomedicine. Her researcf project is focused on near infra red light therapy in muscle performance.