16th Annual Aaron Lerner Discovery Memorial Lecture: Amy Paller, MD, MS

Amy Paller, MD, MS, is the Walter J. Hamlin Professor and Chair of Dermatology; professor of pediatrics; and principal investigator of the National Institutes of Health (NIH)-funded Skin Biology and Diseases Resource-based Center (SBDRC) at Northwestern University. She received her undergraduate and graduate degrees from Brown University and her medical degree from Stanford University. Dr. Paller completed residency training in both pediatrics and dermatology at Northwestern University and her postdoctoral research fellowship at the University of North Carolina. She served as chief of pediatric dermatology at the Ann & Robert H. Lurie Children's Hospital of Chicago until she became chair of dermatology at Northwestern in 2004.

An author of more than 650 peer-reviewed publications, Dr. Paller has also edited several major textbooks in dermatology, among them Clinical Pediatric Dermatology and Fitzpatrick's Dermatology in General Medicine. She is a NIH-funded investigator in both her laboratory-based and clinical research. She has directed the Pediatric Dermatology Clinical Trials Unit at Northwestern/Lurie Children's for the past 30 years and has been the lead investigator on several landmark trials in pediatric skin disease, particularly related to atopic dermatitis (AD), psoriasis, and genodermatoses. Her laboratory focuses on skin innervation in inflammatory diseases, wound healing, and topically delivered gene regulation through nanotherapy. She has defined skin and blood biomarkers for children with AD and ichthyoses towards pathogenesis-directed therapy and has developed new patient-related outcomes scales for itch and stigma in children.

Dr. Paller was the inaugural president of the International Eczema Council and inaugural co-president of the Pediatric Dermatology Research Alliance. She has been president of the Society for Investigative Dermatology, Society for Pediatric Dermatology, and the Women's Dermatologic Society. She is currently president of the International Society for Pediatric Dermatology and president-elect of the American Dermatological Association. She has served on Council and the Board of Scientific Councilors for NIH/National Institute of Arthritis and Musculoskeletal and Skin Diseases (NIAMS), and on numerous boards for dermatology patient advocacy organizations. She has received several honors for her scholarship, leadership and mentorship, including:

• Election to the American Association of Physicians and the American Dermatological Association
• The Stephen Rothman Award from the Society for Investigative Dermatology
• Mentor of the Year, Rose Hirschler, and the Wilma Bergfeld, MD Visionary & Leadership Awards from the Women's Dermatological Society
• The Clarence S. Livingood, MD, Memorial Award from the American Academy of Dermatology (AAD)
• The Founder's Award from the Chicago Dermatological Society
  
• The Tanioku Kihei Memorial Award from the Japanese Society for Investigative Dermatology
• The International Leadership Award from the International League of Dermatological Societies
  
• The Martin D. Carter Award for Mentorship from the American Skin Association
  
• The inaugural Hall of Fame Award from the Society for Pediatric Dermatology
  
• Both the inaugural Paula Stern Outstanding Women in Science and Medicine Award and the Tripartite Award from Northwestern
  

Dr. Paller has mentored hundreds of students, residents, fellows, and junior faculty. Her greatest pleasure is watching young people gain knowledge, get excited about concepts and discoveries, and advance their careers.