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As a board certified dermatologist involved in clinical care for the past 25 years, and an Associate Clinical Professor of Dermatology at Mount Sinai School of Medicine, and an author of numerous books, by-line articles, and audiotapes on skin care and skin care product formulation, Expert is thoroughly familiar with all forms of topical systemic, and light-based acne therapies, including those on the absolute cutting edge of acne treatments. He is thoroughly familiar with formulation and uses of antibacterial soaps and cleansers and has lectured on this subject.


As a dermatologic surgeon and Fellow of the American Society of Dermatologic Surgery and Fellow of the American Academic of Cosmetic Surgery, Expert is thoroughly familiar with the pathophysiological development of and the diagnosis and management of acute traumatic and surgical wounds, as well as the care of acute infected wounds. He is also very familiar with pathophysiological evolution of and the diagnosis and management of acute traumatic and surgical wounds, as well as the care of acute infected wounds with all the newer kinds of wound care dressings and bandages, including the ever widening variety of "Band-Aid" products currently advertised.


Ascorbic acid, or vitamin C, is important as an antioxidant and a vital player in collagen synthesis and wound healing. It is also used as a preservative in cosmetic creams. Expert is thoroughly familiar with its uses both systemically and topically in the treatment of photoaging and photodamage. Expert has written extensively about this and other of the newer ingredients that have come to the marketplace to stand beside Retin A and glycolic acid in the forefront of antiphotoaging therapy.

As a board certified dermatologist in private clinical practice for the past 25 years and an Associate Clinical professor of Dermatology at the Mount Sinai School of Medicine in New York City, and the author of a dermatological guide to child and infant skin care. Expert is thoroughly familiar with formulation and uses of wide variety of infant personal care products, such as infant cleansers, shampoos, and particularly those related to preventing and treating diaper rashes and "napkin dermatitis."

Expert notes that ceramides are important natural lipid components of the skin's barrier. According to Expert, products formulated with high concentrations of ceramides have proven therapeutically useful in dealing with severe dry skin problems and even in treating overt eczema by reconstituting the normal skin barrier and reducing transepidermal water loss. Some of the more esthetically formulated ceramide-containing creams are marketed for reduction of the appearance of fine lines and wrinkles.

Both as a board certified dermatologist and a board certified internist, Expert possesses nearly 30 years' experience in the management of a wide variety of chronic ulcers--including diabetic and vascular ulcers, as well as ulcerations unique to a host of dermatologic conditions and malignancies, such as pyoderma gangrenosum.

Expert notes that chronic wounds are those that persist beyond the anticipated time for complete healing. Many factors, including the presence of ongoing infection or inflammation and the underlying nutritional and immune status of the patient impact on these wounds. Both as a board certified dermatologist and a board certified internist, Expert possesses nearly 30 years’ experience in the management of a wide variety of chronic wounds -- traumatic or iatrogenic.

Expert notes that clinical medicine can be defined as direct physician-with-patient contact in the diagnosis and management of disease. It is to be distinguished from such behind the scenes fields, such as radiology and pathology and from bench laboratory research. As a board certified dermatologist and board certified internist in private clinical practice for 25 years, and an Associate Clinical Professor of Dermatology at Mount Sinai Medical Center in New York City, Expert possesses extensive direct clinical patient care experience.

Expert notes that cocoa butter, or theobroma oil, is a solid fat derivative of the cocoa plant and an important ingredient that is used to soften and lubricate the skin. It is found in a wide variety of skin care products including lipsticks, rouges, and emollients, as well as in massage creams and suppositories. It is a possible cause of certain allergic skin rashes.

Expert notes that a cosmetic product is defined as any topical formulation intended for the purpose of beautifying or enhancing the skin without affecting its structure or function (i.e., its anatomy or physiology). Expert has written extensively in regards to cosmetic products by category and their specific ingredients.

Expert notes that dandruff, or scaling (and often accompanied by itching), of the scalp is the mildest, least inflammatory form of seborrheic dermatitis. Dandruff products include shampoos and lotions, either as OTC or prescription items. These products are intended to treat seborrheic dermatitis of all levels of severity.

