Function

The British Epidermo-Epidemiology Society is a multi-disciplinary group that was formed in 1990 with the aim of stimulating and promoting high scientific standards of research into the epidemiology of skin disease and to facilitate publishing the results of such research. In addition to traditional descriptive epidemiology, the groups's remit also includes health services research as applied to dermatology and intervention studies such as clinical trials. The group represents a "half way house" between dermatologists and epidemiologists, public health physicians, social scientists and statisticians in order to encourage inter-disciplinary and collaborative research.

At the annual meeting, there is an emphasis on discussing methodological problems openly and for sounding out preliminary results. Overseas members are welcome at the BEES meetings and current membership stands at over 100. A formal constitution for BEES was agreed upon in January 1995 and an Executive Committee, chaired by Professor Hywel Williams, has been in place since. BEES is also a registered charity and an affiliated group of the British Association of Dermatologists. BEES runs a very popular 3-day course in evidence-based dermatology at Nottingham each year – usually in February. All those interested in epidemiology and health services research as applied to dermatology are encouraged to join BEES, to come to our meetings and courses and to work together collaboratively like the bees in nature.