A report from the 69th annual meeting of the American Academy of Dermatology (February 4-8, 2011 - New Orleans, Louisiana, USA).

Despite the bad weather that made it difficult for many to reach New Orleans and attend this year's annual meeting of the American Academy of Dermatology, the meeting started on time on a very cold day that surprised those who could safely land in the city of jazz. The city itself appeared quite empty and silent, mainly to all of those who had previously visited this busy spot with colorful bead necklaces beating the time of jazz music coming out of bar and club doors. However, if the cold kept people in rather than out along Bourbon Street, the Morial Convention Center was still a very busy avenue where to share and discuss new research in dermatology that might helpfully impact and improve how evidence-based medicine cares for sufferers of diseases such as psoriasis, atopic dermatitis and skin infections, many of which affect children, complicating the lives of their parents and relatives. To help review the main messages from the meeting, and to help those who could not attend get an executive-like digest of what they missed so that they can still benefit from this year's AAD meeting, Drugs of Today makes the following report available, wherein new clinical and preclinical therapeutic research in dermatology is summarized. In this general context, and just as a general initial warning message, a study to assess the prevalence of injuries during dermatological procedures identified underreporting and the need for improving occupational safety in dermatology, as the vast majority of dermatologists answering the survey reported having suffered one to five injuries (Goulart, J. et al., Abst P102).