Expert notes that a deodorant is a product intended to reduce body odor, usually in the axillary (armpit) areas. Deodorants are sold as creams, sticks, or roll-ons. A true deodorant may simply consist of a masking fragrance, although most current products are combinations of odor-masking fragrances and antiperspirants, the latter being ingredients intended to actually decrease sweat formation. He has a great deal of experience with products intended to mask odor or control the production of perspiration, are typically formulated as creams, roll-ons and sticks

Expert notes that depilatories are topical hair removing agents that work by dissolving hair. In times past, chemical depilatories primarily contained sulfides, which, while quite effective in dissolving hair, left an unpleasant odor of rotten eggs on the skin. Today most depilatory products contain thioglycolic acid, which smell better and are less irritating. Physical depilatories are another kind topical of hair-removing preparation. These are typically made of waxes, rosin, paraffin and petrolatum and are intended to harden around the hairs and pull them out.

Expert notes that dermatology is the field of medicine involved with the diagnosis and treatment of conditions involving the hair, skin, nails, and exposed mucous membranes (including the conjunctiva, nares, oral mucosa, etc.). Expert was the Guest Editor of a Lippincott publication regarding mucous membrane diseases.

Expert notes that disease is generally defined as the absence of health and the presence of some pathophysiologic process. Diseases may be local or systemic and generally fall into one of the following categories: infectious, inflammatory, neoplastic, metabolic-degenerative, and collagen-vascular. As both a board certified internist and a board certified dermatologist, Expert has had the unique opportunity of studying and treatment a wide variety of internal and cutaneous diseases.

Expert notes that an electrocautery instrument is one that works by using electrical current to generate intense heat. These instruments are typically used for hemostasis and destruction of lesions. Expert has extensive personal experience in the use of this modality for both routine surgical and cosmetic procedures.

Expert notes that electrosurgical instrumentation generally refers to all surgical instruments that are powered by electricity. Such devices may take the form of electrocautery devices, radiosurgical devices, as well as those used for electrodessication and electrofulguration. Expert has perfected a number of cosmetic uses for these modalities.

Expert notes that epithelization is the process of regeneration of the epithelial tissue of the skin following traumatic or surgical injury or disease. Epithelization is part of the normal wound healing process of the skin that includes other steps such as dermal regeneration and neovascularization and scar formation and contraction. During his tenure as a Chief of the Outpatient Clinic within the Department of Dermatology of Mount Sinai Medical Center in New York City, Expert had the opportunity of lecturing on this subject numerous times.

Expert notes that shampoos, conditioners, dyes, straighteners, and antidandruff products all fall under the umbrella definition of hair care products, i.e., those products intended to beautify the hair, increase in manageability, improve the scalp, or change the nature of the hair fibers themselves (i.e., by coloring, bleaching, straightening, or curling).

Internal Medicine, a field in which Expert holds board certification in addition to his board certification in dermatology, is the area of medicine that broadly involves itself in the diagnosis and treatment of diseases of the internal organs (most specifically the heart, lungs, kidneys, liver, GI system and immune systems). Today, many internists function as primary care physicians and there is much overlap these days between Family Medicine specialists and internists.

Expert notes that keloids, more common in blacks than in whites, are an exuberant overgrowth of fibrous tissue that develops subsequent to the healing of a traumatic, infectious, or surgical wound. In contrast to hypertrophic scars, keloid scars typically grow and spread beyond the confines of the borders of the original wound and seldom spontaneously shrink and resolve. Expert is the lead author of a medical paper describing the management of large keloids.

Expert notes that a lesion is an identifiable macroscopic medical abnormality in a particular tissue. In the skin, lesions may take the shape of macules, papules, pustules, vesicles, ulcers, scales, crusts, atrophy, ulcers, sclerosis, and pigmentary alterations. He has written extensively on cutaneous lesions.

