2026 Call for Abstracts
The Canadian Dermatology Association is now accepting abstract submissions for the 2026 CDA Annual Conference. This uniquely Canadian educational event offers an exceptional opportunity to showcase your scientific contributions with the dermatology community from across Canada and beyond.
Please review submission guidelines below and proceed to ‘submit my abstract’ when ready. All abstracts submitted must comply with these guidelines to be considered for acceptance.
Submissions must be received electronically through the online submission form no later than Monday, January 12, 2026, 23:30 ET. Late or mailed submissions will not be accepted.
Submitters may return and edit their submissions until the deadline.
Abstract Submission Guidelines
FEE
There is no fee to submit an abstract.
ELIGIBILITY
All CDA Members and Associates are eligible to submit. Non-CDA members submitting an abstract must fall under one of two categories.
- Member
- Legacy Member
- Resident and Fellow Associate
- Retired Associate
- Associate
- Corresponding/Honourary Associate
Other Categories
Medical Student
Defined as any Canadian student enrolled in a MD or MDCM program.
*You will be required to upload proof of medical student status during the abstract submission process. Accepted documents include: valid student card, current transcript or class schedule, letter from supervisor
New this year! At least one Canadian Certified Dermatologist MUST be a co-author on the abstract being submitted for consideration by a medical student. Sponsorship by a CDA Member Dermatologist is no longer required.
Industry Sponsored
Any industry employed dermatologist or CDA Member Dermatologist submitting an Industry Sponsored abstract. CDA Members who received unrestricted support for a project, but maintained full control over the design, implementation, and analysis of a project, are not considered “Industry Sponsored”. Only submissions associated with confirmed sponsors of the conference will be considered. Presenting authors of Industry Posters are not required to register, however registration is strongly encouraged.
LANGUAGE
Abstract submission form is available only in English. Abstracts may however be prepared in either French or English and will be published in the language submitted. Please note that all conference sessions (including abstract presentations) will be conducted in English.
PUBLICATION AGREEMENT
Authors of accepted abstracts grant the CDA, its agents and representatives the right to use their names and abstracts in promotional and other materials published in relation to the annual conference and make the abstracts available on the conference website and mobile application.
Submission of an abstract implies that it has been approved by all listed authors. Submission of a case report implies that is has been approved by all authors AND that all patients referenced in the case have signed a patient consent/release form.
PREVIOUSLY SUBMITTED WORK
The CDA is willing to consider abstracts that have been – or will be – presented at other conferences or previously published. *You will be asked to list details related to previous or upcoming presentations during the abstract submission process.
JCMS ABSTRACT VOLUME SUPPLEMENT
The Journal of Cutaneous Medicine (JCMS) may also publish a special supplement of abstracts. Authors will be asked to choose to be included in this tentative publication when submitting an abstract. Should it be commissioned by the CDA, abstracts will be reproduced by the JCMS exactly as submitted and substitutions will not be permitted. Please note: Any previously published abstracts, or those awaiting publication, will not be included in the supplement.
PRESENTATION FORMAT
Abstract submissions will be reviewed for presentations in one of two formats: oral or e-poster. A limited number of opportunities for oral presentations will be offered. These will occur in two formats – oral presentation in a plenary session OR a “stand-by” digital poster presentation at a designated time. Those selected will be confirmed in their Notice of Abstract Acceptance letter.
Industry sponsored submissions will only be considered for e-poster presentation only.
TOPICS
All abstracts submitted must address one of the conference topics for inclusion in the program.
- Medical dermatology
- Surgical dermatology
- Cosmetic dermatology
- Pediatric dermatology
- Equity, diversity, inclusion
- Other
- Industry Poster – industry sponsored abstracts must be submitted under this category
ABSTRACT SPECIFICATIONS
Abstracts must be entered/pasted into the submission form. If having trouble with special characters, please submit the abstract, then contact cda@intertaskconferences.com for assistance.
