Chelsie Derman is an associate editor for 

who covers allergy and  psychiatry. She joined MJH Life Sciences in September 2023 after graduating from The College of New Jersey with a bachelor’s degree in journalism and professional writing. In her free time, she enjoys creative writing and reading.

Ragweed, mold, and lingering warm temperatures are driving this year's 

 season, and clinicians fielding a fresh wave of nasal symptom complaints now have an updated evidence base to prescribe against.

 The Allergic Rhinitis and its Impact on Asthma (ARIA) initiative, in collaboration with the European Academy of Allergy and Clinical Immunology (EAACI), published its 2024-2025 revision of the ARIA guidelines across 2 manuscripts in the journal Allergy earlier this year, with part 1 on intranasal treatments appearing in April 2026 and part 2 on oral and ocular treatments following in June 2026.

The writing group, led by Bernardo Sousa-Pinto, MD, PhD (University of Porto), and Jean Bousquet, MD, PhD (Institute of Allergology, Charité—Universitätsmedizin Berlin), developed the update using GRADE methodology, marking the first substantive revision to ARIA's pharmacologic recommendations since 2016 and the most significant shift in first-line intranasal therapy since the original 2010 update.

 For clinicians prescribing this season, whether starting fresh or revisiting regimens for patients whose fall symptoms outlast a single-agent spray, the update changes which therapy tops the treatment ladder.

The guideline reflects a broader move toward combination intranasal therapy over monotherapy. It also introduces individual agent-level preferences within drug classes for the first time, rather than stopping at class-level recommendations, and it reverses a prior recommendation on intranasal decongestants, a category patients often reach for on their own as fall congestion sets in.

Q: What is new about this guideline compared with ARIA 2010/2016?

Four questions were evaluated for the first time in this revision:

Should a fixed combination of an intranasal antihistamine and intranasal corticosteroid (INAH+INCS) be used over no treatment at all? 

Should a particular intranasal corticosteroid be preferred over others? 

(conditional recommendation favoring fluticasone furoate/propionate)

Should one fixed combination be preferred over another?

 (conditional recommendation favoring azelastine-fluticasone)

Should an intranasal corticosteroid be combined with a decongestant or used alone? 

(conditional recommendation against adding the decongestant)

Additionally, 3 existing recommendations changed in strength or directionality:

(now a strong recommendation toward INAH)

Intranasal decongestant vs. no treatment 

(flipped from conditional-for to conditional-against for long-term use)

 (shifted from "either is fine" to conditional preference for the combination)

The key shift: fixed INAH+INCS combinations move from an equal alternative to INCS monotherapy to the preferred option when monotherapy is unlikely to control symptoms.

Q: What is the key recommendation on combination intranasal therapy?

 In patients with allergic rhinitis in whom monotherapy is unlikely to lead to significant symptom improvement, the guideline recommends using a fixed INAH+INCS combination over no treatment, a strong recommendation based on moderate certainty of evidence for seasonal allergic rhinitis and very low certainty of evidence for perennial allergic rhinitis.

Q: Which individual agents does the guideline prefer within each class?

 For INCS monotherapy, the guideline suggests fluticasone furoate or fluticasone propionate over beclomethasone, budesonide, ciclesonide, mometasone, and triamcinolone, a conditional recommendation based on low to very low certainty of evidence drawn from network meta-analysis.

For fixed combination therapy, it suggests azelastine-fluticasone over olopatadine-mometasone, a conditional recommendation based on moderate certainty of evidence in seasonal allergic rhinitis. The guideline notes that both combinations share a similar safety profile and that olopatadine-mometasone may be preferred in patients who find azelastine-fluticasone's taste profile intolerable.

Q: What changed regarding intranasal decongestants?

 The guideline now recommends against adding an intranasal decongestant to an INCS, a reversal from the 2010/2016 guidelines. The current recommendation is conditional and based on very low certainty of evidence.

Q: What does part 2 recommend for oral and ocular treatment?

 The panel now conditionally recommends against adding a leukotriene receptor antagonist (LTRA) to an oral antihistamine.

For eye symptoms, oral antihistamines are conditionally preferred over ocular antihistamines except when very fast relief is needed. Ocular antihistamines are conditionally preferred over ocular mast cell stabilizers.

On choosing among individual oral antihistamines, the guideline stops short of naming a winner: cetirizine, bilastine, rupatadine, loratadine, and others each have tradeoffs in sedation, onset, and affordability, so the recommendation is to match agent to patient preference rather than default to one drug.

