Insights from the touchDERMATOLOGY Future Leaders of 2025
As the field of dermatology continues to evolve at pace, the questions shaping its future are no longer limited to new drugs or devices. They increasingly sit at the intersection of technology, society, patient experience and responsibility, challenging clinicians to think differently about how care is delivered.
To look ahead, we asked our touchDERMAGOLOGY Future Leaders of 2025: Which emerging trend or topic deserves more attention in 2026?
Collectively, their responses offer a glimpse into the challenges and conversations that could define dermatology in the year ahead, and underline why the future of the specialty will likely depend on more than scientific discovery.
1. Managing digitally constructed beauty expectations
“In 2026, we must pay more attention to dysmorphia amplified by synthetic beauty environments.
We have moved past the selfie era into a moment where patients increasingly present faces shaped by algorithms, not anatomy—requesting eyelid, jawline, and nose trajectories engineered for front-camera distortion rather than human proportion.
Our industry has not fully reconciled the psychological responsibility that comes with providing care in a world where the “reference face” is rarely real. We need formal frameworks with pre-procedure digital literacy counselling, mandatory filter-free photography, ethical guidelines around AI-modulated prediction imaging, and stronger guardrails on youth exposure to beauty gamification ecosystems.
The future of aesthetic medicine will not be defined by the next device, but by the clinicians capable of navigating beauty in its new digital context—interpreting, and when necessary, dismantling constructed virtual identities before they are translated into real faces.”
Dr Neelam Vashi, Vashi Dermatology, Boston, MA, USA
2. Recognising the true burden of hidradenitis suppurativa
“Hidradenitis suppurativa. This debilitating disease is more common than we think. A recent meta-analysis estimates global prevalence of HS at up to 1.46%.
In addition to prevalence data, increasing recognition of the severe impact on quality of life, disparities in select populations and emerging therapeutic targets make HS an important topic for increased attention in 2026.”
Dr Jonathan Ho, University Hospital of the West Indies, Jamaica
3. Building standards for safe and equitable digital dermatology
“While social media has become a powerful medium for spreading dermatological knowledge, it has also become a source of misinformation that can mislead patients and the public.
Equally, the increasing application of artificial intelligence (AI) in dermatology represents both an exciting opportunity as well as a serious responsibility. Rather than embracing AI as a quick or effortless solution, efforts should focus on developing standardized frameworks to ensure that AI is used accurately, safely and equitably in dermatological practice.”
Dr Niraj Parajuli, Bir Hospital, Kathmandu, Nepal
4. Elevating dermatologic care for an ageing population
“Care of skin diseases in older adults is under-recognised, under-resourced and definitely deserves more attention. To that end, it was great to see dupilumab approved by the FDA for the treatment of bullous pemphigoid, and hopefully this will prompt more attention from the dermatology community and the pharmaceutical industry on conditions that predominantly affect older patients.”
Dr Zenas Yiu, University of Manchester, UK
5. Personalizing dermatology through AI-integrated data
“I believe AI-driven precision medicine deserves much more attention in dermatology. By integrating clinical data, patient-reported outcomes, biomarkers and multiomics, AI has the real potential to help us define meaningful endotypes, predict treatment response to biologics and small molecules, and individualize therapy rather than relying on a one-size-fits-all stepwise approach.”
Dr Yi-Kui Xiang, Charité Institute of Allergology and the Fraunhofer Institute for Immunology and Allergology, Berlin, Germany
Coming soon
Nominate a rising star for touchDERMATOLOGY Future Leaders 2026
Following the successful launch of touchDERMATOLOGY Future Leaders 2025, we are pleased to announce that nominations for the 2026 edition will open soon.
Nomination forms will be available shortly. We invite you to take part in recognising the next generation of leaders shaping the future of dermatology.
Don’t miss
What had us talking in 2025: 8 defining developments in dermatology
This content has been developed independently by Touch Medical Media for touchDERMATOLOGY. Views expressed are the speaker’s own and do not necessarily reflect the views of Touch Medical Media.
Editor: Gina Furnival, Senior Editorial Director
Cite: Five emerging trends in dermatology can’t ignore. TouchDERMATOLOGY. 16 December 2026
