I am sure that no one will be sad to see the year 2020 end and for us to welcome 2021 and hopefully to see an end to the global pandemic that has changed almost every facet of everyone’s daily life. DASIL remains strong and committed to providing dermatologists, dermatologic surgeons, plastic surgeons, and other like-minded aesthetic physicians with the resources and learning opportunities that has helped shaped DASIL into one of the most respected international societies in the world.

In 2020, with the pandemic all around us, we successfully pivoted to the world of “virtual” and presented a series of webinars surrounding topics of interest to dermatologists and surgeons from around the globe. We held an amazing global panel on the COVID-19 outbreak and how it has affected clinicians in all corners of the globe. We learned about the virus and safety measures that have been implemented to keep all of us safe – physicians, staff, and patients.

We also hosted the DASIL Free Scar Initiative which was a two day global conference led by experts in using the tools we have to successfully treat all scars which we see regularly in our clinics. This amazing effort, led by Drs. Matteo Clementoni (Milan, Italy) and Dr. Atula Gupta (Mumbai, India) and the DASIL Scar Free Task Force brought over 1000 physicians to learn the latest techniques and concepts in treating scars. We plan on continuing this program in 2021 and in the years that follow – and hopefully live in different venues around the world in the future.

As well, we hosted an Injectable Cadaver Course, led by Dr. Tatjana Pavicic (Munich, Germany) and Dr. Sebastian Cotofana (Rochester, Minnesota). This amazing course, utilizing cadaver dissections and patient demonstrations, showcased the world of injectables and how we now use our anatomy to guide us on best practices.

And in November, 2020, we held our 9^th World Congress, a virtual congress which again had over 1000 participants from all corners of the world learning from the best of the best in all of the disciplines that are important to us. In addition to the dermatologic surgery that we pride ourselves in, we included for the first time a medical dermatology track, which received rave reviews from those who were on the broadcast. This was an amazingly successful event and we’re indebted to the LogiVent team (Michael Gillner and Charlotte Schumacher from Frankfurt, Germany) for all of their support and technical excellence for this and all our DASIL programs.

We enter 2021 excited by the prospects of resuming some “normal” soon to our lives and to our educational endeavors.  We will plan a variety of activities in 2021 and we will keep everyone posted on these events. We will also be planning the Scar Free Initiative – more information to follow.  And we are most excited to announce that the 10th Annual DASIL World Congress will be held in Mexico City, Mexico, from October 27-30, 2021. Dr. Hector Leal-Silva, our Congress President, will be organizing a truly global event, and we look forward to welcoming everyone to Mexico City in October, 2021.

DASIL is an amazing group, and we encourage everyone who has an interest in learning from the best, being part of a group which truly cares for one another, should consider joining us. We welcome new members and participation.  Your membership application is just a click away.

So again, may 2021 be a better year for all of us. May everyone stay safe and healthy.

What a year – 2020 is going to be a year that none of us will forget and a year we all want to forget. We hope that everyone has remained safe and we hope that your families are all safe and well.  While we did not get to travel very much in 2020, we still were able to continue the DASIL mission of teaching physicians from all over the world, albeit from a virtual setting.  And if you joined us for any of our webinars and for our Annual Congress, I am sure that you will agree with me that we achieved our goals and met our mission – all with style and grace.  A big special thanks to Dr. George Martin, our DASIL President who has led us through the pandemic and will lead us to wonderful new heights in 2021. We also want to make a big shout out and thank you to LogiVent, our media partner, who are the best of the best in helping us plan and execute all that we do with DASIL. And to our CEO, Dr. Lawrence Rosenthal, who guides us in making sure that DASIL remains transparent and open – we all thank him for his work and guidance.

Now we enter 2021 and the hopes that a vaccine(s) will be available and that we can soon think about traveling again, being with our friends and colleagues, and getting back to the “live” meeting concept. DASIL will continue innovative teaching and reaching out to everyone to strengthen all of our skills through several events that are planned in 2021.  Please check our DASIL website and Social Media channels for all of the pertinent information as we plan out the year 2021.

We are most excited about our 10^th Annual World Congress, to be held in beautiful Mexico City, Mexico at the end of October, 2021. Dr. Hector Leal Silva and his team are going to plan and host a world congress that will be second to none. We will have all of the world’s experts coming to Mexico City and we will plan one of the most exciting programs in dermatology, dermatologic and plastic surgery, and for those in the aesthetic medicine field.  We will have workshops and lectures as well as Industry Seminars to make the meeting complete.

We hope that everyone marks their calendars now for the 10^th Annual World Congress, from October 27-30, 2021.