(changed from conditional to strong recommendation for OAH)

 (upgraded to a strong recommendation for INCS)

 (reversed to a conditional recommendation against LTRA in both seasonal and perennial disease, reflecting rare but serious neuropsychiatric safety signals)

 (now conditional against starting OcAH in seasonal disease (except brief or as-needed use) but conditional for OcAH in perennial disease)

Q: Are there population-specific caveats clinicians should know?

 Yes. The INCS agent-level preference was not extended to children and adolescents due to insufficient evidence for that population. For the combination-agent comparison, the guideline suggests either azelastine-fluticasone or olopatadine-mometasone in children and adolescents rather than favoring one. The writing group also notes that in low- and middle-income countries, availability and affordability, including WHO Essential Medicines List status for budesonide, may reasonably outweigh the efficacy-based preference for fluticasone formulations.

Why Are You Getting Allergies in the Fall? Cleveland Clinic. Published September 9, 2026. Accessed September 11, 2026. 

https://health.clevelandclinic.org/fall-allergies

Sousa-Pinto B, Bousquet J, Vieira RJ, et al. Allergic Rhinitis and Its Impact on Asthma (ARIA)-EAACI guidelines-2024-2025 revision: part I-guidelines on intranasal treatments. Allergy. 2026;81(4):954-976. 

Vieira RJ, Sousa-Pinto B, Bousquet J, et al. Allergic Rhinitis and Its Impact on Asthma (ARIA)-EAACI guidelines-2024-2025 revision: part II-guidelines on oral and ocular treatments. Allergy. 2026;81:1947-1970. 

Brożek JL, Bousquet J, Agache I, Agarwal A, Bachert C, Bosnic-Anticevich S, Brignardello-Petersen R, Canonica GW, Casale T, Chavannes NH, Correia de Sousa J, Cruz AA, Cuello-Garcia CA, Demoly P, Dykewicz M, Etxeandia-Ikobaltzeta I, Florez ID, Fokkens W, Fonseca J, Hellings PW, Klimek L, Kowalski S, Kuna P, Laisaar KT, Larenas-Linnemann DE, Lødrup Carlsen KC, Manning PJ, Meltzer E, Mullol J, Muraro A, O'Hehir R, Ohta K, Panzner P, Papadopoulos N, Park HS, Passalacqua G, Pawankar R, Price D, Riva JJ, Roldán Y, Ryan D, Sadeghirad B, Samolinski B, Schmid-Grendelmeier P, Sheikh A, Togias A, Valero A, Valiulis A, Valovirta E, Ventresca M, Wallace D, Waserman S, Wickman M, Wiercioch W, Yepes-Nuñez JJ, Zhang L, Zhang Y, Zidarn M, Zuberbier T, Schünemann HJ. Allergic Rhinitis and its Impact on Asthma (ARIA) guidelines-2016 revision. J Allergy Clin Immunol. 2017 Oct;140(4):950-958. 

doi: 10.1016/j.jaci.2017.03.050. Epub 2017 Jun 8. PMID: 28602936

Articles

ARIA–EAACI’s 2024–2025 revision (GRADE-based) meaningfully reshapes pharmacologic management of allergic rhinitis, representing the first major update since 2016 and a pivotal change in intranasal first-line strategy. Fixed intranasal antihistamine plus intranasal corticosteroid combinations are elevated over corticosteroid monotherapy when monotherapy is unlikely to control symptoms. For intranasal corticosteroids, fluticasone furoate/propionate are conditionally favored. Guidance also reverses prior support for long-term intranasal decongestant add-on use and updates oral/ocular recommendations, including a more restrictive stance on LTRAs.

As ragweed and mold drive this year's fall symptom surge, updated GRADE recommendations shift first-line therapy toward combination intranasal treatment.

News

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Allergy

Allergy condition center page is a comprehensive resource for clinical news and insights on allergic and inflammatory diseases. This page consists of interviews, articles, podcasts, and videos on the research, treatment and development of therapies for food and seasonal allergies, as well as allergic asthma and related conditions.

Seasonal Allergy

FAQ: Treating Fall Allergic Rhinitis Under The 2026 ARIA-EAACI Update

Welcome to The HCPFive, your go-to roundup for the latest healthcare news and breakthroughs, curated specifically for busy healthcare professionals. Each week, we highlight 5 key developments or headlines from healthcare that you need to know — whether it's a cutting-edge treatment, regulatory updates, or innovations shaping the future of medicine.

