Quarterly Newsletter - January 2026 - Issue No. 29

Professor Chris Griffiths OBE
GPA Director

Director's Foreword

Another full steam ahead start to a new year. The Global Psoriasis Atlas (GPA) is progressing rapidly on several fronts not least with our expanding network of Regional and National Coordinators which now represents more than 130 countries!

Aligned with the Coordinator network is our access to care survey which is providing an intriguing snapshot of the availability of medicines and facilities used in the management of psoriasis - there is, as one might expect, a huge disparity in such provision globally.

Our field surveys, in collaboration with our sister global Atlases, are in the planning phase again and it appears likely that we will run the Philippines survey, deferred from last year, in January/February 2027; we have early discussions about a survey in Senegal also in 2027. Watch this space.

Although we are in an active planning and data gathering phase, we are also writing up a number of important studies from countries as disparate as the UK, Canada, Philippines and Burundi.

As always, the GPA team will be present at the annual meeting of the American Academy of Dermatology - in Denver in late March this year - and we look forward to catching up with many of our Atlas friends in person.

With best wishes,
Chris

Professor Darren Ashcroft
GPA Research Director

I am very much looking forward to meeting with many of our international collaborators at the forthcoming AAD Congress in Denver in March, at which we will present a more detailed update on our Global Access to Care survey. We are very grateful to all our international collaborators who have so enthusiastically shared their valuable insights into the care pathways and access to treatments for the management of psoriasis within their countries. We are planning to develop regional reports bringing together key findings from the international survey, alongside our epidemiological data, and these will be available later this year. I’m excited to report that the survey is now being distributed worldwide.

Since my last update, I am very pleased to share further materials from two of our latest GPA publications. The first reports on the findings from our epidemiological field study that we ran in collaboration with Prof Ncoza Dlova: “Skin disease in the Eastern Cape (SKINSCAPE): a Global Psoriasis Atlas point prevalence study in rural South Africa”. In the second study, we examined electronic health records from four different countries to examine the risk of developing cancer in people with psoriasis “Psoriasis and the risk of 26 cancers: pooled population-based cohort studies from Denmark, England, Israel, and Taiwan”. We hope that the infographics for these two new studies will help to support the wider dissemination of this work via your networks.

Our GPA team have also contributed two chapters to the forthcoming book “Psoriasis: A Global Textbook from the International Psoriasis Council” and we are excited to host Dr Shir Azrielant as a new IPC Research Fellow working with the GPA this year.

New Video: Skin disease in the Eastern Cape (SKINSCAPE): a Global Psoriasis Atlas point prevalence study in rural South Africa

Following the publication of the SKINSCAPE field study in the British Journal of Dermatology, the GPA team together with Professor Ncoza Dlova, GPA Regional Coordinator, have produced a short video summarising the study and sharing a selection of photos and footage from the 2023 field study to the Eastern Cape.

The video includes:

• Background and aims of the SKINSCAPE study

• The study’s impact and main findings

• Visual highlights from Mtyholo Dlova & Mdolomba villages

• Footage of time spent in the community during the study

This video offers a helpful visual companion to the publication and provides additional context to the work carried out in rural South Africa.

Thank you again to Professor Ncoza Dlova, our colleagues, and the Eastern Cape communities for their support and collaboration.

Read the full study here: https://doi.org/10.1093/bjd/ljaf386

Watch the video below.

New Infographic: Psoriasis and the Risk of 26 Cancers: Pooled population-based cohort studies from Denmark, England, Israel, and Taiwan

Following the publication of the GPA study investigating the risk of developing cancer in people with psoriasis the GPA team have created an infographic to highlight the key findings.

This research used data from linked electronic health records across four countries Denmark, England, Israel and Taiwan, and close working with our GPA collaborators within these countries. The study involved 702,022 individuals with psoriasis aged 18+ years and 4,185,342 age-sex matched individuals without psoriasis.

Read the full study here: https://doi.org/10.1093/bjd/ljaf399

These findings offer critical insights and reinforce the need to integrate cancer prevention strategies into routine psoriasis care, especially for those with severe disease.

As part of our Phase III research programme, the GPA team have designed a new global research survey focusing on access to care for psoriasis. The aim of the survey is to explore how dermatologists from around the world view the availability, accessibility and quality of psoriasis healthcare services and treatments within their country, and what challenges they face in providing care to individuals with psoriasis.

