What's New at UMass Dermatology

What’s New in the Department of Dermatology?

There is a lot going on in our department! Here are just some of the highlights from the prior year:

Honors/Awards

• Mehdi Rashighi was awarded the Dermatology Chief Resident Educator of the Year Award at Graduation 2025
• Tracey Otto (PGY-3) received the 2025 Hair Health Summit Travel Grant
• Tracey Otto (PGY-3) and Gabriella Paquette (PGY-3) were awarded the 2025 AAD Resident Quality Improvement Award
• Lindsay McCormack (PGY-5) was awarded a PeDRA 2025 Travel Scholarship
• Rita Khodosh was awarded an AAD award for outstanding leadership, service, and dedication to the educational programs, March 2025
• Sarah Whitley was appointed to Medical Advisory Boards at Incyte, UCB, Novartis and AbbVie

Faculty Appointments

• Karen Wiss was named Professor Emerita
• Bella Plumptre will join faculty in January 2025 after completing her dermatology residency and pediatric dermatology fellowship training at UMass
• Soheil (Sam) Dadras joined UMass Dermatopathology as a Professor.

Department Leadership

• Rita Khodosh was named Interim Chair for the Department of Dermatology, effective November 2025
• Ryan Svoboda was named Residency Program Director
• Bella Plumptre was named Associate Residency Program Director
• Leah Belazarian was named Program Director of the Pediatric Dermatology Fellowship
• Rita Khodosh was named Director of Multidisciplinary Clinics to expand UMass ambulatory services into the community
• Sarah Whitley was named Director, Quinsigamond Dermatologic Society

Society/Editorial Leadership

• Rita Khodosh was named Chair of the Biologics and JAK-I AAD workgroup to address undertreatment of severe inflammatory skin disease
• Bella Plumptre is Co-Lead for the Vascular Anomalies Subgroup, Pediatric Dermatology Research Alliance (PeDRA)
• Holly Neale (PGY-4) is a PeDRA Early Investigator Committee Member
• Maggi Ahmed (PGY-5) is on the Academic and Communication Committees in the Global Vitiligo Foundation, and is Editor of the Vitiligo Voice, a biannual newsletter released by the Global Vitiligo Foundation.
• Dori Goldberg is on the advisory council for the New England Dermatological Society
• Patrick Mulvaney was selected for the JAAD Editorial Mentorship Program
• Patrick Mulvaney was appointed as the ACMS Foundation (ACMSF) Fundraising Ambassador
• Patrick Mulvaney was named as a MohsAIQ Data Management Committee Reviewer
• Emilee Herringshaw (PGY-2) was appointed as Resident Liaison for the American Society for Laser Medicine and Surgery
• Sarah Whitley was selected to participate in the Academic Dermatology Leadership Program 2024-2025
• Sarah Whitley was appointed to the Committee on Education, Society for Investigative Dermatology (2023-2028)
• Sarah Whitley was appointed to the Awards Committee for the Women’s Dermatologic Society (2024-2029)
• Sarah Whitley is a part of the Hidradenitis Suppurativa Foundation NIH Advocacy Taskforce
• Ryan Svoboda is a Topic Editor for Dermatologic Oncology section of the Intech Open Oncology book series, and a question writer for AAD Board Prep Plus question bank.

Fellowship Programs: 

Our Dermatopathology Fellowship welcomed Dr. Colleen Gabel, and Dr. Maggi Ahmed as Procedural Dermatology Fellow. All of our fellowships training programs are ACGME-accredited.

Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion

Under the leadership of Drs. Riley McLean-Mandell and Jillian Richmond, UMass Dermatology’s DEI committee has been very active and was recently recognized by the University for its programming (link below). This includes a mentorship program organized by Drs. McLean-Mandell and Nikki Levin with Morehouse School of Medicine in Atlanta, Georgia, a school without a dermatology residency. The program includes monthly mentoring sessions with their Dermatology Interest Group and individual resident and faculty mentors for their students. We also provide a summer rotation between the 1st and 2nd years for two students came to Worcester to observe.  

https://www.umassmed.edu/news/news-archives/2024/08/department-of-dermatology-uses-evaluation-and-mentorship-to-lean-into-diversity-equity-and-inclusion-work/?utm_campaign=news_dermatology_dei_work_082824&utm_medium=email&utm_source=dio_newsletter&utm_content=read_more_button

Volunteer Activities

• WooDerm” was founded by Sarah Servattalab (2024 Residency Graduate, current pediatric dermatology attending at Boston Children’s), which is a resident and medical student-led, faculty-supported volunteer initiative aimed at providing free and accessible dermatologic care to the Worcester community to those in need. The organization’s first clinic was held in September 2023 and has run once monthly since then thanks to her efforts alongside a long list of others in our department/community. Dr. Gabriella Paquette (PGY-3) continues as Resident Director for WooDerm, at the Epworth Free Clinic and Road to Care mobile clinics.
• Nikki Levin provides free dermatologic care at Metrowest Free Medical Clinic in Marlborough, MA as well as Gratis Free Medical Clinic in Framingham, MA
• Holly Neale (PGY-4) and Bella Plumptre serve as PeDRA Medical Student Mentors.
• Teddy Bear Clinic, a UMass-wide event to help pediatric patients become comfortable with medical care, was held in Oct 2025. Dermatology programming was led by Lindsay McCormack (PGY-5).
• UMass Skin Cancer Screening Day was held in April 2025 and led by Dori Goldberg and the UMass DIG. 
• Camp Discovery, a weeklong overnight camp for children with chronic dermatologic conditions, was held in Connecticut in July 2025. It was led by Karen Wiss and Dori Goldberg and staffed by Brett McLarney (PGY-3).
• Shauna Rice was resident lead for two Worcester Firefighter Screenings, which provided free skin cancer screenings for 168 local firefighters (Jan + Sept 2025).

Research/Grants

• Sarah Whitley is the PI for several clinical trials, including phase 3 randomized placebo-controlled double-blind studies to evaluate efficacy and safety of upadacitinib (M23-698) and lutikizumab (M20-465) in adult and adolescent subjects with moderate to severe hidradenitis suppurativa who have failed anti-TNF therapy. (Sponsor: AbbVie)
• Sarah Whitley is the recipient of an ongoing NIAMS K08 award (2023-2028)
• Sarah Whitley received several other grants, including a 2024 American Skin Association UCB Research Grant in Psoriasis & Related Biology, 2024 UMass Chan Center for Clinical and Translational Science (UMCCTS) Pilot project Program (PPP) Award, and a 2025 HS Foundation Danby Research Grant.
• Sarah Whitley is Director of an HS Clinical Research fellowship (sponsored by Novartis Independent Education Grant)
• Gabriella Paquette received a Remillard Grant to support WooDerm
• Hedieh Ragati Haghi (medical student) and Dr. Diana Reusch received a grant from Child's Play Charity to fund a Virtual Reality headset for patients with epidermolysis bullosa