This week's top stories include the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) approval of Abbott's TactiFlex Duo Ablation Catheter, Sensor Enabled, for patients with 

, the acceptance of Intellia Therapeutics’ Biologics License Application (BLA) for lonvoguran ziclumeran (lonvo-z) for 

, Breakthrough Therapy designation for DT120 (lysergide) orally disintegrating tablet for 

, positive 12-week induction results from Part A of the phase 2 SKYLINE trial evaluating SPY003 for 

, and positive topline results from the phase 3 CHAPTER-3 study of deucrictibant extended-release (XR) tablet for HAE.

With The HCPFive, you'll get the essential takeaways to stay informed and ahead of the curve. Here's your quick dive into the top stories for the week of September 06, 2026 — let's jump in!

TactiFlex Duo Ablation Catheter Receives FDA Approval for AFib

On September 8, 2026, the FDA approved Abbott's TactiFlex Duo Ablation Catheter, Sensor Enabled, for treating patients with atrial fibrillation, including complex cases. The approval rests on 12-month results from the FlexPulse investigational device exemption (IDE) study, presented as late-breaking data at the European Society of Cardiology (ESC) Congress 2026 and published simultaneously in EP Europace.

Lonvo-z BLA Accepted by FDA With Priority Review for HAE

On September 8, 2026, the FDA accepted Intellia Therapeutics’ BLA for lonvoguran ziclumeran (lonvo-z) and granted it priority review for HAE in patients aged ≥ 16 years, setting a Prescription Drug User Fee Act (PDUFA) target action date of March 10, 2027. If approved, lonvo-z would become the first in vivo CRISPR-based therapy to reach the HAE market and the only one-time treatment option available to patients who currently manage the disease with chronic intravenous or subcutaneous prophylaxis.

DT120 ODT Receives Second FDA Breakthrough Therapy Designation in MDD

On September 8, 2026, Definium Therapeutics received a second Breakthrough Therapy designation from the FDA for DT120 (lysergide) orally disintegrating tablet, this time for major depressive disorder. The designation follows an initial Breakthrough Therapy designation for DT120 in generalized anxiety disorder, positioning the ergoline-derived 5-HT2A partial agonist across 2 psychiatric indications with FDA-recognized potential for substantial improvement over available therapy.

SPY003 Meets Primary Endpoint in Phase 2 Trial for Ulcerative Colitis

On September 8, 2026, Spyre Therapeutics reported positive 12-week induction results from Part A of the phase 2 SKYLINE trial evaluating SPY003, an investigational anti-IL-23 antibody, in patients with moderately-to-severely active UC. According to the Company, this readout completes proof-of-concept for all 3 components of Spyre's inflammatory bowel disease (IBD) combination pipeline, following earlier positive Part A results for SPY001 (anti-α4β7) and SPY002 (anti-TL1A).

Deucrictibant XR Meets Primary Endpoint in HAE Prophylaxis

On September 8, 2026, Pharvaris reported positive topline results from the phase 3 CHAPTER-3 study of deucrictibant extended-release (XR) tablet, showing an 83% reduction in mean monthly HAE attack rate versus placebo (P <.0001) across all 3 HAE types in adolescents and adults. The study is the first and only prophylaxis phase 3 program to evaluate all 3 HAE types, including HAE with normal C1 inhibitor, a population without a dedicated oral prophylactic option in this analysis.

Regulatory and clinical milestones spanned electrophysiology, rare disease, psychiatry, and IBD. FDA cleared Abbott’s TactiFlex Duo sensor-enabled ablation catheter for atrial fibrillation based on 12‑month FlexPulse IDE outcomes. Intellia’s lonvoguran ziclumeran BLA for hereditary angioedema received priority review, targeting a March 2027 action date and offering a potential one-time in vivo CRISPR option. Definium’s DT120 lysergide ODT earned a second Breakthrough Therapy designation for MDD. Spyre’s SPY003 met phase 2 UC induction endpoints. Pharvaris’ deucrictibant XR reduced HAE attacks 83% in phase 3.

Stay updated with the latest healthcare breakthroughs, including a new ablation catheter for AFib and progress in the hereditary angioedema pipeline.

Cardiology

Cardiology condition center page is a comprehensive resource for clinical news and insights on cardiovascular and cardiometabolic diseases. This page consists of interviews, articles, podcasts, and videos on the research, treatment and development of therapies for heart disease and cardiovascular events, as well as associated diabetes, renal failure, and more...

Psychiatry

Psychiatry condition center page is a comprehensive resource for clinical news and insights on mental illnesses. This page consists of interviews, articles, podcasts, and videos on the research, treatment and development of therapies for depression, schizophrenia, bipolar disorder, anxiety, and more.

