2018 Volume 64 Issue 5 Pages 353-357
Atopic dermatitis (AD) is a common skin disorder with evolving and complex pathogenesis. The research on pathogenesis has shifted from focusing primarily on the generalized immune system abnormalities, to skin barrier dysfunctions contributing to the overall phenotype. It is noteworthy to highlight Professor Hideoki Ogawa’s epoch-defining editorial review in the Journal of Dermatological Science, “A speculative view of atopic dermatitis: barrier dysfunction in pathogenesis” (1993). Under his outstanding guidance and collaboration, I have increasingly become aware of how to see and think about patients with AD. Prof. Ogawa is an exceptional teacher, a mentor, and a preeminent physician-scientist in the true sense, who vividly translates skin rashes into pathophysiology. Furthermore, he and his colleagues have succeeded in the treatment of patients with severe, long-standing, and intractable AD with psolaren photochemotherapy (PUVA). Such passionate therapeutic attempts have been strongly influenced by his own philosophies of “dream and spirit” and “a true clinician cures the patient.”
