SOCS Networking & Educational Symposium Event Co-Hosts Susan C. Taylor, MD and Andrew Alexis, MD, MPH toast to the 15th Anniversary of the Skin of Color Society and the 20th Anniversary of the Skin of Color Center.

A lively, engaged crowd of longtime Skin of Color Society members, dermatology colleagues from the Skin of Color Center at Mount Sinai-St Luke’s, derm residents and new faces packed the room at the stylish Boulud Sud restaurant near Lincoln Center in late July to celebrate two important milestones in the history and evolution of the field of skin of color dermatology: the 15th anniversary of the Skin of Color Society (SOCS) and the 20th anniversary of the Skin of Color Center (SOCC) at Mount Sinai-St.Luke’s. This special celebratory SOCS Networking & Educational Symposium was graciously co-hosted by Dr. Susan C. Taylor, SOCS Founder (2004) and SOCC Co-Founder (with Dr. Vince DeLeo in 1999), and Andrew Alexis, MD, MPH, SOCS Scientific Committee Co-chair and current Director of the SOCC and Chair of the Department of Dermatology at Mount Sinai St. Luke’s and Mount Sinai West.

As told in a previous blog featuring Susan C. Taylor, MD, the histories of SOCS and SOCC are intertwined in that the inspiration for an organization primarily dedicated to skin of color dermatology came about through discussions among colleagues at the Skin of Color Center at St. Luke’s-Roosevelt in New York City. As the emerging field of skin of color dermatology gained attention and interest in the greater dermatologic community, the need for a professional society advancing awareness, education, research and excellence in the field became increasingly evident to Drs. Taylor and DeLeo, along with their Skin of Color Center colleagues, Jeff Weinberg, MD and Fran Cook-Bolden, MD. In 2004 Dr. Taylor took the lead in establishing the Skin of Color Society, envisioning an organization that would promote the study and greater understanding of skin of color, and one day, become the global go-to authority for this special interest.

Event participants enjoyed conversation and mingling among dermatology friends and colleagues followed by a fascinating presentation by Dr. Susan Taylor about the evolution of the field of skin of color dermatology, as told through the shared histories of the SOCS and SOCC. Interesting and inspirational comments were shared by Dr. Alexis and SOCS Past President Seemal R. Desai, MD, along with some remarks from Jim Rigby of Pfizer— a sponsor whom we thank for its continued support of the SOCS Networking & Educational Symposia. Thank you to all who joined us for this momentous occasion. Here’s to the next milestone!