Gastroenterology

Gastroenterology condition center page is a comprehensive resource for clinical news and insights on digestive and GI conditions. This page consists of interviews, articles, podcasts, and videos on the research, treatment and development of therapies for 

, IBS and IBD, Crohn's disease, and more.

The HCPFive: Top News for Healthcare Providers from the Week of 09/06

Robert Giugliano, MD, is a senior investigator with the TIMI Study Group, staff physician in the Cardiovascular Division at Brigham and Womenâ€™s Hospital, and associate professor of medicine at Harvard Medical School. Dr. Giuglianoâ€™s areas of research interest include novel antithrombotic, fibrinolytic agents, and lipid-lowering therapies, and patient outcomes following Acute Coronary Syndromes. He has authored more than 200 articles and chapters, and delivered hundreds of lectures. Dr. Giugliano is the principal investigator for the ENGAGE-AF TIMI 48 trial, and a member of the Operations Committees and lead TIMI investigator for the IMPROVE-IT, FOURIER, and EARLY ACS trials. 

Evolocumab substantially improves survival in high-risk patients without a prior 

, according to a new subanalysis of VESALIUS-CV.

Evolocumab Improves Survival in Patients Without Prior MI or Stroke

European Society of Cardiology (ESC) Congress 2026

 in Munich, Germany, by Robert Giugliano, MD, professor of medicine at Harvard Medical School and a physician at Brigham & Women’s Hospital.

“If you start a cholesterol-lowering medicine today, you’re not going to prevent a death tomorrow, or in a week, or in a month, or even in a year. It takes a while. You’re affecting the underlying pathology,” Giugliano told 

in an exclusive interview. “You’re changing the plaque, but it takes a while for that to translate into a reduction in death. So, we have to treat patients for a lifetime.”

The original VESALIUS-CV trial was an international, double-blind, randomized, placebo-controlled trial across 774 sites in 33 countries. Patients were eligible for inclusion if they were 50-79 years of age in men or 55-79 years of age in women and had an LDL-C level of ≥90 mg/dL, a non-HDL-C level of ≥120 mg/dL, or an apolipoprotein B level ≥80 mg/dL. Additionally, patients were required to be on stable, optimized lipid-lowering therapy for ≥2 weeks.

Patients were assigned in a 1:1 ratio to either evolocumab 140 mg every 2 weeks or matching placebo. The 2 primary efficacy endpoints were a composite of death from coronary heart disease, MI, or ischemic stroke (3-point major adverse cardiovascular event [MACE]) and a composite of 3-point MACE and ischemia-driven arterial revascularization. Secondary endpoints included each individual component and composites of pairs of each component.

A total of 12,257 patients were assigned to receive either evolocumab (n = 6129) or placebo (n = 6128), with a median age of 66 years and 43% women. After a median follow-up of 4.6 years, 3-point MACE events occurred in 336 patients in the evolocumab group and 443 in the placebo group (HR, 0.75; 95% CI, 0.65-0.86; 

 <.001), and 4-point MACE events occurred in 747 patients in the evolocumab group versus 907 in the placebo group (HR, 0.81; 95% CI, 0.73-0.89; 

The present study was a prespecified secondary analysis of the VESALIUS-CV trial, incorporating all 12,257 patients from the original trial. Giugliano and colleagues evaluated the effects of evolocumab for all-cause mortality and cause-specific death, including cardiovascular disease, non-cardiovascular disease, and deaths of undetermined etiology. Cardiovascular death was further subcategorized as acute MI, sudden cardiac death, heart failure, cardiovascular hemorrhage, cardiovascular procedures, or other cardiovascular causes.

During the 4.6-year follow-up, 973 patients died. Patients who died were more likely to be older at baseline with a higher prevalence of high-risk diabetes and kidney dysfunction. Of the 973 deaths, 351 (36%) were adjudicated as attributable to cardiovascular causes, 497 (51%) were non-cardiovascular, and 125 (13%) were of undetermined cause. The most frequent causes of cardiovascular death were sudden cardiac death (n = 174), heart failure (n = 58), acute MI (n = 44), and stroke (n = 39), representing 50%, 17%, 13%, and 11% of all cardiovascular deaths, respectively.

Evolocumab nominally reduced the rate of all-cause mortality by 20% - among the evolocumab group, 434 patients died (5-year Kaplan-Meier rate, 7.9%), compared to 539 deaths in the placebo arm (9.7%) (HR, 0.8; 95% CI, 0.7-0.91; 

 = .0005). There was no reduction in mortality endpoints in the first 1.5 years (HR, 0.99; 95% CI, 0.78-1.25), according to landmark analyses; this was followed by a 27% reduction thereafter (HR, 0.73; 95% CI, 0.63-0.85).

