Decoding the Dialogue: Skin–Microbe–Immune Interactions in Atopic Dermatitis 

At SID 2026 | Wednesday, May 13, 2025 | 8:00 AM - Noon Central Time 

Hilton Chicago, 720 South Michigan Avenue, Chicago, IL 60605, USA | Room: Continental A, Lobby Level

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PROGRAM CHAIRS

	April W. Armstrong, MD MPH IEC Director University of California Los Angeles Los Angeles, CA, USA		Patrick M. Brunner, MD MSc IEC Councilor Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai New York, NY, USA

PROGRAM DESCRIPTION

This session will explore key mechanisms underlying infection risk in atopic dermatitis (AD), from epidermal barrier failure and microbiome dysbiosis to developmental vulnerability and Type 2 immune suppression of antimicrobial defense. It will also highlight immune endotypes and molecular risk profiles and review comparative infection risk across AD therapies using clinical trial and real-world data to guide clinical care. 

LEARNING OBJECTIVES 

At the end of the session, participants will be able to:

• Describe the role of epidermal barrier defects—including filaggrin insufficiency, lipid disorganization, and epithelial stress responses—in initiating microbial invasion and increasing infection risk in patients with atopic dermatitis.
• Evaluate how alterations in the skin microbiome, innate immune responses, and type 2 cytokine signaling contribute to susceptibility to bacterial and viral skin infections in atopic dermatitis and summarize emerging microbiome-targeted strategies to restore host defense.
• Assess infection risk across atopic dermatitis therapeutic classes by integrating clinical trial and real-world evidence with immune endotype and biomarker data to inform individualized treatment selection.

AGENDA

8 – 8:10 AM Welcome from the IEC

8:10 – 8:15 AM Program overview
April Armstrong, MD MPH | IEC Director | University of California Los Angeles | Los Angeles, CA
Patrick Brunner, MD MSc | IEC Councilor | Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai | NY, NY, USA

8:15 – 8:45 AM When the Wall Breaks: Barrier Defects as the First Step Toward Infection in AD
Focus: Structural barrier dysfunction (filaggrin, lipids, epithelial stress responses) as the initiating event enabling microbial invasion.

8:45 – 9:15 AM Life on the Skin: How the AD Microbiome Shapes Host Defense
Focus: Human skin microbiome ecology in AD—strain dominance, dysbiosis, and recovery with therapy

9:15 – 9:45 AM When Defense Fails: Innate Immune Defects, Infection Risk, and Microbiome-Targeted Therapeutic Strategies in Atopic Dermatitis
Focus: Cutaneous innate immune dysfunction in atopic dermatitis, including impaired antimicrobial peptide responses, altered host–microbe interactions, susceptibility to bacterial and viral skin infections, and emerging strategies to restore host defense through microbiome-based and microbiome-modulating therapies.

9:45 - 10 AM BREAK

10 – 10:30 AM Type 2 Immunity Turns Off the Alarm: Cytokine Programs That Suppress Antimicrobial Defense
Focus: Th2 cytokine–mediated suppression of antimicrobial peptides and innate immune responses in AD skin

10:30 – 11 AM Not All AD Is the Same: Immune Endotypes and Molecular Risk Profiles
Focus: Tissue-level immune heterogeneity, biomarkers, and differential susceptibility to infection
Patrick Brunner, MD MSc | IEC Councilor | Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai | NY, NY, USA

11 – 11:30 AM From Trials to Practice: Infection Risk Across Atopic Dermatitis Therapies
Focus: Comparative evidence on infection risk across AD therapeutic classes, integrating clinical trial and real-world data.
April Armstrong, MD MPH | IEC Director | University of California Los Angeles | Los Angeles, CA, USA

11:30 – 12 PM Flash Talks: SID Abstracts TBD

11:30 – 11:40 AM Flash Talk 1

11:40 – 11:50 AM Flash Talk 2

11:50 – 12 PM Flash Talk 3

12 PM Concluding Remarks & QR Code Session Evaluation
April Armstrong, MD MPH | IEC Director | University of California Los Angeles | Los Angeles, CA, USA
Patrick Brunner, MD MSc | IEC Councilor | Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai | NY, NY, USA

Please check back with us for updates.

This educational symposium presented by the IEC is offered at no cost to attendees.