The Exposome is Everything in Atopic Dermatitis: An Expert Perspective on AD Pathophysiology
Raj Chovatiya, MD, PhD, MSCI, discusses the complex and widely variable influences that affect the manifestations and burden of atopic dermatitis across populations.
"The exposome is everything with atopic dermatitis (AD)," Raj Chovatiya, MD, PhD, MSCI, clinical associate professor of medicine at the Rosalind Franklin University Chicago Medical School, in Chicago, IL, said in an interview with Patient Care.©
The statement was in response to a question about a potential differential impact of internal and external factors on both the manifestation and burden of AD in people with skin of color (SoC). Chovatiya emphasized that the early hope that the pathophysiology of AD could be linked to a single gene or group of genes long ago gave way to the reality that its origins polygenic and also significantly influenced by an individual's internal and external exposures, from the gut microbiome to the effects of the natural and built environments. Socioeconomic disparities largely drive differences in all these variables, Chovatiya stressed, and "probably has a major effect on presentation and burden of disease" in patients with skin of color.
Chovatiya provides more details in the video clip above from an interview following his presentation on dermatoses individuals with SoC at the 2025 American Academy of Dermatology annual meeting, March 7-11, in Orlando, FL.
Chovatiya is also founder and director of the Center for Medical Dermatology + Immunology Research in Chicago, IL, and recognized internationally for his research into the intersection of cutaneous immunology and inflammatory disease. He has a particular interest in optimizing patient-centered care, understanding chronic disease burden, especially in understudied inflammatory diseases, exploring health and social disparities, and improving care across diverse skin types.
See below for more of the Patient Care interview with Chovatiya.
