At a time when all corners of society need to be working wholeheartedly to remove racial bias, discrimination, and barriers for people of color, we are profoundly disappointed in the recent decision by FINA (Fédération Internationale De Natation—the international swimming federation) to disallow swim caps that accommodate naturally tightly-coiled hair from the Tokyo Olympics. This decision illustrates a serious lack of understanding about the great importance of protecting Black hair and hairstyles in the water—which as dermatologists, we regularly encourage our Black patients to do.
If hair is not properly protected, dermatologic conditions that would require medical treatment can develop. Banning a swim cap that protects naturally tightly-coiled hair creates yet another inequity negatively affecting people of African descent.
In context, there is a long history of discrimination against African Americans using swimming pools and public beaches. In addition to this discrimination, people of African descent have been discouraged from even learning how to swim because of their concerns about the management and healthy grooming of wet hair; in combination, there are few competitive swimmers of African descent.
Mentorship is a pillar of the Skin of Color Society. We pride our organization on its strong commitment to mentoring the next generation of skin of color dermatologists, providing a rich and rewarding experience for mentors and mentees alike.
The Skin of Color Society is a proud collaborator on Project IMPACT, which VisualDx launched on February 24, 2021 at the Accreditation Council for Graduate Medical Education’s Annual Education Conference. Designed to reduce disparities in medicine and highlight ways to bridge gaps of knowledge and improve healthcare outcomes for patients of color, Project IMPACT stands for Improving Medicine’s Power to Address Care and Treatment. The New England Journal of Medicine (NEJM) Group and the American Academy of Dermatology Association are also collaborators on this groundbreaking initiative.
2023
Crystal Aguh, MD Establishing A Transcriptomic Model for CCCA Diagnosis and Severity
Carmelo Carmona-Rivera, PhD Dysregulation of NETs modulates inflammation, autoimmune features and end-organ damage in Hidradenitis suppurativa
Candrice Heath, MD Elucidating Scarring Alopecia to Extend Follicular life in Black children and adolescents (ESCAPE Study)
The 2023 SOCS Career Development Awards were made possible thanks to the support from Bristol Myers Squibb, L'Oréal and Pfizer.
2022 Shawn Kwatra, MD Racial Differences in Germline and Somatic Mutations in Prurigo Nodularis
The 2022 SOCS Career Development Award is made possible thanks to the support from Pfizer.
2021 Angel S. Byrd, MD, PhD Elucidating the Role of Autoantibodies in Hidradenitis Suppurativa
The 2021 SOCS Career Development Award is made possible thanks to the support from Pfizer.
Supporting research, career development, mentorship and observership are core aspects of the Skin of Color Society mission. To this end, we are proud to offer several outstanding opportunities for physicians-in-training and early-career dermatologists, as exclusive benefits to your SOCS membership. We are currently in the height of “application season” for various exciting programs with deadlines coming up in the next period, as outlined below.
Dermatology Research Awards The SOCS Dermatology Research Award provides up to three annual research grant (s) (up to $15,000) to promote dermatology research within the field of skin of color. This grant is intended to assist young dermatologists in furthering their academic careers. Two of the research awards will be given to applications that focus on inflammatory dermatologic diseases in skin of color.