Quarterly Newsletter - January 2025 - Issue No. 25

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Professor Chris Griffiths OBE
GPA Director

Director’s Foreword

 

 

Happy New Year! I am writing this Foreword in London where 2025 has begun with high winds and rain – hopefully not a harbinger for a stormy year ahead for the Global Psoriasis Atlas (GPA). New Year is traditionally a time for looking back on the previous year – the highs and the lows – and anticipating what the upcoming year will provide. Undoubtedly, after some initial restructuring consequent on staff departures, the GPA had a good 2024 with a new team working extremely well together as exemplified by its presence at the 10th Congress of Psoriasis: From Gene to Clinic held in London in December. The GPA exhibition stand at the Congress attracted many dermatologists from around the world interested to learn more about our work, most visitors kindly agreed to pose with GPA logos as you will see in the article below. Our scientific outputs were well represented at the meeting with poster presentations about our studies in Newfoundland and the latest systematic review data. On a personal note, the 10th Congress was a bittersweet one for me as it is the last that Professor Jonathan Barker (London) and I will organise – it has been a fabulous journey through the evolving landscape of advances in psoriasis since our first congress in 1996. The GPA also starred at the International Psoriasis Council Think Tank held in London on the day before Gene to Clinic with our IPC Fellow, Bryan Guevara, giving an excellent talk on his time working with the GPA.


Our plans for a field survey in Southern India have been pushed back into first quarter 2026 for logistical reasons but we are hopeful this will take place. We are busy expanding our worldwide network of Regional and National Coordinators with many new appointments made particularly in Europe. Thank you to all of our new coordinators for so readily agreeing to join us.


I look forward to another year of bright success for the GPA and to working with caring, dedicated colleagues across the globe to better understand the epidemiology of psoriasis and thereby improve access to care for people with psoriasis wherever they may live.


With best wishes,
Chris

 

Research Update

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Professor Darren Ashcroft
GPA Research Director

 

 

It was a huge pleasure to meet up with so many of our international colleagues at the 10th Psoriasis Congress: from Gene to Clinic in London in December and the IPC Think-Tank meeting which was held the day before the congress. Our GPA team presented updates on several of our recent research achievements (as highlighted later in the newsletter), alongside holding meetings to explore and plan for our future research.


Since my last update, I am very happy to report on another of our recent publications “Experience of living with psoriasis in Brazil: a Global Psoriasis Atlas online survey”: https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/ijd.17387. This study was led by Dr Jaquelini Barboza da Silva who was supervised by the GPA as an International Psoriasis Council (IPC) Fellow. Between May 2022 and January 2023, Jaquelini conducted a cross-sectional survey of 563 Brazilian adult residents who had been diagnosed with psoriasis. Over 80% of respondents reported some level of pain and/or discomfort, and 86% reported feeling anxious and/or depressed. We found that the severity, and associated comorbidities of psoriasis negatively impacted health-related quality of life and capability, along with feelings of stigmatization and barriers to accessing specialist treatment.


Building on this, we welcomed Dr Bryan Guevara from the Southern Philippines Medical Centre in November who spent time with the GPA. Bryan has recently used our GPA survey to examine the lived experience of psoriasis for people in the Philippines and presented some of his emerging findings at the IPC Think-Tank meeting in London.


Finally, we will be presenting an update of our global systematic review examining the epidemiology of psoriasis at the 2025 American Academy of Dermatology (AAD) Annual Meeting in March and look forward to meeting up with our regional and national GPA collaborators at this event.

 

New Infographic

 

Former GPA PhD Student Dr. Maha Abo-Tabik had her study on the ‘Development and evaluation of an online training tool to aid in the diagnosis of chronic plaque psoriasis (CPP)’ published in the Journal of the European Academy of Dermatology and Venereology in October 2024.


Dr. Abo-Tabik developed the online training tool whilst working with the GPA team in 2021 and 2022. The objective of the study was to develop and evaluate an online training tool to improve the diagnostic skills of three groups of primary care professionals: general practitioners (GPs); nurses; and pharmacists for CPP.
In total, 60 participants completed the study (20 per participant group). The training tool improved participants' diagnostic skills for CPP across all three groups of primary care professionals.


Our findings show that a training tool for primary care professionals, using medical illustrations, can be beneficial in terms of recognition of CPP. Participants found the training valuable and relevant to CPP diagnosis in primary care settings.


See below the new infographic created to highlight our findings.

 

gpa online training tool infographic

 

Read the full paper here: https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1002/jvc2.525

 

IPC Fellow Dr Bryan Guevara visits the GPA

 

Dr. Bryan Guevara visited the GPA team in Manchester in November as part of his IPC Fellowship. Dr. Guevara spent time with GPA Research Director Professor Darren Ashcroft, GPA Director Professor Chris Griffiths & the GPA team discussing ongoing research and future collaborations.


Dr. Guevara is a board-certified dermatologist and dermatopathologist from the Southern Philippines Medical Center (government hospital) and Southeast Dermatology (private practice). He is actively involved in psoriasis research and clinical trials, including studies on generalized pustular psoriasis.


During Dr Guevara’s visit the GPA team had the pleasure of hosting ILDS CEO Arpita Bhose and ILDS Global Skin Health Project Coordinator Jennifer Kilmer. We spent a productive day engaging in meetings sharing updates on the GPA’s latest research, ongoing collaborations, and exciting future projects.


Dr Guevara also spent time at Salford Royal Hospital with Dr Elise Kleyn and Dr Zenas Yiu showing him around the Psoriasis Clinic.

