From Lifestyle to Lymphoma: Heather Goff, MD, MPH, Shares Diverse Insights at SDPA Fall 2025

At SDPA Fall 2025 in San Antonio, Texas, medical director Heather Goff, MD, MPH, professor of dermatology at UT Southwestern in Dallas, shared insights from her 3 sessions reflecting her diverse clinical and academic interests, ranging from lifestyle medicine and ethics to cutaneous lymphomas.

In her first talk, “Lifestyle in Skin Health and Disease,” Goff emphasized the dermatologist’s unique opportunity to impact patients’ overall health.¹ As many patients see their dermatologist more regularly than a primary care provider, even small lifestyle interventions can have broad effects on well-being. She highlighted diet, exercise, and sociability as key determinants of longevity and quality of life. For individuals aged 40 to 60, regular exercise, particularly resistance training, is the most significant modifiable factor influencing long-term health. In older adults, social engagement predicts life expectancy more than any medical variable, underscoring the importance of community involvement and purpose. Dietary guidance should focus on whole foods: at least half the plate composed of fruits and vegetables, emphasizing unprocessed foods and whole grains for both systemic and skin health benefits.

In “Ethical Dilemmas in Clinical Dermatology Practice,” Goff explored how ethical decision-making extends beyond medical algorithms.² She stressed the importance of aligning treatment plans with each patient’s values, goals, and support systems, ensuring transparent communication when perspectives differ between the clinician, patient, and family.

Her talk on “Cutaneous Lymphomas: Diagnosis and Treatment” focused on cutaneous T-cell lymphomas, particularly mycosis fungoides, a malignancy that can mimic benign inflammatory dermatoses like psoriasis and atopic dermatitis.³ Because these entities share T-cell–driven immunopathology, longitudinal assessment and serial biopsies are critical. Goff advocated for initial treatments, such as narrowband UVB, that offer benefit across differential diagnoses while minimizing harm.

Looking ahead, Goff expressed excitement about advances linking the gut microbiome, metabolomics, and skin health, as emerging AI and mass spectrometry tools reveal new diet–disease connections. She reflected on the dramatic progress in dermatologic therapeutics — from limited options 2 decades ago for conditions like vitiligo and alopecia areata to today’s transformative JAK inhibitors — emphasizing optimism for future breakthroughs, even in challenging diseases such as mycosis fungoides.

“It's important to remember that even diseases now that seem sort of full of despair and that there's no hope or that there's no real viable therapeutic options...new discoveries are always being made, and it will be exciting to see what the next 20 years have to bring,” Goff concluded.

References

1. Goff, H. Lifestyle in Skin Health and Disease. Presented at: Society of Dermatology Physician Associates Fall 2025 Conference; November 5-9, 2025; San Antonio, Texas.

2. Goff, H. Ethical Dilemmas in Clinical Dermatology Practice. Presented at: Society of Dermatology Physician Associates Fall 2025 Conference; November 5-9, 2025; San Antonio, Texas.

3. Goff, H. Cutaneous Lymphomas: Diagnosis and Treatment. Presented at: Society of Dermatology Physician Associates Fall 2025 Conference; November 5-9, 2025; San Antonio, Texas.