- Titles should be limited to no more than approximately 150 characters (not including spaces). Please use Upper and Lower case, NOT UPPER CASE.
- Refer to generic names rather than brand names.
- Each abstract should have three parts:
- Introduction (75 word maximum)
- Methods, Results (200 word maximum)
- Conclusions (75 word maximum)
- Only one table OR one image may be uploaded (see also: IMAGE UPLOAD REQUIREMENTS).
- Include a takeaway message.
- Titles, learning objectives, takeaway messages, and tables/images will NOT be included in the 300-word count.
IMAGE UPLOAD REQUIREMENTS
Accepted abstracts may be published and or posted online. For optimal online viewing, it is recommended that only high-resolution images (300 dpi) be used. If submitting scanned pages, ensure pages are first scanned using a high-resolution setting. If uploaded images/charts/scans are not legible, they may be omitted from the published abstract.
ANONYMITY
Only FULLY ANONYMOUS versions of abstracts or case reports/series will be accepted for review. No identification of authors, institution of origin, geographic area, sources of funding, or author references may appear in the Title or Text. For example, do not state ‘the study was approved by the University of Ottawa REB’, rather, ‘Local Ethics Committee approval was obtained’.
AUTHOR REQUIREMENTS
All submissions MUST identify a presenting author, and the maximum presenters per abstract is one (1).
All correspondence will be sent to the submitter. It is their responsibility to communicate this information to any additional authors.
Except in the case of Industry Posters, presenting authors MUST register for the Annual Conference and pay the appropriate registration fee by March 16, 2026. Registration to the conference is not complimentary for abstract presenters. Failure to do so will result in the automatic withdrawal of the abstract from the program. If the presenting author is unable to attend the meeting, please notify the CDA of an alternate presenter.
If there is a change in the name or address of the presenting author prior to submission deadline of Monday, January 12, 2026, 23:30 ET, edit the abstract in the online submission tool. After this date, please contact: cda@intertaskconferences.com. New authors CANNOT be added to an abstract after the submission deadline.
ALL authors of accepted abstracts will be required to submit a conflict-of-interest disclosure for inclusion in the final program.
JUDGING CRITERIA
All abstracts will undergo a blinded peer-review process by the Review Committee. Authors should be careful to avoid submitting multiple datasets from one study as multiple abstracts. Multiple submissions from a single study or dataset will be excluded unless prior clarification and approval is provided. Abstracts with no data or incomplete data will be disqualified.
IMPORTANCE: The abstract addresses a significant and/or timely problem in patient healthcare and/or in one of the CanMEDS roles.
ORIGINALITY: The abstract challenges existing paradigms and/or presents new approaches. The abstract adds new information to present knowledge and/or provides information that was in doubt due to small sample sizes or other design issues.
CONTRIBUTION: The abstract makes a significant contribution to the field of dermatology. The abstract will change dermatologists’ practices and/or behaviours.
NOTICE OF ACCEPTANCE
Notification of acceptance or rejection will be emailed on or around February 16, 2026. All correspondence will be sent to the submitter. Acceptance notifications will also include instructions to prepare and submit materials for each abstract’s assigned presentation format (e-poster or oral presentation).
WITHDRAWAL
Written notification MUST BE sent by the submitter or the identified presenting author to withdraw an accepted abstract. Notification can be sent by email cda@intertaskconferences.com. The notification must include the abstract or case report/series title.
DISCLAIMER
The submission of an abstract does not constitute a contract between the Canadian Dermatology Association (CDA) and the abstract submitter and/or authors nor does it constitute acceptance that the abstract will be presented at the CDA Annual Conference either in person or via an electronic poster. A blinded peer-review process by multiple judges will occur following submission to select the successful abstracts for presentation at the CDA Annual Conference.
ACCREDITATION
The CDA Annual Conference will be an accredited group learning activity offering continuing medical education credits from the Royal College of Physicians and Surgeons of Canada and the American Medical Association.