Faculty:

Faculty selected for CDNPPA educational programs are master clinicians who are expert NP & PA educators. Decades of experience and leadership enable faculty to engage dermatology colleagues for effective learning that impacts their professional practice and optimal patient outcomes.

Course Director:
Margaret Bobonich, DNP, FNP-C, DCNP, FAANP
Douglas DiRuggiero, DMSc, MHS, PA-C
Leigh Ann Pansch, MSN, FNP-C, DCNP

Faculty:

Matthew Bruno, MSPAS, PA-C
Kara Mudd, DMSc, MSPAS, PA-C
Veronica L. Richardson, MSN, ANP-BC, DCNP

Center for Dermatology NPs and PAs

Margaret Bobonich, DNP, FNP-C, DCNP, FAANP, is the founder of the Center for Dermatology Nursing Practice (CDNP) and the Center for Dermatology NP PA (CDNPPA), educational companies dedicated to advancing dermatology nurse practitioner (NP) and physician assistant (PA) education.

Dr. Bobonich is an Assistant Professor at Case Western Reserve University (CWRU) School of Medicine and Frances Payne Bolton School of Nursing. With over 40 years of nursing experience, she has focused her clinical practice on immunodermatology, as well as managing complex skin conditions such as atopic dermatitis, psoriasis, and blistering diseases.

A leader in dermatology education for over two decades, Dr. Bobonich served as faculty in the CWRU medical dermatology residency program and created the innovative 2-year interdisciplinary post-Master’s Dermatology NP Residency at UHCMC in 2015. Her doctoral research led to the seminal publication, A Core Curriculum for Dermatology NPs: Using Delphi Technique (Bobonich & Cooper, 2015), which laid the foundation for dermatology NP education. She also co-chaired the national task force that established the Professional Competencies for Nurse Practitioners in Dermatology (Bobonich & Nolen, 2018), a document awarded the American Association of Nurse Practitioners’ first Open Access Award in 2019 for its significant impact on NP practice.

As a Fellow of the American Association of Nurse Practitioners, Dr. Bobonich launched the first Dermatology Specialty Group within the AANP. She co-edited Dermatology for Advanced Practice Clinicians, 2nd ed. and continues her research to identify gaps in education and practice for dermatology NPs and PAs. As a member of the Dermatology Nurses’ Association National Task Force, Dr. Bobonich contributed to the revision of Dermatology Nursing: Scope and Standards of Care published in 2020. In 2021, she co-founded the Florida Atlantic University Post-Master’s Dermatology NP Certificate program.

Recognizing the rapidly growing influx of NPs and PAs into dermatology along with their knowledge gaps, Dr. Bobonich is committed to the educational and professional preparation for all advanced practice providers in dermatology. She has expanded the 2025 Dermatology Essentials and Advanced Pharmacology for NPs and PAs to address the unique learning needs of early-career clinicians, as well as those preparing for certification. Most importantly, the course has been enhanced to provide an intensive focus on pharmacology so that dermatology NPs and PAs can competently and confidently prescribe new therapies.

Faculty Bios:

Douglas DiRuggiero, DMSc, MHS, PA-C

Douglas completed a Doctorate of Medical Sciences (DMSc–Lynchburg University) in 2019 and was inducted into Phi Kappa Phi National Honor Society for doctorate-level academic excellence in Clinical Research. After practicing Internal Medicine for 2.5 years, he specialized in dermatology 24years ago.  With more than 215,000 dermatology patient encounters, Douglas enjoys medical and surgical dermatology, clinical research, publishing, and mentoring.  Having delivered over 750 invited medical lectures and authored multiple textbook chapters and more than 50 peer-reviewed publications, he is a nationally recognized medical educator (national speaker bureau for Medscape, WebMD, NPF, and VisualDX).  Additionally, Douglas has acted as a principal and sub-principal investigator in clinical trials and been awarded a National Clinical Science Award for published research, Clinical Preceptor of the Year by the Emory University PA Program, Most Influential Clinical Preceptor by the Kennesaw State University Nurse Practitioner Program, Community Clinical Teacher of the Year by the Floyd Family Medicine Residency Program (the only PA to receive that honor), the Humanitarian PA of the year for the state of Georgia, and is the recipient of both the prestigious Whitehouse  Presidential Volunteer Service Lifetime Achievement award and the “Top Physician Assistant” honor by the International Association of Healthcare Professionals.  He sits on the editorial board of several scientific journals, was the only PA on the executive board of the Dermatology Hall of Fame and was named the2019National Dermatology PA of the Year and 2022 Medical Educator PA of the year by the Society of Dermatology Physician Assistants (SDPA) and America’s Top Dermatology PA of 2022 by Point of Care Network, the nation’s largest PA/NP network. Douglas started the Georgia Dermatology PA Society, the first state dermatology group in the country and has served as President of the NY Society of Dermatology PAs.  He is a founding board member of the Dermatology PA Foundation and co-founded a health care clinic for the homeless in 2003, which continues to operate today.  Douglas and his daughter created the journal, “Emerging Female Scientist,” the first peer-reviewed scientific journal for high school females.  In 2024 he co-founded the Journal of Dermatology for NPs & PAs (JDNPPA).  He was selected as the first PA on the medical staff of the AAD Camp Discovery (Minnesota) and has done mission work in Haiti, St. Lucia, Russia, Mexico, and Israel. His wife of 30 years, Karen, and their three children are his most-prized possessions

