Although almost 3,000 types of skin diseases exist and impose a combined annual economic burden of almost $37 billion9, significant gaps exist in the field. 1) Exact incidence rates are often unknown as they are not currently, and have not historically, been reported to most cancer registries. 2) Clinicians, researchers, and public health practitioners need better approaches to understanding patient impact and managing these conditions. 3) Documentation is needed of incidence by geocoded location, initial and subsequent diagnoses, burden of metastatic squamous cell carcinomas and other skin conditions, and costs to health care systems. The combined meetings of the 7th International Dermatoepidemiology (IDEA) Congress and the NCI's Keratinocyte Carcinoma Consortium (KeraCon) will address these gaps by creating a forum for cross- pollination among diverse groups including researchers, clinicians, and patient advocacy groups focuses on diseases of aging skin. Furthermore the entire IDEA Congress meeting will integrate the concepts of patient centered care; a relatively new perspective in dermatology that acknowledges patients can imbue researchers and clinicians with insightful and accurate data on the impact of skin conditions.10 The meeting will take place in Aurora, Colorado at the new University of Colorado Anschutz Medical Campus; an institution well-known for cutting edge dermato-epidemiologic research and skin-related educational outreach. The University is in close proximity to the airport with direct flights from a large number of North American cities. The organizers, Co-PIs Robert Dellavalle and Barbara Walkcosz, have support from the major dermatology focused organizations and researchers such as the Keratinocyte Carcinoma Consortium (KeraCon), the Institute for Health Metrics & Evaluation, the American Cancer Society, the University of Pennsylvania Perelman School of Medicine, the Veterans Administration, and the American Academy of Dermatology.
The theme of the conference is Aging and Global Dermato-epidemiology and will bring together researchers, clinical scientists, bioinformaticians, patient advocacy groups, epidemiologists, and clinicians studying skin conditions. The running short title for the conference will be ?IDEA/KeraCon Congress 2016??an acronym accentuating the participation and collaboration of a) the International Dermatoepidemiology Association (IDEA?which is comprised of ADEN (the American Dermatoepidemiology Network) and EDEN (the European Dermatoepidemiology Network)) and b) the NIH-sponsored Keratinocyte Carcinoma Consotium (KeraCon). The participants bring unique research perspectives that will help fill the gaps in knowledge and help focus future research in dermatoepidemiology.
