Clinical Trial Diversity: Perspectives from the FDA, NIH, and Dermatology (PART 1)

Moderator

Ginette A. Okoye, MD, FAAD

Professor of Dermatology, Department Chair, Howard University

Speakers

RDML Richardae Araojo, PharmD, MS

Associate Commissioner for Minority Health, FDA Office of Minority Health and Health Equity (OMHHE)

RDML Richardae Araojo, PharmD, MS serves as the Associate Commissioner for Minority Health and Director of the Office of Minority Health and Health Equity at the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA). In this role, RDML Araojo provides leadership, oversight, and direction on minority health and health disparity matters for the Agency. RDML Araojo previously served as the Director of the Office of Medical Policy Initiatives in FDA’s Center for Drug Evaluation and Research (CDER), where she led a variety of broad-based medical and clinical policy initiatives to improve the science and efficiency of clinical trials and enhance professional and patient labeling. RDML Araojo joined FDA in 2003, where she held several positions in CDER. RDML Araojo received her Doctor of Pharmacy Degree from Virginia Commonwealth University, completed a Pharmacy Practice Residency at University of Maryland, and earned a Master’s degree in Pharmacy Regulation and Policy from the University of Florida.

Leslie Castelo-Soccio, MD, PhD, FAAD

Staff Clinician; Dermatologist, Cutaneous Microbiome and Inflammation Laboratory; Attending Physician, Dermatology Consultation Service, National Institutes of Health

Leslie Castelo-Soccio, MD, PhD, FAAD received her undergraduate degree from Harvard University and her medical and doctoral degrees from the Tri-Institutional MD-PhD program at Cornell University. After training in dermatology at the University of Pennsylvania, she completed a pediatric dermatology fellowship at the Children's Hospital of Philadelphia and a postdoctoral fellowship in hair and pigment disorders at the University of Pennsylvania. From 2011-2021, Dr. Castelo-Soccio was an assistant professor of pediatrics and dermatology at the University of Pennsylvania Perelman School of Medicine and the research director and an attending physician in pediatric dermatology at the Children's Hospital of Philadelphia. In 2021, she joined the National Institute for Arthritis and Musculoskeletal and Skin diseases at the National Institutes of Health as a staff clinician and research physician. Dr. Castelo-Soccio's research covers the natural history of alopecia including epidemiology, associated comorbidities, and response to therapy. She specializes in imaging tools and guidelines for pediatric alopecia. Dr. Castelo-Soccio also studies the microbiome of hair disorders with the goal of developing therapies targeting dysbiosis and immune system dysregulation.