Date: 05/14/2025

Andrea Rustad, MD, is a dermatology resident interested in specializing in pediatric dermatology. She first met people with ichthyosis when volunteering at Camp Discovery in Minnesota. Hearing the stories of exclusion, bullying, and misunderstanding that children and adults with ichthyosis faced motivated Andrea to get involved in research and advocacy. When she started medical school at Northwestern University Feinberg School of Medicine in Chicago, she connected with Dr. Amy Paller and started to investigate bullying and its impact on mental and social health in children with ichthyosis and their families. When joining ichthyosis picnics and FIRST events, Andrea heard kids discuss how they rarely, if ever, identified with positive characters in books or movies.  This inspired her to create a children’s book that would raise awareness for ichthyosis - which would hopefully lead to less bullying due to misunderstanding - and to provide positive media representation for ichthyosis. 

Skin-Vincible, a story of a superstar with ichthyosis, was born! This book follows a young girl with CIE on the day she performs in a talent show, demonstrating that she is not defined by her skin and how she learned to be confident and stand up for herself. Along the way, the story teaches readers about ichthyosis and the extra skincare steps needed during the day. The book also features photos of real people with ichthyosis from around the world - you might see some familiar faces! This book has been translated into more than 4 languages and is available as an e-book in these languages. Andrea’s goal is that schools, pediatric clinics, libraries, and families with and without skin conditions will have this book on their shelves to teach kids to treat others who may be different from them with respect, kindness, and inclusion and to improve awareness of what ichthyosis is - the profits go to support FIRST!

Andrea is now in her first year of dermatology residency, and plans to pursue a fellowship in pediatric dermatology after residency. She is so grateful to the many amazing people she has met through FIRST and looks forward to staying connected with the FIRST community!