Masterclass Series LA 23-25 October 2026

SPECIAL REQUEST MASTERCLASS

23, 24 & 25 October 2026

YOSAN UNIVERSITY, LOS ANGELES

This weekend offers the last opportunity in a long time for US students to participate in a live 3 day Masterclass in Dermatological, Auto Immune and Allergic Disease with Mazin Al-Khafaji.

Hosted at Yosan University in Los Angeles, Mazin's Masterclass is part of his acclaimed Masterclass series, topics have been combined from past lectures and were chosen by request from past students.

Three-Day Masterclass in Chinese Medicine Dermatology &

Autoimmune Disease

This three-day Masterclass will explore some of the most challenging and clinically significant areas of chronic inflammatory, autoimmune, and dermatological disease encountered in modern practice. Drawing on close to four decades of clinical experience, the program will examine the deeper pathological mechanisms that underlie chronic and recurrent disease, with particular emphasis on the relationship between inflammation, immune dysregulation, barrier dysfunction, and the evolving nature of pathology over time.

Through a series of interconnected lectures and detailed case histories drawn from my own clinical practice, I will discuss both classical theory and it's direct application in the treatment of complex modern disease. Particular attention will be given to how Chinese medicine can illuminate and address chronic inflammatory processes that are often poorly understood, persistent, relapsing, or resistant to conventional treatment.

Topics covered during the Masterclass will include:

1.     Lurking Pathogens (伏邪) - The Hidden Factor in Chronic and Recurrent Disease
An exploration of the classical concept of lurking pathogens and their role in chronic inflammatory, autoimmune, allergic, and recurrent skin disease. This lecture will examine how concealed pathological processes continue to drive relapse, smouldering inflammation, and immune dysregulation despite apparently successful short-term treatment.

2.     Addressing Complex Skin Disorders - Lessons from Clinical Practice
A discussion of difficult and uncommon dermatological disorders including lichen sclerosus, granuloma annulare, exfoliative cheilitis, pyodermatitis vegetans, eosinophilic dermatitis, pemphigoid, and other complex inflammatory diseases. Beyond the disorders themselves, this lecture will explore how such conditions can serve as windows into the deeper physiology and pathology described within Chinese medicine.

3.     Hashimoto’s Thyroiditis - A Chinese Medicine Approach to Autoimmune Hypothyroidism
An examination of Hashimoto’s thyroiditis as a model of chronic autoimmune disease, focusing on the evolving pathological patterns that underlie immune dysregulation, fatigue, systemic dysfunction, and long-term inflammatory imbalance.

4.     Topical Steroid Withdrawal (TSW) - A Clinical Perspective from Chinese Medicine
A detailed exploration of one of the most difficult presentations encountered in modern dermatology. Through extensive case material, this lecture will examine the profound barrier dysfunction, hypersensitivity, immune instability, and systemic dysregulation associated with TSW, together with treatment strategies aimed at restoring long-term stability and repair.

5.     Erythroderma - Managing the Most Severe Presentations of Inflammatory Skin Disease
A discussion of severe and widespread inflammatory skin disease, including erythrodermic eczema and psoriasis. Particular attention will be given to the management of acute crisis, systemic instability, barrier collapse, and the gradual restoration of physiological regulation through carefully adapted herbal treatment.

6.     The Six Vines - A Clinical Approach to Skin Disease of the Extremities
An exploration of six important vine herbs traditionally used in the treatment of diseases affecting the extremities. Through the treatment of psoriasis and eczema confined primarily to the limbs, this lecture will examine how these herbs help reach stubborn, chronic disease processes affecting the extremities and their role within broader treatment strategies for inflammatory skin disease.

Throughout the Masterclass, emphasis will be placed not only on treatment itself, but also on the deeper understanding of pathology and physiology within Chinese medicine. Many of the conditions discussed act as particularly clear clinical models through which broader pathological mechanisms such as Heat, toxicity, Dampness, Blood stasis, deficiency, lurking pathogens, immune dysregulation, and barrier dysfunction can be more fully understood. The course is therefore intended not simply as a discussion of individual diseases, but as a broader exploration of chronic inflammatory pathology and its treatment through Chinese medicine.