Leigh Ann Pansch, MSN, FNP-C, DCNP

Leigh Ann Pansch is a Certified Dermatology Nurse Practitioner practicing in Cincinnati, Ohio. Leigh Ann received her Bachelor of Science in Nursing at Thomas More University in Kentucky. She has worked in women’s health, pediatrics, and nursing education for the University of Cincinnati and Cincinnati Children’s Hospital Medical Center where she was the first nurse to hold joint faculty appointments. She completed her Master of Science in Nursing with a family medicine focus at the University of Cincinnati College of Nursing and Health in 2010. She is a national speaker on topics such as pediatric dermatology, melanoma, and psoriasis and enjoys educating hundreds of high school students yearly on sun safety. She has worked as a Dermatology Nurse Practitioner since in pediatric, private practice, and hospital settings. Leigh Ann is currently the co-chair of the American Academy of Nurse Practitioners Dermatology Specialty Practice Group, faculty advisor for Maui Derm NPPA, Faculty for the Dermatology Certified Nurse Practitioner Review Course, and the Secretary for the Dermatology Nurse Practitioner Certification Board Quality Improvement Committee. She is an advisor for the Nurse Practitioner Society. Leigh Ann is married with three daughters.

Veronica L. Richardson, MSN, ANP-BC, DCNP

Veronica Richardson is a dermatology certified nurse practitioner who currently practices in the Department of Medical Dermatology at the University of Pennsylvania’s Perelman Center for Advanced Medicine in Philadelphia, PA.  She obtained both her undergraduate and graduate degrees from the University of Pennsylvania School of Nursing. Her NP career began on a fast paced inpatient hospitalist medicine service, where she gained invaluable experience caring and managing acutely ill patients and was lovingly dubbed “The rash queen” by her peers. In 2011she left rounding the busy halls of the hospital to take on a new challenge of being the first Advanced Practice Provider in the Department of Dermatology at the University of Pennsylvania. For the past 9 years, Veronica has been caring for patients with a wide variety of dermatologic conditions from simple to complex. She has a special interest in caring for patients with Psoriasis, as well as a passion for educating Advanced Practice Providers about Dermatology. In 2017 she combined her interests in education and Psoriasis and was invited to sit on the medical advisory board of the National Psoriasis Foundation, where she is the Chairperson of the Advanced Practice Providers Psoriasis Education Program. Outside of work she enjoys spending time with her husband, being a dog mom, running, snowboarding, paddle boarding and traveling.

Matt Bruno, MSPAS, PA-C

Matthew Bruno PA-C attended Louisiana State University where he completed a double Bachelor of Science degree in Zoology and Plant Biology in 1999 and an additional Bachelor of Science in Physician Assistant Studies in 2006. He has been in clinical practice as a dermatology physician assistant (PA) at the Dermatology and Skin Cancer Surgery Center (DSCSC) in Allen, TX since 2006 with a special interest in psoriasis and atopic dermatitis. He serves as the Director, Advanced Practice Providers (APP) at DSCSC, overseeing 11 APPs across 14 clinics. In addition to his director duties and full-time clinical practice, Matt has academic appointments as Adjunct Professor at University of North Texas and St. Francis of Assisi plus is a clinical preceptor for Physician Assistant (PA) and nurse practitioner (NP)students from University of North Texas, University of Texas-Medical Branch, Touring University, Mary-Hardin Baylor, Texas Tech University, South College Knoxville, and Tennessee & Bethel University. Matt has served in multiple leadership roles including on the Legislative Affairs (2021-present), Continuing Medical Education (CME) (2020-2021), and Conference CME Committees of the Society of Dermatology Physician Assistants. He is a frequently invited speaker at conferences, educational events, CME, and holds positions of faculty at Maui Derm NP+PA and the Dermatology Education Foundation.

Kara Mudd, DMSc, MSPAS, PA-C

Kara Mudd, is a board-certified physician assistant practicing in dermatology in Louisville, KY.  She received her Master of Science in Physician Assistant Studies from the University of Kentucky, and her Doctor of Medical Science through the University of Lynchburg.  She is currently involved in PA education as an Assistant Professor at Sullivan University and Adjunct Professor at the University of the Cumberlands.  Throughout her 16years of clinical experience, Kara has maintained a strong passion for dermatology, research, and educating future PA students. Her clinical focus in on allergic contact dermatitis, atopic dermatitis and patch testing. She is a co-investigator in various research studies, has authored publications and is on several advisory boards for dermatology.  Kara is also a Diplomate Fellow of the Society of Dermatology Physician Assistants.  She resides in Louisville with her husband and two children.