Members of the NAAF team represented the organization and the alopecia areata patient community at the 2024 Annual Meeting of the American Academy of Dermatology (AAD), held in San Diego, California in March. The meeting had more than 20,000 attendees, making AAD the largest dermatology meeting in the world. Nicole Friedland, NAAF’s President and CEO, shared a NAAF update at the American Hair Research Society luncheon, and participated as a panelist in a Pfizer symposium on Living with Alopecia Areata. The NAAF team connected with medical leaders and industry partners, sharing the organization’s upcoming events, and learning about new clinical trials coming for alopecia areata. Alopecia areata (AA) was well represented as a featured topic in seven clinical sessions, five research presentations, and 49 posters. Dermatologists came to learn about the latest in clinical practice, as well as the results of recent research. In presentations from key opinion leaders like Drs. Brett King, Maryanne Senna, Britt Craiglow, and Natasha Mesinkovska, the message about AA was clear: we don’t have to rely on anecdotes anymore; we now have data about the disease from clinical trials with thousands of patients. Among the learnings: JAK inhibitor treatment takes time. In reports on extension studies of clinical trials, more patients achieved hair regrowth over longer periods of time. Data were presented on treatment with Olumiant (baricitinib) out to 76 weeks, Litfulo (ritlecitinib) out to 24 months, and deuruxolitinib (under review by the FDA) out to 68 weeks. The take home message to dermatologists was it takes longer to see results with treatment for AA than in other inflammatory skin conditions. Read some summaries of presentations from AAD at the links below: Brett King, MD, PhD: Baricitinib Impact on Regrowth of Scalp, Eyebrow, Eyelash Hair with Alopecia Areata Two Dosing Regimens of Deuruxolitinib Led to Regrowth of Hair for Alopecia Areata