Giugliano and colleagues ultimately concluded that these data support the use of evolocumab to improve survival in patients without prior MI or stroke, particularly among those with high-risk diabetes without qualifying atherosclerosis. However, the implementation of this treatment, Giugliano acknowledges, will likely face the same limitations as other lipid-lowering therapies.

“A large gap in background treatment of hyperlipidemias persists even in patients at high risk, patients who have known, diagnosed coronary disease, or cerebrovascular disease, or peripheral arterial disease, or high-risk diabetes,” Giugliano said. “We need to do a better job at reducing LDLs across the board, particularly in those patients at high risk.”

Editors’ Note: Giugliano reports disclosures from Amgen, Daiichi-Sankyo, Inventiva Pharma, Novartis, Pfizer, Sanofi, and others.

Giugliano RP, Bohula EA, Bellavia A, et al. Effects of evolocumab on mortality outcomes in patients without previous myocardial infarction or stroke: A prespecified analysis of the VESALIUS-CV randomized clinical trial. Circulation. Published online August 31, 2026. 

Bohula EA, Marston NA, Bhatia AK, et al. Evolocumab in patients without a previous myocardial infarction or stroke. New England Journal of Medicine. 2026;394(2):117-127. 

Videos

Robert Giugliano, MD, breaks down his prespecified subanalysis of the VESALIUS-CV trial, evaluating evolocumab’s effect on cardiovascular mortality.

Stroke

On the HCPLive stroke page, resources on the topics of medical news and expert insight into CVA can be found. Content includes articles, interviews, videos, podcasts, and breaking news on stroke medicine, and more.

Conference

 conference coverage page features articles, videos, and expert-led live coverage from major medical meetings throughout the year.

Michael Wechsler, MD, of National Jewish Health.

Verekitug, an investigational monoclonal antibody that targets the thymic stromal lymphopoietin (TSLP) receptor, met its primary endpoint in the phase 2 VALIANT trial, reducing annualized 

 exacerbation rates by as much as 56% overall and 87% in patients with elevated eosinophil counts. The results, from Upstream Bio's ongoing development program in severe asthma, were presented at the 

European Respiratory Society (ERS) Congress 2026

"Even low concentrations of verekitug are sufficient to saturate the TSLP receptors, and therefore abrogate some of the TSLP signaling, and this allows for longer dosing intervals," Michael Wechsler, MD, MMSc, professor of medicine and director of the Cohen Family Asthma Institute at National Jewish Health, said in an interview with HCPLive.

Verekitug Reduces Asthma Exacerbations Up to 87%, With Michael Wechsler, MD

TSLP is an upstream epithelial alarmin that drives activation of interleukin-4, interleukin-5, and interleukin-13 through T helper 2 cells and ILC2 cells, playing a central role in the type 2 inflammatory pathways implicated in asthma and chronic sinusitis with nasal polyps (CRSwNP). While other therapies, including tezepelumab, target TSLP itself, verekitug is the only agent in development that targets the TSLP receptor directly. Wechsler noted that the added benefit is an extended half-life alongside a robust efficacy signal, building on what he described as an already well-validated pathway.

VALIANT was a multicenter, randomized, placebo-controlled phase 2 trial that enrolled 478 adults with poorly controlled asthma, defined by an Asthma Control Questionnaire (ACQ) score >1.5, along with either 2 exacerbations or 1 emergency department visit with inpatient care in the prior year, or 1 exacerbation plus an exhaled nitric oxide level >50. All participants required a medium to high dose inhaled corticosteroid for at least 3 months prior to enrollment. Patients were randomized to 1 of 3 verekitug doses, 100 mg every 12 weeks, 400 mg every 24 weeks, or 100 mg every 24 weeks, or to placebo. The primary outcome was the annualized asthma exacerbation rate through week 60, with a minimum of 24 weeks of drug exposure required; median exposure across the trial was approximately 37 weeks.

Baseline ACQ-6 scores ranged from 2.5 to 2.7, with eosinophil counts between 250 and 290 cells/microliter and lung function near 60%. The placebo arm had an annualized exacerbation rate of approximately 1.52, while all 3 verekitug doses produced statistically significant and clinically meaningful reductions, ranging from 39% to 56%, independent of phenotype. The effect was more pronounced among patients with eosinophil counts ≥300 cells/microliter.

