Celebrating Women’s History Month by Honoring Women in Dermatology: A Sit-Down Interview With WDS Legacy Awardee Dr Adelaide Hebert

Women’s History Month is celebrated each year in March; therefore, it is time to celebrate the lives and contributions of all the women in dermatology (academia, private practice, and industry) who work tirelessly to heal patients and innovate therapies and devices. Thank you for all your hard work and dedication to the profession we all love—skin care.

Adelaide Hebert, MD

One organization in dermatology captures the spirit of Women’s History Month year-round: the Women’s Dermatologic Society (WDS). In March 2025, at the American Academy of Dermatology (AAD) Annual Meeting, the WDS is honoring one very special dermatologist in their 13th Annual Legacy Celebration: Adelaide Hebert, MD. Dr Hebert recently sat down with me at the South Beach Symposium in Miami, Florida, and reflected on her career and the lessons she has learned along the way. To my surprise, Dr Hebert was the first pediatric dermatology fellow in the US in 1984—she is a living trailblazer. There are now 400 pediatric dermatologists in the US, and to become board certified in pediatric dermatology, one must complete dermatology residency, a pediatric dermatology fellowship, and the pediatric board examination.

The WDS Legacy award is an amazing achievement and is meaningful to Dr Hebert, who said, “To be recognized by my colleagues in WDS is a great honor. This Legacy recognition represents the acknowledgment of many years spent serving the WDS. The WDS has so many deserving members who could be selected, so to have been chosen from among them means to me that I have embodied the best that is WDS.”

Remembering the visionary women who inspired her career, Dr Hebert stated, “The most influential woman in my career journey was Nancy B. Esterly, MD, the pediatric dermatologist at Children’s Memorial Hospital of Northwestern University in Chicago [now Ann & Robert H. Lurie Children’s Hospital of Chicago]. Dr Esterly was a brilliant, hardworking physician who endeavored to provide the best possible care for patients and to teach all she knew to those who had the opportunity to work with her. She was able to integrate all she had ever learned and apply her huge fund of knowledge to make the most complex of diagnoses and singular, strategic plans of patient care. Her initiation of the journal Pediatric Dermatology helped me to learn to be a better writer and editor of manuscripts.”

In addition to Dr Esterly, Wesley Galen, MD, was on the dermatology faculty at Tulane University School of Medicine when Dr Hebert matriculated there. Dr Galen encouraged students to learn as much as possible about each patient and to remain fearless in the journey of medicine. Dr Hebert noted, “Dr Galen brought me to my first WDS meeting, and I have been a member ever since.”

A man who played a major role on Dr Hebert’s career path was her father, who, she says, “was unquestionably the greatest influence in my life and career. He was an OB-GYN [obstetrician-gynecologist] who treated all my siblings equally and wanted each of us to achieve our full potential. He was very open about the challenges the women he cared for would face, like difficulty supporting a family if they had limited education and few job skills. He wanted all of us to be able to support ourselves and our families. He rarely took a day off (he was in solo OB practice) and had each of his children work in his clinic at some point in high school or college. He wanted us to value education and hard work. He lived to be 92 years old, and he did not give up practicing medicine until he was 78.”

When asked to look back at her career in dermatology and think about what accomplishments she was most proud of, Dr Hebert said, “Since joining the faculty at UTHealth Houston McGovern Medical School in February of 1986,
I am extremely proud of initiating pediatric dermatology clinics, helping to initiate a dermatology clinical trials unit that has conducted research for 40 years, starting cosmetic dermatology clinics and resident training in cosmetics, being in the WDS, and creating a WDS educational video library during the COVID-19 pandemic.” Like many educators, she feels “teaching and research have been the pillars of my career. My leadership positions have reflected my commitment to organizations that have enriched my career with friendships, opportunities, and experiences.”

I was particularly impressed that Dr Hebert has volunteered her time for 41 years for underserved and uninsured patients at San José Clinic. The clinic is said to be the longest continuously running indigent care medical clinic in the US, celebrating its 100th year of service to the Houston community in 2024. This spirit of service embodies the WDS, the AAD, and what Women’s History Month is all about.

One of the most important things a mentor can do is pass along career advice. When asked what lessons she had learned over her career that could inspire young women today, Dr Hebert replied, “I would ask my younger dermatology colleagues to work hard and commit to ongoing learning in dermatology. I hope all young (and ‘old’) dermatologists will want to be a part of WDS, where the friendships continue to grow, and educational and social opportunities await you.” She also noted that if she could go back in time and give her younger self advice, she would “tell myself not to take only 1 week of maternity leave. There was no maternity leave when I had my son.”

Looking toward the future, Dr Hebert would like to see increased representation of the youngest dermatology patients in clinical trials. This could ideally lessen disease progression, resulting in healthier, happier children and potentially fewer skin disorders that extend into adolescence and adulthood.

Dr Hebert believes there are few arenas and organizations in dermatology like the WDS. If you are not a member yet, she urges you to join the society. “You will have no regrets,” she says. Lastly, she generously shared her honor of being chosen as the Legacy awardee “with all members of the WDS.”

For those who wish to support Dr Hebert at her WDS Legacy celebration, the event takes place at the Ritz-Carlton, Grande Lakes Orlando, on Friday, March 7, 2025, from 8:00 to 11:30 pm EST as part of the AAD meeting. Please register and support our esteemed colleague, Dr Adelaide Hebert.

Christopher Bunick, MD, PhD, is an associate professor of dermatology and translational biomedicine at Yale School of Medicine in New Haven, Connecticut, and Dermatology Times’ 2025 editor in chief.