I am a board certified dermatologist with 35 years of professional experience in a wide range of international health settings.

Having worked mostly in developing countries, I focused on combining hands-on dermatological practice with leadership to establish dermatological specialist services for large populations in need. In this role I have had the opportunity to train several generations of Cambodian dermatologists, to negotiate with local health officials and international aid agencies, to assess the local burden of dermatological disease, to design appropriate central and rural service models, and to ensure suitable means for quality management in dermatological services. Working across diverse cultures with different health beliefs and practices, I was able to employ the knowledge I had acquired earlier in my career whilst preparing for my PhD in Cultural Anthropology.

Thus, the principal areas of my professional experience can be characterized as:

• Tropical dermatology and venereology
• Dermatology for skin of colour
• Infectious diseases of skin incl. dermatological manifestations of HIV/AIDS
• Sexually transmitted infections
• Management of above conditions by setting up dermatological clinics and consultations, particularly under resource-poor conditions
• Teaching dermatology/STI at under- and postgraduate level
• Impact of folk medicine on academic medicine in traditional cultural settings

Having worked in South America (mainly Brazil), South Asia (mainly Pakistan) and South East Asia (particularly Cambodia) I had the privilege to co-operate with people of very diverse personal and professional backgrounds. My way of seeing and practicing medicine has been shaped thoroughly by this experience.