"In the patients who had high eosinophil counts, there was an 87% reduction in exacerbations. This is really exciting. It's best in class as far as I'm concerned, for demonstrating a reduction in exacerbations," Wechsler said. Patients with eosinophil counts <150 cells/microliter, who represent roughly 20% of the severe asthma population, did not show a significant reduction. Verekitug also improved forced expiratory volume in 1 second (FEV1), with 100 to 157 mL gains at 6 months, along with improvements in ACQ scores and exhaled nitric oxide levels.

Verekitug's Quarterly Dosing Cuts Asthma Burden, With Michael Wechsler, MD

Editor’s Note: Wechsler reports relevant disclosures with Upstream Bio and is principal investigator on the VALIANT trial.

Upstream Bio Reports Positive Top-line Results from the Phase 2 VALIANT Trial of Verekitug for the Treatment of Severe Asthma. GlobeNewswire. February 11, 2026. 

https://www.globenewswire.com/news-release/2026/02/11/3236073/0/en/Upstream-Bio-Reports-Positive-Top-line-Results-from-the-Phase-2-VALIANT-Trial-of-Verekitug-for-the-Treatment-of-Severe-Asthma.html

Upstream Bio Presents Results from the Phase 2 VALIANT Trial of Verekitug for the Treatment of Severe Asthma in Oral Presentation at ERS Congress 2026. GlobeNewswire. September 8, 2026. 

https://www.globenewswire.com/news-release/2026/09/08/3357341/0/en/upstream-bio-presents-results-from-the-phase-2-valiant-trial-of-verekitug-for-the-treatment-of-severe-asthma-in-oral-presentation-at-ers-congress-2026.html

Phase 2 VALIANT data show the anti-TSLP receptor antibody sharply reduced exacerbations in patients with high eosinophil counts.

Pulmonology

Infectious Disease condition center page is a comprehensive resource for clinical news and insights on respiratory health. This page consists of interviews, articles, podcasts, and videos on the research, treatment and development of therapies for asthma, COPD, interstitial lung disease, COVID-19, and more.

Asthma

The HCPLive asthma page is a comprehensive resource for clinical news and insights on asthmatic disease. This page consists of interviews, articles, podcasts, and videos on the research, treatment and development of therapies for allergic and severe asthma, and more.

Kristina Duffin, MD, MS is a professor in the Department of Dermatology and recently appointed Dean of the Spencer Fox Eccles School of Medicine at the University of Utah.

Dermatologists increasingly step into administrative and health system leadership roles despite limited formal leadership training during residency or fellowship.

LEADderm, founded and chaired by Jennifer Soung, MD, was built to close this gap, prioritizing skills such as mentorship, negotiation, and practice building over traditional clinical programming.¹ The 2026 meeting convened dermatologists, physician associates, and nurse practitioners in Newport Beach, California, for 2 days of leadership-focused sessions.¹

Kristina Duffin, MD, MS, is professor of dermatology and dean of the Spencer Fox Eccles School of Medicine at the University of Utah. She built her session, "Lessons in Leadership: Elements & Experiments," around the framework from the book Total Leadership.² She examined what qualities and behaviors leaders bring to four areas of life: work, home, spiritual or personal life, and community.

She described physician leaders taking on new roles beyond clinical care, including chief problem solver, chief vision setter, and chief cultural attaché. Duffin outlined a three-question framework for delegation: whether a task belongs only to the leader, whether someone else would benefit from solving it as sponsorship or mentorship, or whether it falls outside the leader's role.

She pointed to professional coaching and leadership courses, including programs from the American Academy of Dermatology and Intermountain Health, as ways to build these relational skills. "You cannot do CPR and run the code at the same time," said Duffin, describing how leaders must learn which problems are truly theirs to solve.

In the following Q&A discussion, Duffin sat down with 

 at LEADderm 2026 in Newport Beach, California, to discuss the elements and experiments behind her leadership journey:

: Why did you choose ‘Lessons in Leadership: Elements and Experiments’ as your LEADderm topic?

 I wanted to share a little of my story about my journey to leadership, because I think there are misconceptions about how people become leaders. Sometimes it's not that intentional, and you have to learn a lot about your own skills and strengths as you move into it. I wanted to knit together some of the elements I found valuable in leadership, as well as the experiments that resulted from that.

: What were the main takeaways from your session?

