Name: Michelle Rodrigues, MBBS (HONS) FACD @chroma_derm @mrodriguesmd

Location: Melbourne, Australia

About her vitiligo work: Dr. Rodrigues’ work in vitiligo spans clinical services, research, education, and patient initiatives. She is the founder and director of Chroma Dermatology – Pigment and skin of colour centre, which is Australia’s first and only dedicated centre for those with pigmentary disorders and skin of colour. In the last 12 months, she has seen and treated over 300 patients with vitiligo in her private practice as well as my hospital dermatology department at the Royal Children’s Hospital and SHI clinic.

Quote:

“I feel blessed to have connected, worked with, and learned from amazing vitiligo specialists in different parts of the world and have enjoyed building vitiligo registries, publishing about vitiligo in journals and textbooks, leading the GVF’s Step Up for Vitiligo campaign, and building academic content for MyVitiligoTeam and other online communities. I also enjoy teaching fellow dermatologists and other medical colleagues about vitiligo through lectures, blogs, and publications. Events, information, and support for patients and their families are also an important part of what my team and I are trying to facilitate. Chroma Dermatology’s world vitiligo day events have steadily grown and we hope this can continue.

None of this work would be possible without blessings from above, the support of my family, friendship and collaboration with vitiligo specialists abroad, the amazing team at Chroma Dermatology, and the beautiful patients that place their trust in me. Thanks to you!”

How she became interested in dermatology, and in vitiligo:

Dr. Rodrigues says, “One of the greatest sources of joy in my working day are my patients, their stories, their courage, and having the privilege of walking with them on their unique ‘skin journey’. Dermatology was a natural choice for me because I enjoyed caring for children and adults and I could see that dermatologists’ work had a positive impact on the skin and mind alike.

In 2008, I was placed at the National Skin Centre in Singapore for 6 months of my specialty dermatology training.