PLENARY: Keynote (Non-CME) & PLENARY: Cutting Edge (Non-CME)

Dr. Murad Alam is Vice-Chair of Dermatology; Professor of Dermatology, Otolaryngology, and Surgery; and Chief of the Section of Cutaneous and Aesthetic Surgery, at Northwestern University’s Feinberg School of Medicine. He received his undergraduate and medical degrees from Yale University, completed internship in internal medicine at the University of Michigan, and obtained residency training in dermatology at Columbia University. He subsequently pursued fellowship training in laser and cosmetic surgery in Boston, and in Mohs micrographic surgery, in Houston. After completing his MSCI (Masters of Science in Clinical Investigation) at Northwestern, he enrolled in the Kellogg School of Management, from which received an MBA.

An author of over 250 scientific publications, Dr. Alam is Editor of Archives of Dermatological Research, the oldest dermatology journal in the world, founded in 1869 as Archiv für Dermatologie und Syphilis. He is Associate Editor of the Journal of the American Academy of Dermatology, Associate Editor of Lasers in Medical Science, Associate Editor of the Journal of Cosmetic Dermatology, Associate Editor of the International Journal of Women’s Dermatology, and Assistant Editor of Dermatologic Surgery. He has previously served on the editorial board of JAMA Dermatology. Dr. Alam is series co-editor of the Procedures in Cosmetic Dermatology books, and overall has edited 20 books, including Evidence-Based Procedural Dermatology (1st and 2nd editions), Cosmetic Dermatology in Skin of Color, Requisites in Cosmetic Dermatology, Body Rejuvenation, Non-Surgical Tightening and Lifting, and Treatment of Leg Veins.

Dr. Alam is a current member of the Board of Directors of ASLMS. He is the ASLMS delegate to the Delegate to the United States Pharmacopeia Convention, an independent nonprofit organization that sets quality standards for medicines, food ingredients, and dietary supplements.

Dr. Alam has also served as President of the American Society for Dermatologic Surgery, and Treasurer of the Women's Dermatologic Society and is current Vice-President of the Illinois Dermatologic Society. He is a member of the Board of Directors of the American Board of Venous and Lymphatic Medicine, the American Academy of Dermatology, the Association of Professors of Dermatology, and the American Dermatological Association. He has previously served on the Boards of the American College of Mohs Surgery and of the Noah Worcester Society. Dr. Alam is the Dermatology Advisor to the American Medical Association-Current Procedural Terminology Committee; and a Voting Member on the General and Plastic Surgery Devices Panel of the Food and Drug Administration (FDA). Dr. Alam is vice-president of the Blade and Light International, an organization of volunteer dermatologic surgeons who perform medical mission work underserved countries.

Dr. Alam’s clinical practice includes the laser surgery and medicine, as well as cosmetic procedures. He serves as the director of the ASDS-approved fellowship training program in Cosmetic Dermatologic Surgery. For over a decade, Dr. Alam has been associated course director of Controversies and Conversations in Laser and Cosmetic Surgery, an annual symposium focused on discussion of current and pending clinical advances.

Dr. Alam's research, which includes clinical trials and multicenter cohort studies, addresses the effectiveness, side effects, and patient acceptance of different laser, cosmetic, and surgical treatments. Dr. Alam has a particular interest in evidence-based medicine, including the selection and measurement of outcomes. Dr. Alam is the chair of the US-based IMPROVED group, which is developing internationally applicable core outcome sets pertaining conditions that can be treated with cosmetic and laser interventions. He is also the director of CISTERN, an international collaboration for the development of clinical practice guidelines.

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.

J. Stuart Nelson, M.D., Ph.D, is Medical Director of the Beckman Laser Institute and Medical Clinic, and Distinguished Professor of Surgery and Biomedical Engineering at the University of California, Irvine.  Dr. Nelson served as president of the American Society for Laser Medicine and Surgery (ASLMS) 2001-2002 and editor-in-chief of the ASLMS journal Lasers in Surgery and Medicine 2005-2015.  Dr. Nelson has published more than 350 scientific articles and 16 book chapters.  He has been awarded 15 patents for developing biomedical devices from the Patent and Trademark Office, United States Department of Commerce. Dr. Nelson’s university-based clinical practice and research combines his expertise in engineering, optics, medicine and surgery. He specializes in the clinical management of infants, young children and adults with port wine stains, hemangiomas and other vascular malformations.

E. Victor Ross, M.D., CAPT MC, USN (ret) attended Mississippi State University where he graduated summa cum laude with a B.S. in physics. He obtained his medical degree from the Tulane University School of Medicine where he was a junior year inductee into Alpha Omega Alpha. Following internship, Dr. Ross went to Sasebo, Japan as a General Medical Officer. In 1992, he completed a three-year dermatology residency at the National Naval Medical Center in Bethesda. In 1994, he was the first Navy-sponsored fellow in photomedicine and lasers at the Massachusetts General Hospital. While there, he conducted basic research experiments and human clinical trials in photodynamic therapy and novel laser applications in dermatology. He was honored as the 2001 Navy Recipient of the Chairman, Joint Chiefs of Staff Award for excellence in Military Medicine.