Expert notes that lipid-free cleansers, often also referred to as sensitive skin cleansers, are any of a group of synthetic, organic, liquid, or water-soluble agents, that, unlike soap, are not prepared form fats and oils and are not inactivated by hard water. Expert covers the subject of cleansers and cleansing ingredients more fully in his book regarding skin care products (specifically anti-aging).

Expert notes that lipstick is a cosmetic formulated primarily of a mixture of oil and wax in a stick form to which certified dyes are added for coloration. Sheer lipsticks include transparent coloring. Lipsticks are generally classified as regular, frosted, medicated, and sheer. The formulation and uses of makeups is more fully discussed in Expert's books regarding adolescent and aging skin care.

Expert notes that topical medications and cosmetics may be broadly formulated in several ways--as creams, lotions, gels, and sticks. In general, lotions are distinguished from cream formulations containing the same active elements by the amount of water in the preparations--lotions containing proportionately more water than creams. In general, lotions go on more smoothly, are less greasy, are more acceptable for application, especially in hairier areas.

Expert notes that skin bleaches are agents that are formulated to fade age spots, liver spots, post-inflammatory hyperpigmentation and other kinds of mottled discolorations of the skin. These products can be either OTC or prescription items. The most common ingredient employed is hydroquinone in varying concentrations. Other common ingredients used for this purpose include kojic acid and azaleic acid. Benaquin is a permanent bleaching agent that is sometimes used for people with vitiligo, a disfiguring condition characterized by patch loss of pigmentation, to create a uniformly white appearance to the skin.

Expert notes that sunscreens are personal care products intended to protect from ultraviolet light by absorbing incoming rays. Sunblocks, by contrast, protect by scattering the sun's incoming rays. There are a variety of sunscreening ingredients, among them PABA, oxybenzone, avobenzone, cinnamates and salicylates. Some are better for protecting from the UVB sunburning rays, and others more effective for blocking the UVA photoaging and malignancy-promoting rays. The SPF numbers on sunscreens refer only to their ability to protect from UVB. The higher the number, the greater the protection. Better UVA ingredients and standardization of an SPF number for the UVA range await further research.

Expert notes that topical antifungal agents are those OTC or prescription items intended to treat the presence of fungal infections of the skin or nails. Such agents may be fungicidal, i.e., capable of killing the fungi directly, or fungistatic, i.e., capable of arresting fungal proliferation, thus enabling the patient's own immune system to finish the job. Some antifungal agents have a narrow range of action, such as against yeast organisms. Others, such as cyclopirox, possess anti-inflammatory and antibacterial properties in addition to a broad spectrum of action against many yeast and fungi. Formulated in as a nail lacquer, cyclopirox has also shown some success as a topical monotherapy for nail fungus. Expert has been lead author in a number of medical articles on the subjects of the treatment of skin and nail fungal infections.

As a board certified dermatologist in private clinical practice for the past 25 years and an Associate Clinical Professor of Dermatology at the Mount Sinai School of Medicine in New York City, Expert is thoroughly familiar with the formulation and uses of deodorants and antiperspirants, astringents, toners, and clarifying lotions as well the management of adverse reactions and allergies to these products.

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Expert has written Ask the Expert books, reviewed and approved intended TV advertising, written product material, devised PR campaigns and contributed to marketing strategies for selected markets.Expert’s list of consulting clients includes but is not limited to the Westwood-Squibb Skin Care Information Center (1985-97); Cheesebrough-Pond's Intensive Care Research (1991-93); Bausch & Lomb (1992-95); Lever Bros. (Proctor & Gamble) (1994); Sandoz International (1993-94); Schering-Plough (1994-95); Institute for Medical Information (1995-present); Novartis (1997); Merz (1999-2000); Bradley Pharmaceuticals (1994-2002); and BioCell Collagen (2002-2003).Expert was the Skin Health and Beauty Expert for Runner's World Magazine from 2000-2002.Expert is a Media Resource (in the Division of Communications) for the American Academy of Dermatology (1992-present).