New and Emerging Developments in Atopic Dermatitis at AAD 2026

As the 2026 American Academy of Dermatology (AAD) annual meeting continues in Denver, MedPage Today is offering another preview of its upcoming roundtable on new and emerging developments in atopic dermatitis.

In this episode, moderator Peter Lio, MD, a clinical assistant professor of dermatology and pediatrics at Northwestern University Feinberg School of Medicine in Chicago, spotlights several sessions he is participating in and the issues likely to inform the panel’s post-meeting discussion, from procedural comfort and dietary questions to integrative care and the evolving OX40 ligand pathway landscape. (Editor’s note: This preview was recorded before some of the sessions discussed took place at the AAD meeting.)

Following is a transcript of his remarks:

Lio: Hello, I’m Dr. Peter Lio, and I’m really excited about the upcoming big meeting in Denver. I’m lucky enough to get to participate in several different sessions.

Some of the ones I’m excited about are the pain-free dermatology — we’re going to be talking about minimizing discomfort in procedures for kids and adults. It’s a very state-of-the-art, but also holistic and multifaceted approach, using everything from pharmacologic agents to nonpharmacologic techniques on how to enhance those procedures for everybody involved, really fun and exciting.

I’m also going to be talking about diet and atopic dermatitis. A very hot topic, one of the things that comes up in essentially every single visit with our eczema patients, we’re going to go over the actual evidence and talk about what is known, what is unknown, why we might recommend things, and why we might try to talk patients out of making dietary changes. We also get into a little bit of this concept of the allergic march where we know eczema is part of the story, but also true food allergies and other allergic diseases are part of the story. And what we eat and when we eat it may actually play a huge role in this.

Next, I’m going to be talking about integrative approaches for atopic dermatitis. Always a fun area because although we have an incredible therapeutic armamentarium in the conventional setup for atopic dermatitis, many patients are seeking other options. So we get to talk about the data. What can you trust, what can you recommend, some of which is very easy to use and extremely accessible, and that is part of the story.

Finally, I’m going to be talking about the potential OX40 ligand pathway in atopic dermatitis, and we’re going to look at some of the data there and what is known. There’s been a lot happening in that domain. We know that one of the major potential medications in that area has actually stopped moving forward. They’re not going to pursue that any longer. So the plot sort of thickens and we want to think about where we’re at with what we have. And I’m really excited to look at the data and look at where it might fit into the landscape in the future, because there’s still probably at least a year or 2 away from coming onto market. Thank you so much for your attention.