2024 Reunion of Champions

Dr. Fernanda H. Sakamoto, MD, Ph.D is an Assistant Professor in Dermatology at the Harvard Medical School, Wellman Center for Photomedicine, Massachusetts General Hospital, Boston, MA since 2006. She is a fellow of the AAD, fellow of the American Society of Lasers in Medicine and Surgery (ASLMS), a member of the Société Française de Dermatologie; of the Brazilian Society of Dermatology, of the Brazilian Society of Dermatological Surgery, of the Brazilian Group of Melanoma and of the International Society of Dermoscopy.

She is a physician-scientist and board-certified Dermatologist from Brazil.

Dr. Sakamoto’s research interests include laser and device therapies, PDT, acne, skin cancer, wound healing, and new material science. Working with translational and clinical sciences in academia and industry is Dr. Sakamoto’s field of interest. Currently, her work is focused on the development of new light-based treatments for acne and atopic dermatitis. Dr. Sakamoto has been a Co-Director of the Education Committee of the Wellman Center/MGH since 2017 and has served on the ASLMS Education, International Committees, Research and Development Committee, and Women in Energy Based Devices Committee of which she was the Chair in 2021. She was the Program Chair of the 2022 ASLMS Annual Meeting and has received the Best Overall Scientific Award, Best Clinical Science Award (twice) Bast Basic Science Award, the Horace Furimoto Award for Innovation, and the Ellet Drake Memorial Award for innovative laser procedures by the same society.

Dr. Sakamoto has contributed with over 30 scientific and clinical publications in peer-reviewed journals, and over a dozen book chapters in the major Dermatology textbooks. She is an inventor on seven US and international patents on innovations in Dermatology. She has contributed to the creation of FDA-approved technologies, including the micro-coring device for skin tightening; and Dr. Sakamoto is the primary inventor of laser for acne treatment.

She has served as Associate Editor for the Journal of Investigative Dermatology for 4 years and was Guest Editor of Lasers in Surgery and Medicine in 2012. Dr. Sakamoto maintains a cosmetic laser/device clinic in Brazil, and as a founding member of the Dream Beam Foundation, she is actively creating a free clinic and training center in Sao Paulo. In the past, has treated native Indians in the Amazon jungle. Dr. Sakamoto also works as a consultant to multiple laser and cosmetic companies in the US. Dr. Sakamoto lives in Boston with her husband, Rox Anderson, her 3 boys under the age of 8 years old, and her little dog, BB.