Welcome to the American Academy of Dermatology's 67th Annual Meeting. San Francisco will be a familiar location for many of you, but the educational program is anything but ordinary. The Academy continues to cultivate and enhance its crop of educational offerings, with an ever-evolving selection of courses, symposia, workshops, forums, discussion groups and focus sessions.

This year's Plenary Session will be on Sunday, March 8, and will begin with Roderick J. Hay, MD, FAAD, who will present the Clarence Livingood Lectureship, "Global Health — Where Does Dermatology Stand?" Kevin D. Cooper, MD, FAAD will deliver the Marion Sulzberger Lectureship, and John Mendelsohn, MD, will present the Lila Gruber Lectureship, "Targeting The EGF Receptor for Personalized Cancer Therapy." This year's Eugene J. Van Scott Award for Innovative Therapy of the Skin will go to John Voorheees, MD, who will also deliver the Phillip Frost Leadership Lecture. Dr. Voorhees will present "Aging Skin: Mechanism-Based Interventions." Veteran ABC news correspondent Sam Donaldson — who talked about skin cancer at our Burden of Skin Diseases Forum at the Academy's 2007 Annual Meeting in Washington, D.C., returns to deliver another poignant message as our guest Plenary speaker.

Each year the Academy raises the educational bar, adding new and innovative courses to meet the needs of today's dermatologists. The Academy's aim, as always, is to create the broadest range and zero in on the hottest topics. In San Francisco, you'll discover many new offerings in very diverse and global arenas, such as gender dermatology, international dermatology, aquatic dermatology, tropical dermatology and sports dermatology. You'll find courses that offer practice management insights covering everything from legal and ethical issues to office design. You'll also gain new insights on a host of skin conditions, exciting new clinical trials, and new treatment options.

Additionally, special sessions have been added for Maintenance of Certification. Audience response systems and case presentations have been added to the program to enhance interactions with the speakers. There are also workshops and live patient demonstrations that offer an alternative to lecture formats.

As you plan your schedule for San Francisco, take full advantage of the multi-faceted, diverse educational opportunities that await you at the premiere educational event in dermatology. On behalf of the Scientific Assembly Committee, I hope this meeting in San Francisco changes your life and reaffirms your dedication to our profession of dermatology. The program is designed to do no less.

Craig Elmets, MD, FAAD
Chair, 2009 Annual Meeting