Name: Amit G. Pandya, MD, FAAD, Global Vitiligo Foundation President and Medical Advisory Board Chair

Affiliations and institution: Palo Alto Foundation Medical Group, Sunnyvale, California; Department of Dermatology – University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center, Dallas Texas

Dr. Pandya’s Vision for his GVF Presidency: In his words, “Our Mission is ‘To improve the quality of life for individuals with vitiligo through education, research, clinical care and community support.’ Our Vision is ‘a world where the burden of vitiligo is eliminated through compassion, care and cure.’ I am inspired by these words as I think about my vision for the GVF over the next year. My impetus comes from conversations I have with individuals with vitiligo every week in my clinic. Their hopes, fears, successes, frustrations, joy, sadness, comfort, pain, contentment, dissatisfaction all have an effect on my outlook regarding this condition and motivate me to do more in the field of vitiligo research, clinical care and education. My focus will be on improving the many existing GVF programs, such as educational events, GVF website and our GVF community interactions as well as to develop new programs to link individuals with vitiligo with credible information sources and support and educate more clinicians on the nuances of vitiligo diagnosis and management. With the support of my colleagues in GVF leadership, TREX, our management company, patient support groups, individuals with vitiligo and those who care for them, I believe we can accomplish much more to help our cause and look forward to working with all of you in the future.”

Contributions to the Vitiligo Community: Dr. Pandya’s work in vitiligo goes back approximately 20 years ago, when he started focusing on pigmentary disorders as an academic dermatologist at the University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center in Dallas, TX.

As he describes, “Very few doctors were exploring vitiligo back then. Over the years, I have been involved in basic and translational research on vitiligo, exploring the causes, immunology and biology of vitiligo. I have also been heavily involved in research into the clinical types of vitiligo, epidemiology of vitiligo, topical, oral and phototherapy treatment of vitiligo as well as the quality of life of individuals with this condition.”

Career Highlights: In addition to his research work during this period, Dr. Pandya was involved in support communities for vitiligo. He says that one of the highlights of his career was helping to organize 3 walkathons in Dallas, TX to raise awareness and support for vitiligo.

Dr. Pandya shares other highlights, including the ability to participate in helping to elucidate the causes of vitiligo, how to recognize active from inactive vitiligo and what to do about it, and develop a method to transplant melanocytes using blisters as donor material. In his words, “I am also happy with my involvement in several quality of life studies, which have shown the great impact vitiligo has on affected individuals. Being asked to help design clinical trials for the many new medications being developed for vitiligo has truly been an honor for me and the fact these medications are already being given in clinical studies has brought me great satisfaction. But the greatest highlight has been the thousands of individuals I have seen in my clinic over the last 20 years. You have inspired me to do all of the above and I continue to feel inspired by you every week in clinic.”

Read Dr. Pandya’s full Presidential message here: https://globalvitiligofoundation.org/amit-g-pandya-md-faad/

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