 A lot of what we've been talking about today at LEADderm has been about personal resilience, well-being, building community, and how to speak in a way that commands a room, many different individual skills. What I felt I needed to start with was what qualities, traits, or elements are necessary for my own thriving in leadership. I've read many books about leadership, and one of my favorites is called Total Leadership, which asks what qualities, traits, or behaviors you should bring to all four aspects of your life: work life, home life, spiritual or self life, and community. That's an exploration for every leader to have. From there, I looked at how to deploy those things in being a leader: being the chief problem solver, the chief vision setter, and the chief cultural attaché.

: What's one tip from the talk that's most worthwhile for clinicians to take away?

 Health care providers are leaders in their own right. They're leading their teams, and they're leading their patients toward better health decisions, so leaders are always made in health care. As you move up, whether you become a vice chair, a chair, or a dean, you're going to be asked to solve problems, and the most important thing you can do at that point is ask: is this my problem to solve? Define that as carefully as you can. The slogan I brought was a quote from a colleague of mine from many years ago: you cannot do CPR and run the code at the same time. As a leader, the things you were doing before change. You might not see as many patients, or you might do supervision and education to help people become better physicians.

: Is knowing when to take charge versus delegate key for budding leaders in dermatology?

 Absolutely. There are three questions to ask: Is this something only I can do in my current role? If so, that's your job. Or is this something someone else would be better at solving? Maybe they're becoming a leader themselves, and giving them that problem helps them; that's sponsorship. Or you help them solve it; that's mentorship. The last option is that it's not your job at all. The risk of doing someone else's job is that you're taking time you shouldn't be devoting to it anymore, and you might damage the relationship. People generally don't want you to do their job for them.

: What tips do you have for clinicians who want to step into leadership roles but aren't there yet?

 The most critical activity I did early on, when I was moving toward leadership, was coaching. Having a professional coach who's good at pointing out your blind spots helps you understand how to be individualistic and yet still be part of a community and a team. Those skills aren't necessarily things you're born with; they can be learned, taught, and absorbed. I recommend individual coaches, or leadership courses like this one at LEADderm, as well as courses offered by the American Academy of Dermatology and other organizations. Intermountain Health, for example, offers one focused on exploring the personal qualities and traits of leadership rather than how to balance a spreadsheet or understand health care economics. It's about relational leadership traits, and those are very valuable.

Editor's Note: This transcript has been edited for grammar and clarity using artificial intelligence tools. Duffin had no relevant financial disclosures of note.

Smith T. Conference Preview: 2026 LEADderm Conference in Newport Beach, CA. HCPLive. Published August 27, 2026. Accessed September 11, 2026. 

https://www.hcplive.com/view/conference-preview-2026-leadderm-conference-newport-beach-ca

University of Utah Health. Kristina Callis Duffin, MD, MS, Named Dean of the Spencer Fox Eccles School of Medicine at the University of Utah. Published April 1, 2026. Accessed September 11, 2026. 

https://healthcare.utah.edu/press-releases/2026/04/kristina-callis-duffin-md-ms-named-dean-of-spencer-fox-eccles-school-of

Dermatology clinicians are increasingly expected to lead teams and health systems, yet formal leadership training remains uncommon. LEADderm was created to fill this gap with programming centered on mentorship, negotiation, practice development, and relational skills. Kristina Duffin applied the Total Leadership framework to align leadership behaviors across work, home, self/spiritual life, and community, framing senior roles as chief problem solver, vision setter, and cultural attaché. She emphasized disciplined delegation, recognizing which problems belong to the leader, and using coaching and structured courses to uncover blind spots.

Kristina Duffin, MD, dean of the Spencer Fox Eccles School of Medicine, discusses leadership, delegation, and coaching at LEADderm 2026.

Dermatology

The HCPLive dermatology page is a resource for medical news and expert insights on skin disease. This page features expert-led coverage, articles, videos and research on the therapies and development of treatments for dermatologic conditions, and more.

Q&A: Lessons in Leadership from LEADderm 2026, With Kristina Duffin, MD

Guy Brusselle, MD, PhD, of Ghent University Hospital.

Guy Brusselle, MD, PhD, says that 64% of dupilumab-treated patients met composite asthma clinical remission criteria at week 24 versus 40.5% with omalizumab.

Dupilumab Outperforms Omalizumab for Asthma Remission in Phase 4 EVEREST

Sadiya Khan, MD, MSc, is the Magerstadt Professor of Cardiovascular Epidemiology, associate professor of medicine, preventive medicine, and medical social sciences, and the director of the Center for Population Science and Aging at Northwestern University Feinberg School of Medicine.

