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

• Dr Gabriella Paquette (PGY-4) received the Quinsigamond Award for Resident Impact for her dedication to WooDerm at the Epworth Free Clinic and Road to Care mobile clinics.
• Dr Emilee Herringshaw (PGY-3) received the Quinsigamond Award for Resident Impact for her work in creating a Residency Handbook
• Dr Nicole Trepanowski (PGY-3) was awarded a Rising Derm Star Award at the Winter Clinical Hawaii Conference 2026 

• Dr Riley McLean was awarded the Practice Greenhealth System for Change Award celebrating successes in environmental sustainability
• Dr Bella Plumptre was awarded the Dermatology Chief Resident Educator of the Year Award at Graduation 2026
• Dr Kelly Flanagan was awarded the 2026 AAD Resident Quality Improvement Award
• Dr Bella Plumptre was awarded a PeDRA 2026 Travel Scholarship
• Dr Nutan Gowda and medical student Isha Gupta received a Summer Research Program Award to characterize inpatient vasculitis

Department Leadership

• Dr Kelly Flanagan was appointed as Ambulatory Physician Leader
• Dr Nikki Levin was appointed as Chief of Medical Dermatology
• Dr Leah Belazarian was appointed as Chief of Pediatric Dermatology
• Drs Dori Goldberg and Riley McLean were appointed as Co-Chiefs of Surgical Dermatology
• Dr Nutan Gowda was named a Systems Leader/AI Ninja

 Society/Editorial Leadership

• Dr Ryan Svoboda was selected to be the AADA's Alternate Advisor to the AMA Relative Value Scale Update Committee (RUC)
• Dr Rita Khodosh was named Chair of the Biologics and JAK-I AAD workgroup to address undertreatment of severe inflammatory skin disease
• Dr Bella Plumptre is Co-Lead for the Vascular Anomalies Subgroup, Pediatric Dermatology Research Alliance (PeDRA)
• Dr Dori Goldberg is on the advisory council for the New England Dermatological Society
• Dr Patrick Mulvaney was selected for the JAAD Editorial Mentorship Program
• Dr Patrick Mulvaney was appointed as the ACMS Foundation (ACMSF) Fundraising Ambassador
• Dr Patrick Mulvaney was named as a MohsAIQ Data Management Committee Reviewer
• Dr Emilee Herringshaw (PGY-3) was appointed to the Philanthropy Committee at the American Society for Laser Medicine and Surgery
• Dr Sarah Whitley was appointed to the Committee on Education, Society for Investigative Dermatology (2023-2028)
• Dr Sarah Whitley was appointed to the Awards Committee for the Women’s Dermatologic Society (2024-2029)
• Dr Sarah Whitley is a part of the Hidradenitis Suppurativa Foundation NIH Advocacy Taskforce
• Dr 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:

We welcomed Dr. Kylee Kus as Procedural Dermatology Fellow. Our Dermatopathology Fellowship also welcomed Dr. Juan Berrios. 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. 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.  

Volunteer Activities

• “WooDerm” was founded by Dr 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-4) continues as Resident Director for WooDerm, at the Epworth Free Clinic and Road to Care mobile clinics.
• Dr Nikki Levin provides free dermatologic care at Metrowest Free Medical Clinic in Marlborough, MA as well as Gratis Free Medical Clinic in Framingham, MA
• Dr Bella Plumptre serves as a PeDRA Mentor.
• Teddy Bear Clinic, a UMass-wide event to help pediatric patients become comfortable with medical care, is held annually. Dermatology programming is led by Drs Bella Plumptre and Leah Belazarian.
• UMass Skin Cancer Screening Day was held in May 2026 and led by Dr Dori Goldberg and the UMass DIG. 
• Camp Discovery, a weeklong overnight camp for children with chronic dermatologic conditions, was held in Connecticut in July 2026. It was led by Drs Karen Wiss and Dori Goldberg and staffed by Drs Sara Attari (PGY-2), Brett McLarney (PGY-4), and Nicole Trepanowski (PGY-3).  
• Dr Shauna Rice is lead for two annual free Worcester Firefighter Screenings.  
• Dr Nicole Trepanowski and Dr Dori Goldberg hosted a Women’s Dermatologic Society Women's Reach Initiative event at local women's shelter in Worcester with medical students

Research/Grants

• Dr 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)
• Dr Sarah Whitley is the recipient of an ongoing NIAMS K08 award (2023-2028)
• Dr 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.
• Dr Sarah Whitley is Director of an HS Clinical Research fellowship (sponsored by Novartis Independent Education Grant)
• Dr Gabriella Paquette (PGY-4) 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