Charleston, SC-based dermatologist Dirk M. Elston, MD, FAAD, is the next editor of the Journal of the American Academy of Dermatology.

Dr. Elston, the journal’s current deputy editor, will step into his new role in July 2018, succeeding dermatologist Bruce H. Thiers, MD, FAAD, who has served as editor for the past 10 years.

After receiving his undergraduate degree from Pennsylvania State University in State College, Pa., and his medical degree from Jefferson Medical College in Philadelphia, Dr. Elston completed an internship and a dermatology residency at Walter Reed Army Medical Center in Washington, as well as a dermatopathology fellowship at the Cleveland Clinic. He is currently the chairman of the department of dermatology and dermatologic surgery at the Medical University of South Carolina in Charleston.

Dr. Elston is a past president of the American Academy of Dermatology and the American Society of Dermatopathology, and he also has served on a number of AAD councils, committees and task forces, including the board of directors. A member of the Council of Dermatology Editors and the Council of Science Editors, he has had editorial roles with four other journals. He has authored more than 400 peer-reviewed publications and 84 textbook chapters.

“JAAD’s mission is to help dermatologists improve patient outcomes, and I will continue working toward that mission as I transition from deputy editor to editor,” Dr. Elston says in a news release. “In addition to ensuring that the journal continues to meet the evolving needs of the practicing dermatologist, I hope to further increase JAAD’s influence and establish the journal as a global resource in dermatology.”