Sadiya Khan, MD, MSc, discusses the session she chaired at ESC 2026, which saw clinicians discuss the equitability of artificial intelligence in medicine.

Equitable and Ethical AI Use in Cardiology: Addressing Biases and Privacy Concerns

Wechsler walks through verekitug's mechanism, VALIANT's design, key efficacy and safety findings, and what's next for TSLP-targeted asthma therapy.

Verekitug's TSLP Mechanism and VALIANT Trial Results, With Michael Wechsler, MD

Ann Falsey, MD, is a professor of Medicine at the University Of Rochester School Of Medicine. The focus of her research has been clinical and translational research in the field of respiratory viral infections in adults.

Two-season real-world data show Arexvy reduces RSV-related MACE and COPD and asthma exacerbations in adults 60 and older, Ann Falsey, MD, says.

COPD

COPD condition center page, resources on the topics of medical news and expert insight into chronic obstructive pulmonary disease can be found. Content includes articles, interviews, videos, podcasts, and breaking news on COPD research, treatment, and drug development.

What 2 Seasons of Arexvy Data Reveal About RSV-Related Risk Reduction

Mohammad Ali Salehinejad, PhD, from the department of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry, Psychosomatics and Psychotherapy at RWTH Aachen University.

Mohammad Ali Salehinejad, PhD, explains how template-based targeting could extend optimized multichannel tDCS to broader clinical and home-based care.

Major Depressive Disorder

Major Depressive Disorder condition center page, resources on the topics of medical news and expert insight into depression can be found. Content includes articles, interviews, videos, podcasts, and breaking news on MDD research, treatment, and drug development.

Multichannel tDCS Shows Path to Scalable Use in MDD

Oyvind Lie, MD, PhD, MSc, is a senior consultant in interventional cardiology at Oslo University Hospital in Norway.

Oyvind Lie, MD, PhD, MSc, discusses the results from the ACASA-TAVI trial, which sought to evaluate the efficacy of anticoagulant monotherapy in this population.

Anticoagulant Monotherapy Reduces Thrombosis, Improves Bleeding After TAVI

Peter Lio, MD, breaks down AdvanceAD-Tx testing and oral STAT6 degrader KT-621 in the atopic dermatitis pipeline.

Atopic Dermatitis

Atopic Dermatitis condition center page, audiences can find a variety of coverage mediums for medical news and updates, including articles, video interviews, podcasts, and breaking news on dermatitis research, treatment, and drug development.

Q&A: Precision Medicine's Next Steps in Atopic Dermatitis, With Peter Lio, MD

Jose Nicolau, MD, PhD, is a professor at the University of São Paulo Medical School and senior investigator at the Heart Institute InCor.

Jose Nicolau, MD, PhD, discusses the results of his subanalysis of the VESALIUS-CV trial, examining secondary rather than first MACE.

Evolocumab Prevents Recurrent Cardiovascular Events Following MI or Stroke

Diana Isaacs, PharmD, is an endocrine clinical pharmacist, director of Education and Training in Diabetes Technology, and codirector of Endocrine Disorders in Pregnancy at the Cleveland Clinic.

Podcasts

Diana Isaacs, PharmD, and Natalie Bellini, DNP, unpack tirzepatide's new CV indication and the STAREE statin trial in older adults.

Endocrinology

The HCPLive endocrinology page is a comprehensive resource for clinical news and insights on endocrine system conditions. This page consists of interviews, articles, podcasts, and videos on the research, treatment and development of therapies for diabetes, hormonal disease, and more.

This page also hosts content previously published by EndocrinologyNetwork. 


podcasts page features a feed of medical news and interview podcast series, including DocTalk, Lungcast, Derm Discussions, and Heart Trials.

Diabetes Dialogue

Diabetes Dialogue: Technology, Therapeutics, & Real-World Perspectives is a podcast hosted by Diana Isaacs, PharmD, and Natalie Bellini, DNP, aimed at providing a regular roundup of the latest clinically applicable insights across diabetes and metabolic diseases, with a focus on leveraging technology to improve care.

Strategic Alliance Partnership

Diabetes Dialogue: Tirzepatide's New CV Indication and the STAREE Statin Trial 

"Byron Wade is a principal consultant at American Healthcare Strategies and co-founder of the Wade Family Foundation. He has more than 20 years of clinical and administrative healthcare experience, including leading physician recruitment strategy for UPMC.

A principal healthcare consultant and study co-author shares his own decade-long path to an IgA nephropathy diagnosis and transplant.

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Q&A: Lessons in Leadership from LEADderm 2026, With Kristina Duffin, MD