 

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From left to right: Programme Manager Thomas Rogers, Research Associate Dr Paul Dimmock, IPC Fellow Dr Bryan Guevara, ILDS Global Skin Health Project Coordinator Jennifer Kilmer, Research Fellow Dr Ahmad Aalemi, Research Associate Dr Alexandre Cobre, ILDS CEO Arpita Bhose, Research Fellow Dr Alison Wright, Research Director Professor Darren Ashcroft and Administrator Alice Silk.

 

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From Left to right: ILDS Global Skin Health Project Coordinator Jennifer Kilmer, IPC Fellow Dr Bryan Guevara and ILDS CEO Arpita Bhose.

 

Regional Coordinator Update - Registry study for the Philippines

 

GPA Regional Coordinator for the Philippines, Dr Vermen Verallo-Rowell, has had research published in the Journal of the Philippine Dermatological Society titled ‘Real-world Evidence from a Cluster Survey of Patients Guided by Multi-center Dermatologists toward the Philippine Psoriasis Registry’.


The study collected data from patients with psoriasis, screened and diagnosed by Philippine Dermatological Society-certified dermatologists through answering the Philippine Psoriasis Registry (PPR) questionnaires. The majority of patients (86.53%) had moderate-to-severe psoriasis, with few patients (8.72%) utilising the more effective medications due to socioeconomic factors of the underserved.


The data captures a snapshot of the psoriasis population within the Philippines. This is beneficial for understanding the current state of the population and explores disease progression and efficacy of interventions over time. Information sharing for future research through the strategic dissemination of findings from this study is imperative to enhance the understanding of psoriasis and its management on both local and global scales.

 

Read the full article here:
https://journals.lww.com/jpds/fulltext/2024/33020/real_world_evidence_from_a_cluster_survey_of.1.aspx

 

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Dr Vermen Verallo-Rowell GPA Regional Coordinator for the Philippines

 

Psoriasis: from Gene to Clinic Congress

 

From the 5th–7th December 2024 the GPA team attended the Psoriasis: from Gene to Clinic Congress at the Queen Elizabeth II Centre in London.

 

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The Congress was a huge success and a great opportunity for the team to meet face-to-face with many of the GPA Regional and National Coordinators as well as members of our collaborating organisations and research colleagues from around the world.

 

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From left to right: Programme Manager Thomas Rogers, GPA Regional Coordinator for Singapore Dr Hazel Oon, Administrator Alice Silk, Research Associate Dr Paul Dimmock, Research Director Darren Ashcroft and Research Fellow Ahmad Aalemi.

 

GPA Research Fellow Dr Ahmad Aalemi and Research Associate Dr Paul Dimmock presented their poster on the global epidemiology of psoriasis: 2024 update. Our website information about the worldwide epidemiology of psoriasis; data on the number of psoriasis cases in every country of the world and healthcare data, will be updated to reflect this systematic review in 2025.


During the Congress Professor Wayne Gulliver, GPA Regional Coordinator for Canada, presented a poster on the incidence and prevalence of psoriasis in the Newfoundland and Labrador population (2001-2020) and Dr. Mahira El Sayed, GPA Regional Coordinator for Egypt, presented an engaging talk on the challenges of managing psoriasis in low- and middle-income countries.


The Congress was an informative and well organised event with many presentations and discussions surrounding the latest issues relating to the science of psoriasis and its clinical management. The GPA team also attended the Congress Dinner on the Friday evening at the Natural History Museum. This was a memorable evening at an amazing venue with dinner taking place under the famous blue whale skeleton. GPA Director and Congress co-chair, Professor Chris Griffiths, gave a reflective and heartwarming speech about the success of the Psoriasis: from Gene to Clinic Congress over the past 28 years. Professor Griffiths and Professor Jonathan Barker are stepping down from their role as co-chairs of the Congress this year and during his speech Professor Griffiths highlighted the importance of continuing the congress, enabling experts from around the world to gather face-to-face.


The understanding of the biology of psoriasis, particularly genetics and immunology, has led to a revolution in targeted therapies and patient outcomes. But many issues remain to be tackled to ensure that care is optimised for all and we can move from disease treatment to prevention and maybe even cure.

 

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Conferences

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In November Dr Ahmad Aalemi, Dr Alexandre Cobre and Thomas Rogers attended the University of Manchester’s Research & Innovation Celebration Day.


The GPA team joined many other research projects and teams across the University celebrating the achievements in research and innovation in the Faculty of Biology, Medicine and Health. They enjoyed a series of short talks from researchers and professional service colleagues from across the Faculty.


The GPA is grateful for the ongoing support from the University of Manchester.

 

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GPA Collaborating Organisations

 

The GPA is a collaborative effort between three leading international dermatology organisations: IFPA (International Federation of Psoriasis Associations), the International League of Dermatological Societies (ILDS), and the International Psoriasis Council (IPC).


Our success is a result of the strong, integrated partnerships between our academic institution and these global leaders in psoriasis care and dermatology.


Together, we work to support psoriasis associations, international dermatology societies, and the education of leaders in psoriasis care.


A big thank you to our collaborating organisations for their continued support and dedication to the GPA.

 

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Upcoming meetings and events

 

  • American Academy of Dermatology Annual Meeting (7th-11th March 2025) in Orlando, Florida, USA

  • IFPA Member Meeting and Forum- Americas (4th-5th April 2025) in Bogota, Colombia

  • British Association of Dermatologists Annual Meeting (1st-3rd July 2025) in Glasgow, Scotland

  • European Academy of Dermatology and Venereology Congress (17th-20th September 2025) Paris, France

 


The Global Psoriasis Atlas is a collaboration between

 

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The Global Psoriasis Atlas is supported by: the Leo Foundation, Janssen, Bristol Myers Squibb and Boehringer Ingelheim
(2023-2026)


Lead Supporter

 

 

leo_foundation_funder

 

Other supporters

 

boehringer ingelheim logo
janssen pharmaceuticals logo
bristol myers squibb logo