Individualizing Treatment Selection in Atopic Dermatitis, With Harrison Nguyen, MD, MBA, MPH

At the 2026 Revolutionizing Atopic Dermatitis (RAD) Conference in Nashville, Harrison Nguyen, MD, MBA, MPH, spoke in an interview on the importance of individualized treatment selection in atopic dermatitis following his portion of a session at the meeting, highlighting ways in which clinicians should tailor therapy decisions to the unique needs of each patient.1,2

In his HCPLive interview, Nguyen identified quality of life as the single most important factor influencing his decision to escalate treatment from topical therapies to systemic options. While disease severity remains an important consideration, he noted that the impact of atopic dermatitis on sleep, daily functioning, work, and school often provides the clearest indication that additional intervention may be necessary. He also pointed to the burden of topical therapy itself, particularly among caregivers of pediatric patients, as an important but sometimes overlooked factor when evaluating treatment needs.

“The burden of having to apply topicals can be really challenging for caregivers,” Nguyen said. “We really want to understand the patient's journey [and] impacts on quality of life. Then from there, we also go into things like preferences, comorbidities, and of course, manifestations of disease.”

Beyond quality-of-life considerations, Nguyen described selection of treatments as being increasingly guided by different patient-specific factors. The factors include comorbid conditions, the preferences of individuals, and the anatomic distribution of one’s atopic dermatitis. For example, involvement of regions such as the head and neck, hands, or feet may impact the therapeutic choices clinicians make and help them to determine which available options are most appropriate for a given individual.

Nguyen also pointed to the rapidly expanding therapeutic landscape as having changed his approach to disease management. Rather than following a rigid treatment sequence, he highlighted the value of “meeting patients where they are” in their disease journey. In practice, he noted, this can mean recognizing when a patient’s disease burden warrants systemic therapy from the outset rather than requiring them to progress through multiple topical treatments first.

While Nguyen noted biologics often function as his preferred first-line systemic agent, he also noted the growing role of Janus kinase (JAK) inhibitors for select patients who may see benefit from that mechanism of action. The expanding number of available therapies, he explained, has created new opportunities to personalize care rather than rely on a one-size-fits-all treatment approach.

Nguyen had no relevant financial disclosures of note.

References

1. Nguyen H, Bunick C, Cotter D, Shahriari M. Medical Crossfire and Clinical Case Challenge. Session presented at: 2026 Revolutionizing Atopic Dermatitis Conference; June 17-19, 2026; Nashville, TN.

2. Nguyen H. Emerging Evidence in Atopic Dermatitis Management, With Harrison Nguyen, MD, MBA, MPH. HCPLive. June 19, 2026. https://www.hcplive.com/view/emerging-evidence-atopic-dermatitis-management-harrison-nguyen-md-mba-mph.