The data collected will be used to help develop an improved understanding of the barriers to accessing specialised care and to produce comprehensive resources for advocacy for individuals with psoriasis around the world.

Thank you to everyone who has participated in the survey so far, the success of this project would not be possible without your ongoing support. We look forward to sharing the initial findings of the survey soon.

The GPA are delighted to announce that Dr Shir Azrielant has been assigned to the GPA as their 2026 IPC Research Fellow.

Dr Azrielant is a consultant dermatologist and Director of Dermatology Inpatient Services at Tel Aviv Sourasky Medical Center, Israel, and a Lecturer at the Faculty of Medicine at Tel Aviv University.

Her clinical and translational research focuses on inflammatory and autoimmune skin diseases, with a particular emphasis on psoriasis. Her current work centres on psoriasis comorbidities, metabolic pathways in disease, and histology as a biomarker of inflammatory skin disorders.

The GPA has worked with Dr Shir Azrielant previously through her contributions to the SKINSCAPE study. The team is excited to be working with her again in 2026.

Regional and National Coordinator Network

The GPA has a well-established global network of Regional and National Coordinators representing countries across all six WHO regions. Our Coordinators are passionate specialist dermatologists who represent and promote the GPA, contributing to collaborative studies by sourcing and sharing relevant data on epidemiology, health services, and treatment practices for psoriasis within their countries and regions.

The network was established during Phase I and Phase II of the GPA. During Phase III we have been excited to expand our Coordinator network to help promote our mission and expand our research efforts. Our vast network of Coordinators currently represents over 130 countries and territories around the world.

The GPA team would like to reiterate our ongoing gratitude to all our Coordinators, old and new. Our success would not be possible without your expertise, passion and enthusiasm.

Interested in finding out more about what countries GPA Coordinators represent? Visit https://www.globalpsoriasisatlas.org/en/the-gpa/team-map to see our team map.

Coordinators Recent Publications

Dr Omid Zargari - National Coordinator for Iran.

Psoriasis and Alopecia: Unveiling the Links

Purani MR, Khajeamiri Y, Abdollahimajd F, Zargari O

Dermaology Practical & Conceptual, 2025

https://dpcj.org/index.php/dpc/article/view/5283

Professor Burham Engin - National Coordinator for Turkey.

Impact of topical and systemic therapy on carotid-intima media thickness in psoriasis

Gumus EC, Celik U, Gumus S, Engin B

Archives of Dermatological Research, 2025

https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s00403-025-03818-7

Predictors of PASI90 response in patients with psoriasis treated with interleukin inhibitors: observational cohort study

Engin B, Demir Y, Yucesoy SN, Tumay A

Anais Brasileiros de Dermatologia, 2025

https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0365059625000741?via%3Dihub

From Friday 30th January to Friday 27th February the IPC will deliver a series of virtual psoriasis masterclasses for dermatologists in Africa and the Eastern Mediterranean region.

The IPC Psoriasis Masterclass for Africa and the Eastern Mediterranean region is a ten-hour intensive educational program designed for early-to-mid-career dermatologists and third or fourth-year residents interested in specialising in psoriasis care. These masterclasses will offer an exclusive educational opportunity for clinicians actively involved in the management and treatment of psoriasis.

The agenda has been carefully designed to ensure participants gain the skills and knowledge required to manage patients effectively. Participants will engage in dynamic discussions, interactive Q&A sessions, and valuable networking opportunities with leading experts in the field.

IPC Board Member and GPA Regional Coordinator Professor Mahira El Sayed, IPC Councillor Marwa Amer, and IPC Jr. Councillor Priscilla Angwenyi will co-chair the masterclasses taking place every Friday throughout the programme.

On Friday 27th February GPA Research Associate Dr Paul Dimmock will lead a session on the Global Psoriasis Atlas, focusing on epidemiology in Africa and the Eastern Mediterranean region.

For more information and to register visit the IPC website: Africa & Eastern Mediterranean Masterclass Virtual 2026 | International Psoriasis Council

• AAD Annual Meeting (27^th – 31^st March 2026) Denver, Colorado, USA

• BSID Annual Meeting (20^th – 21^st April 2026) Manchester, UK

• IFPA Forum (7^th – 9^th May 2026) Nairobi, Kenya

• Psoriasis Association Annual Meeting (20^th June 2026) Manchester, UK

• BAD Annual Meeting (30^th June – 2^nd July 2026) Manchester, UK

• EADV Congress (30^th September – 3^rd October 2026) Vienna, Austria