ED.01 · Case study · DermIQ Summit 2026
Three days. Zero filler. One room.
How the first DermIQ Summit put 200+ clinicians from across the care team at the same tables, and what they took home.
The venue
Omni Fort Lauderdale. June 5 to 7, 2026.
Three days by the water: general sessions in the ballroom, case-based breakouts down the hall, and the conversations in the foyer between them.
The first edition set the template the series is built on: one venue, one room for the whole care team, and enough time off the stage for clinicians to actually meet the people they refer to.
The brief
Stop teaching derm to derm.
Most dermatologic care happens outside traditional dermatology offices. The first DermIQ Summit was designed around that fact: a medical dermatology meeting that primary care clinicians, PAs, NPs and aesthetic clinicians would attend and teach at, not just sit in on.
The goals were simple to state and hard to do. Put the whole care team in one room. Teach when to treat and when to refer. Keep the room small enough that attendees eat dinner with faculty. And make the weekend the start of a relationship, not the end of one.
Who was in the room
If you touch patient skin care, you belonged.
Dermatologists
Board-certified MD and DO, academic and private practice, fellows and residents. They led the room.
Primary care
Primary care, family medicine and concierge physicians learning the referral and co-management handoff.
PAs and NPs
Dermatology PAs and NPs in the seats and on the stage, teaching acne, hair and aesthetics sessions.
Aesthetic clinicians
Medical directors, injectors and med spa teams for a full aesthetics day inside a medical meeting.
What was taught
Two medical days. One aesthetics day.
Friday · Medical dermatology
- Modern tools in skin cancer management and phototherapy
- Acne pathophysiology, OTC strategy and next-generation therapies
- Hair disorders and advances in alopecia areata
- Strengthening the primary and specialty care partnership
Saturday · Medical dermatology
- Atopic dermatitis across ages, comorbidities and pharmacology
- Urticaria and chronic hand eczema
- Hidradenitis suppurativa: biology and evolving therapy
- Psoriasis in all its forms, psoriatic arthritis, and vitiligo
Sunday · Aesthetics
- Safe aesthetic integration and neurotoxin anatomy
- Filler planning, scar revision and submental fat
- Lasers: optimizing parameters for safety
- Foundations and Advanced tracks, then building a practice
CME was jointly provided by Amedco LLC and QMED CME. Industry product theaters and symposia were labeled non-CME and were not part of the accredited activity.
Faculty
Dermatologists, internists and APPs, on one stage.
The 2026 faculty mixed nationally known dermatologists with PAs and an internal medicine physician, each teaching in their own area.
Naiem T. Issa, MD, PhD, FAAD
Chair · Primary and specialty care partnership, vitiligo
Leon Kircik, MD
Dermatologic progress, from past to pipeline
Brad Glick, DO, FAAD
Psoriasis and psoriatic arthritis
Walter Liszewski, MD
Urticaria and chronic hand eczema
Steve Daveluy, MD
Hidradenitis suppurativa
Adrian Rodriguez, MD
Atopic dermatitis across ages
Amy Spizuoco, DO, FAAD
Hair disorders and alopecia areata
Shannon Trotter, DO, FAAD
Skin cancer tools and phototherapy
Shanna Miranti, MPAS, PA-C
Acne pathophysiology and therapy
Tracee Blackburn, PA-C
OTC strategy for acne, pigment and hair
Jonathan Sigg, PA-C
Aesthetic integration, neurotoxins and practice building
Faryal Izhar Farooqi, MD
Fillers, submental fat and lasers
Contessa Gilman, PA-C
Physician assistant faculty
Barry Resnik, MD
Dermatology faculty
What attendees walked away with
Arrive as a clinician. Leave as a connector.
A shared referral language
Primary care and APPs left with clearer criteria for when to treat, when to refer, and what to send with the referral.
Faculty, within reach
Small on purpose. Master class dinners and a welcome reception meant time with faculty over a meal, not across a convention hall.
Practical updates
High-yield sessions across acne, eczema, psoriasis, HS, vitiligo, hair and skin cancer tools, built for clinic the next week.
Aesthetics with medical grounding
Live injection and device demonstrations alongside anatomy, safety and practice building.
Something to keep
Registrants were offered select recordings and slides after the Summit, so the learning did not stop at checkout.
Colleagues by name
Dermatologists met the clinicians who refer to them. Referral relationships started at the same table.
The experience
Built for the hours between sessions.
The agenda was the reason to come. Check-in, the exhibit floor, the reception and the details are what made it feel like one room.
What changed because of it
Attendee feedback built 2027.
After the Summit, Dr. Issa began expanding DermIQ into more specialized exchanges and boot-camps, based on attendee feedback. The first is the DermIQ Dermato-Allergy Exchange in March 2027, bringing allergy into the room. The 2027 Summit moves to Miami with more live, hands-on training.
The 2026 Summit was supported by AbbVie and Arcutis (President's Circle); Lilly, UCB, LEO Pharma and Novartis (Platinum); Sanofi Regeneron and Johnson & Johnson (Silver); and Ortho Dermatologics (Exhibitor). Supporters did not shape the accredited curriculum.
Gallery
The room, in June.
