VITILIGO Friends "VITFriends" 

2018 Vitiligo Conference - UMass Worcester, MA   -  Director: John E. Harris, MD, PhD

Dr. Harris is a tenure-track Assistant Professor in the Dermatology Division, Department of Medicine at the University of Massachusetts Medical School (UMMS) in Worcester, MA. Dr. Harris directs the Vitiligo Clinic and Research Center at UMMS, which incorporates a specialty clinic for the diagnosis and treatment of patients with vitiligo, as well as a vitiligo research laboratory. He uses basic, translational, and clinical research approaches to better understand autoimmunity in vitiligo, with a particular focus on developing more effective treatments. 

He earned his MD and PhD degrees at UMMS, and his PhD thesis was focused on the loss of autoimmune tolerance in juvenile diabetes. He entered a combined research/residency program in dermatology at the University of Pennsylvania in Philadelphia, PA, and his postdoctoral research focused on the development of a mouse model of vitiligo with epidermal depigmentation. He now advises multiple graduate students, MD/PhD students, and postdoctoral fellows in his research laboratory at UMMS, and teaches medical students and residents in his vitiligo clinic. 

He has authored multiple research publications and textbook chapters on vitiligo and other topics, and serves on a number of advisory boards and committees, including the Dermatology Foundation, Skin of Color Society, Vitiligo Working Group, Vitiligo Research Foundation, National Alopecia Areata Foundation, American Academy of Dermatology and the New England Dermatology Society, among others. He is an advisor and collaborator with multiple pharmaceutical companies, including AbbVie, Combe Inc, Genzyme/Sanofi, and Pfizer. 

Dr. Harris is an ad hoc reviewer on grant applications for the National Institutes of Health (NIH), Dermatology Foundation, and National Alopecia Areata Foundation, as well as multiple research journals, including Science Translational Medicine, the Journal of Clinical Investigation, the Journal of Investigative Dermatology, Pigment Cell & Melanoma Research, Experimental Dermatology, the Journal of the American Academy of Dermatology, JAMA Dermatology, and others. He receives generous grant support from the NIH, Dermatology Foundation, Kawaja Vitiligo Initiative, and the Vitiligo Research Foundation. He has lectured on vitiligo and other topics to local, regional, national, and international audiences.

Postdoctoral Fellowship, University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, PA
Research: “Development of a Mouse Model to Study Vitiligo Pathogenesis”
Advisors: Dr. Laurence Turka, Dr. John Wherry, Dr. Christopher Hunter
Dermatology Residency, University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, PA
Medical Internship, UMass Medical School, Worcester, MA
Ph.D., (Molecular Medicine), UMass Medical School, Worcester, MA
Thesis Title: “The Molecular Mechanisms of T cell Clonal Anergy”
Advisors: Dr. Aldo Rossini, Dr. Michael Czech
M.D., UMass Medical School, Worcester, MA
B.S., Premedicine, Gordon College, Wenham, MA

Co-founder and Board Member, Vitiligo Working Group
Member Scientific Committee, Skin of Color Society
Board Member, Skin of Color Society
Basic Research Advisory Council, National Alopecia Areata Foundation
Scientific Advisory Board, Vitiligo Research Foundation
Board Member, New England Dermatology Society
Medical and Scientific Committee, Dermatology Foundation
Fellow, American Academy of Dermatology

Amit Pandya, M.D., is a Professor in the Department of Dermatology at UT Southwestern. He holds the Dr. J.B. Shelmire Professorship in Dermatology. 

Dr. Pandya focuses his clinical work and research on pigmentary disorders such as vitiligo and melasma. He is one of a handful of full-time pigmentary disorder specialists in the country.

After graduating magna cum laude with a degree in biology from the University of Houston, Dr. Pandya received his medical degree from UT Southwestern. He completed his residency in internal medicine at Presbyterian Hospital in Dallas and his residency in dermatology at UT Southwestern. 

With future research in mind, Dr. Pandya has started a vitiligo patient registry that captures over 60 details about vitiligo for each patient. This registry is one of only five vitiligo patient registries in the world.

Dr. Pandya has been recognized as a Best Doctor by D Magazine and a Super Doctor by Texas Monthly for several years consecutively, including in 2018. He is a recent recipient of the American Academy of Dermatology’s Arnold P. Gold Foundation Humanism in Medicine Award and the University of Texas Regents’ Outstanding Teaching Award. He has also received an Outstanding Teacher Award from UT Southwestern medical students 14 times.

He is a member of the American Academy of Dermatology, the Texas Dermatological Society, the Dallas Dermatological Society, the Texas Medical Association, the Dallas County Medical Society, the International Society of Dermatology, and the Skin of Color Society.