A Conversation With Abby S. Van Voorhees, MD

© 2025 HMP Global. All Rights Reserved.
Any views and opinions expressed are those of the author(s) and/or participants and do not necessarily reflect the views, policy, or position of The Dermatologist or HMP Global, their employees, and affiliates.

Dr Abby S. Van Voorhees obtained her undergraduate degree from Brown University and then received her MD from Yale University. She did her internship at Temple University Hospital in Philadelphia, which was followed by a dermatology residency at Yale-New Haven Hospital. She worked as a faculty member in the University of Connecticut department of medicine and the University of Pennsylvania department of dermatology, as well as in a multispecialty practice group in Pennsylvania. From 2015 to 2024, she was a professor and chair of dermatology at the Eastern Virginia Medical School in Norfolk, VA. Dr Van Voorhees has been active in clinical research related to the treatment of psoriasis. She was the first female chair of the National Psoriasis Foundation’s medical board, which she led from 2014 to 2020. She also served on the American Academy of Dermatology board of directors from 2018 to 2022, as well as on many of its committees and task forces, including serving as the chair for the guidelines of care task force. She previously served as the medical editor of Dermatology World from 2010 to 2018. She is currently the editor-in-chief of JAAD Case Reports.

Q. What parts of your career gave you the most pleasure?

A. I am quite lucky because many aspects of my career provided me with great satisfaction. I loved caring for patients and seeing if I could make them well, teaching the dermatology residents to be caring and excellent physicians, and being a part of research that allowed for new and exciting therapeutic advances to occur throughout my career. It has been an incredibly sweet journey.

Q. Are an understanding and appreciation of the humanities important in dermatology and why?

A. While our therapies grow increasingly precise at targeting the pathogenesis of disease, thereby allowing us to more effectively treat our patients’ illnesses, what patients seek are physicians who truly care about them. I think the humanities remind us that disease is scary, and life is precious. The humanities teach us about kindness, ethical values, and suffering, which allows us to keep compassion in our daily work. I believe that the ongoing study of the humanities is a must for all of us in medicine.

Q. Who was your hero/mentor and why?

A. I had the privilege of studying with Dr Irwin Braverman when I was a resident. He was kind and compassionate with all his patients and supportive of us as his trainees. What I most appreciated was that he was able to use the medications available to him to the greatest advantage. He was able to treat people effectively even back in the day when we had very few truly wonderful therapeutic options. Thereafter, when faced with a patient whose disease was not responding to treatment, I would wonder to myself what Irwin Braverman might have done and, lo and behold, a good therapeutic idea would pop into my head.

Q. Which patient had the most effect on your work and why?

A. As a specialist in psoriasis at the time of the biologic revolution, the appreciation of my patients made me realize that we were offering them a lifechanging experience with these new medications. With each new class of biologic that came to market, getting psoriasis to clear more consistently provided me with such satisfaction. It was always a high-five moment as I walked out of the patient room. I think that celebrating every one of your patient successes as if it were your own personal victory is crucial to remaining happy in one’s career.

Q. What is the best piece of advice you have received and from whom?

A. The best piece of advice I have received was from Dr Bill James. I was deciding at the time whether to apply to be the medical editor of Dermatology World, and I knew it was not the traditional role for a Penn faculty member. When I asked Bill for his guidance, he laughed and asked me if I was truly asking him whether I should do more of what I liked and less of what I did not like. It was a lightbulb moment! Not only did his insightful question serve as the barometer of my career, but it also became a common family refrain serving to guide my children in their lives. “Do more of what you like and less of what you do not like and just figure out how to get paid to do it” is the family refrain. I suspect my granddaughter will hear that refrain as well down the line. All who know Bill James probably have similar stories of impactful advice at a critical juncture. I was certainly fortunate to have had him as my mentor.

Q. Which medical figure in history would you want to have a drink with and why?

A. I would love to sit down and talk with Madame Curie. While known for her scientific contributions on radioactivity, I love that she was an independent thinker who understood in real time that the discoveries being made were going to change the thinking about the material universe. She also followed her passions despite the expectations of the world around her. She would be a hoot to sit down with and hear her stories.