Dr. Ross is presently the director of the Laser and Cosmetic Dermatology Center at Scripps Clinic in San Diego. He also served on the boards of the American Society for Laser Medicine and Surgery (president in 2008), the American Society for Dermatologic Surgery, and the American Society for Cosmetic Dermatology and Aesthetic Surgery. His special interests are fractional laser skin rejuvenation, photodynamic therapy, non-ablative skin remodeling, laser management of scars, laser treatment of acne, and laser hair reduction in dark skinned patients. He is the author of over 100 articles and nine book chapters. Presently, Dr. Ross is investigating novel approaches in pigment quantification as well as conducting comparative trials of picosecond laser sources, novel RF technologies in skin rejuvenation, photon recycling, and laser assisted acne treatments.

Dieter Manstein, M.D., Ph.D. graduated from the University of Münster, Germany. He completed a research fellowship at the Wellman Center of Photomedicine and a special clinical dermatology-training track at Massachusetts General Hospital. He is currently Assistant Professor of Dermatology at Harvard Medical School and heads his research laboratory at the Cutaneous Biology Research Center at Massachusetts General Hospital. His research is focused on innovative use of energy-based devices, mainly within the area of dermatology. Many of the major current device treatments in dermatology are the direct result of his inventions and research. Notable examples are fractional photothermolysis and non-invasive fat removal by cold (selective cryolipolysis). He also contributed significantly to advances in the area of hair removal and laser-tissue interaction. Dr. Manstein received multiple honors and awards, including the Horace Furumoto Innovator Award and the Ellet H. Drake Award from the American Society for Laser Medicine and Surgery.

Dr. Robert A. Weiss, MD, FAAD has served as President of three major dermatology and laser organizations and has served or is currently serving on Medical Advisory Boards of numerous companies in the aesthetic dermatology field. He is former Associate Professor of Dermatology at the Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine and currently is an Associate Professor of Dermatology at the University of Maryland. His education included Columbia University, BA, Johns Hopkins U School of Medicine, MD and fellowship training in dermatology at the Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine. He also sought additional fellowship training at the National Institutes of Health, Immunology Division. Besides serving as President of the American Society for Laser Medicine and Surgery, American Society for Dermatologic Surgery, and the American College of Phlebology, he remains very active in teaching for ASDS, ASLMS, and the American Academy of Dermatology. Dr. Weiss has also served multiple years on the Board of the American Academy of Dermatology. Dr. Weiss has been a featured speaker for the AAD, ASDS, and ASLMS for over 25 years, as well as speaking at many other national and international dermatology and cosmetic societies. He has received numerous international awards of recognition. A prolific author of over 150 peer reviewed articles and a dozen textbooks including “Vein Diagnosis & Treatment: A Comprehensive Approach,” published by McGraw-Hill, and “Cosmetic Dermatology.”
Dr. Weiss has also served on the American Board of Dermatology, preparing questions for board certification of dermatologists. He is currently Fellowship Director of the ASDS cosmetic fellowship and mentors dermatology fellows in lasers, filler, botulinums and advanced vein treatments at the Maryland Dermatology, Laser, Skin and Vein Institute in Baltimore. Dr. Weiss also holds multiple patents for medical devices and biotechnologies. His expertise on cosmetic dermatology innovations has led to his appearances on TV shows such as “20/20” and “The Today Show.” Dr. Weiss has served as Assistant and Contributing Editor for the journal Dermatologic Surgery and Lasers in Surgery and Medicine. Dr. Weiss’ actively researches novel lasers and light sources for the treatment of photoaging, vascular lesions, and pigmented lesions as well as fillers and botulinum toxins. He has helped to develop new methods of non-invasive varicose vein treatments, such as endovenous ablation to replace stripping, and assisted with research leading to FDA clearance of newest methods of reversing photoaging by lasers and light sources. Dr. Weiss is actively participating as Principle Investigator in phase II and phase III FDA clinical trials for botulinums, fillers, lasers, energy based devices and dermatologic conditions such as eczema and vitiligo. Dr. Weiss receives frequent media requests for his opinions on the newest cosmetic treatments and devices. He is currently Director of Maryland Dermatology, Laser, Skin & Vein Institute funded in 1991.

Roy G. Geronemus, M.D., Director of the Laser & Skin Surgery Center of New York®, graduated from Harvard University and pursued his medical education at the University of Miami School of Medicine.

He trained in dermatology at the New York University Medical Center where he was the chief resident and subsequently underwent a fellowship training in Mohs Micrographic Surgery and Cutaneous Oncology. He is a Clinical Professor of Dermatology at New York University Medical Center where he founded its laser program and served nine years as chief of dermatologic and laser surgery. He is past president of the American Society for Dermatologic Surgery, American Society for Laser Medicine & Surgery, New York Dermatological Society, Dermatologic Society of Greater New York and Association of Academic Dermatologic Surgeons. Dr. Geronemus is the Chairman of the Board of the New York Stem Cell Foundation.

The American Society for Laser Medicine and Surgery has awarded Dr. Geronemus with the Ellet Drake award for outstanding contributions to laser medicine and the Leon Goldman award for excellence in clinical laser research. The American Society for Dermatologic Surgery (ASDS) has awarded him the Samuel J. Stegman award for distinguished service and the Vic Narurkar, M.D., Innovations in Aesthetic Dermatology Lectureship Award.
The University of Miami School of Medicine has elected him into their alumni Hall of Fame. He has received the Physician of the Year honor from the Vascular Birthmark Foundation and was also awarded their Humanitarian Award in 2014.

Dr. Geronemus has published over 400 medical articles, chapters and books. He has been involved with the development of multiple new laser systems and therapeutic techniques, which are now commonly used throughout the world.