Seeing patients fully: Marissa Joseph named inaugural AbbVie Chair in Ethnodermatology

Feeling seen and understood is central to patient care, says dermatologist Marissa Joseph (PGME Dermatology, PGME Paediatrics) — and is the principle that will underpin her work as the inaugural AbbVie Chair in Ethnodermatology at the University of Toronto’s Temerty Faculty of Medicine.

At its heart, ethnodermatology asks whether the way skin disease is studied, taught and treated truly reflects the people seeking care. While these questions are not new, they have rarely been given sustained attention within academic medicine. As the AbbVie Chair, Joseph will bring long-term focus and leadership to a field centred on improving how dermatologic care is experienced by people of different ethnicities and skin types.

Established through a landmark $3-million donation from AbbVie, the endowed chair was created to support research, education and clinical practice that better reflect the diversity of people living with skin conditions seen in Canada and around the world. With Joseph’s recent appointment, that commitment now has a dedicated steward and a clear patient-centred purpose.

“I believe ethnodermatology really sits at the intersection of science, equity and real-world patient care,” says Joseph, who in addition to being a longtime faculty member in Temerty Medicine’s Division of Dermatology is also medical director of Women’s College Hospital's RKS Dermatology Centre. “That’s where this work matters most — in outcomes, in trust and in how we serve our communities.”

As a visual specialty, dermatology has long relied on pattern recognition, a strength that has also shaped how it has been taught and practised. But Joseph notes that those patterns have historically reflected a narrower range of people than those seeking care. For example, physicians are taught to look for ‘redness’ as a key sign of inflammation, yet this isn’t always present in individuals with more richly pigmented skin tones.

Yet, Joseph sees her field and her new role as doing much more than advocating for better representation in textbooks and clinical guidelines.

“It’s about how disease is managed, how treatments are studied and how confident clinicians feel when they’re making decisions,” she says.

That focus extends into the design and delivery of clinical research itself. Joseph notes that many dermatologic treatments — particularly in rapidly advancing, immune-mediated conditions — were studied in populations that did not fully reflect the diversity of those now receiving them. As a result, questions around effectiveness, safety and real-world response have not always been answered equally for all people affected by skin conditions.

In her capacity as AbbVie Chair, Joseph will champion dermatologic research that intentionally includes diverse populations — not only to improve equity, but to strengthen the evidence base clinicians rely on when making treatment decisions. More representative trials, she says, lead to more precise, confident and effective care for everyone.

“Research drives practice,” she says. “If people aren’t meaningfully included in clinical trials, that gap follows them into the clinic.”

Her mandate also spans education and clinical translation. Serving in the AbbVie Chair role, Joseph will work to ensure future clinicians are trained to care for all skin tones with confidence, as well as support the adoption of new knowledge in everyday clinical practice.

Education, she says, is where the most transformative and lasting change can take hold.

“When trainees learn to assess skin disease across skin tones and understand the barriers patients face in accessing care, that knowledge stays with them for their entire careers,” Joseph says. “Education becomes a tool for healing.”

This educational work will also extend well beyond dermatology alone. In Canada, most skin conditions are assessed and treated by family physicians, pediatricians and emergency clinicians — making broad, accessible dermatologic education essential.

“Dermatologists represent a very small portion of the clinicians who see skin disease,” Joseph says. “If we want to change how care is delivered, we have to reach everyone involved — from undergraduate medical education through continuing professional development across specialties.”

In addition, outreach and partnership are central to the AbbVie Chair’s mandate. Joseph emphasizes the importance of working alongside communities and health-care providers to understand lived experience, build trust and ensure care is culturally safe.

“When medicine becomes more inclusive, it becomes more accurate,” she says. “And when patients feel seen and understood, they’re more likely to engage with care. Trust is not a soft outcome. It directly affects health.”

Joseph’s work will also be centred on accountability: setting meaningful goals, measuring progress and ensuring commitments to equity extend beyond moments of heightened attention.

“This can’t be performative,” she says. “If we’re serious about change, we have to be able to reflect back and ask what we’ve actually done and whether it’s made a difference.”

Vincent Piguet, chair of the Department of Dermatology at Temerty Medicine, says Joseph’s appointment reflects both the urgency of the moment and the breadth of her vision.

“I am thrilled Joseph has been appointed as the inaugural AbbVie Chair in Ethnodermatology,” he says. “In the eight years since I was recruited to lead U of T’s dermatology program, I have seen our division grow significantly. Supporting Dr. Joseph’s professional development and international profile has been a natural extension of our commitment to academic excellence. She brings outstanding clinical expertise, exceptional teaching skills, scholarly rigour and an evidence-based approach to advancing health equity.”

As Canada’s population continues to diversify, the impact of the AbbVie Chair will reach far beyond dermatology. The skin is often the first-place systemic disease appears, making an accurate assessment essential for a correct diagnosis and the right treatment plan.

“Ensuring we can provide that precision across all skin tones is a clinical necessity, not an optional choice,” says Piguet. “Ultimately, the AbbVie Chair in Ethnodermatology is about our commitment to a single, high standard of care—one that is scientifically sound and serves every person who walks through our doors, both now and in the years ahead.”

For AbbVie, Joseph’s appointment marks a key milestone in a long-term commitment to advancing equity in health research and care.

“The AbbVie Chair in Ethnodermatology empowers the dermatology community to advance meaningful, lasting change,” says Stéphanie Sauvageau, Head of Medical at AbbVie Canada. “Dr. Joseph’s work exemplifies that commitment and will help ensure the field continues to evolve in ways that reflect the diversity of the patients it serves.”

Endowed chairs are designed to endure, providing the time and resources needed for sustained leadership. For Joseph, that permanence matters greatly.

“So much scholarly work happens off the side of a desk,” she says. “Dedicated time allows this work to be intentional, collaborative and impactful — and it signals that it matters.”

At its core, however, her goal as the AbbVie Chair will be simple.

“This is about seeing patients fully,” Joseph says. “When our science, education and care reflect that, everyone benefits.”