Meet the ABD Associate Executive Director, Exam Development
Julie V. Schaffer, MD
Julie Schaffer, M.D., is a pediatric dermatologist in the Division of Pediatric Dermatology and Department of Pediatrics at the Hackensack University Medical Center (HUMC) in Hackensack, NJ. She is also a professor of pediatrics at the Hackensack Meridian School of Medicine and director of the HUMC Pediatric Dermatology Fellowship.
Dr. Schaffer served on the ABD Board of Directors from 2012-2020, serving as president in 2020. Also, she is a member of the American Board of Medical Specialties (ABMS) Committee on Certification (COCERT).
Dr. Schaffer grew up in Fargo, N.D., as the oldest of five children. She earned a summa cum laude undergraduate degree in molecular biophysics and biochemistry and a cum laude medical degree from Yale University. She remained at Yale for her pediatric internship and dermatology residency, serving as dermatology chief resident. Dr. Schaffer completed a pediatric dermatology fellowship at New York University (NYU) School of Medicine and subsequently spent 10 years at NYU, where she was director of pediatric dermatology and director of dermatology resident education. In 2015, Dr. Schaffer joined the Pediatric Dermatology Division at HUMC, where she founded a pediatric dermatology fellowship.
Dr. Schaffer is a lead editor of the popular textbook Dermatology and has authored more than 85 peer-reviewed journal articles, more than 50 book chapters, and the Dermatology Essentials book. Currently, she is Associate Editor for the Journal of the American Academy of Dermatology and recently led development of the American Academy of Dermatology (AAD) Core Curriculum. Dr. Schaffer has contributed to and chaired committees for the AAD, Society for Pediatric Dermatology, Women’s Dermatologic Society, Dermatology Foundation, Accreditation Council for Graduate Medical Education (ACGME), and other organizations.
Honors for her clinical research and teaching include a Dermatology Foundation Career Development Award, AAD Young Investigator in Dermatology Award, and American Dermatological Association Young Leadership Award.
Fun Facts about Dr. Schaffer
Julie and her husband of 23 years, Andy, met at a New Haven party during college. They became lost trying to get back to campus and have been finding their way together ever since.
The Schaffers initially debated about whether to have two or three children but loved parenthood so much that they ended up with five: Evan (22; Yale Class of 2021), Harry (13), Sal (10), Jane (7), and Joey (4). They currently live on the Upper West Side of Manhattan.
Julie and Andy’s first “child” was actually Ellie, a pit bull mix they adopted from the East Haven pound in 1997. They now have two dogs, Lucy (sheltie/retriever/Chow mix) and Wilde (mini Aussie), who help them herd their flock of kids.
Sports and music keep the Schaffers’ life extremely busy. They are all avid soccer and tennis players (+ coaches/team managers), and Janie is a star gymnast (level 3 all-around NY state champion). The family also enjoys hitting the links together, with the men/boys trying to outdrive Julie, who was captain of the Yale golf team during college. The three older boys are accomplished guitarists, while Janie and Joey play the violin and piano.
Julie’s father, Henry Votava, MD, PhD, was a general pathologist in North Dakota for 30 years before beginning a Dermatopathology Fellowship at NYU in 2008 (at age 63) and then going on to direct Dermatopathology at Beth Israel in NYC. As a dermatopathology fellow, Dr. Votava enjoyed seeing live patients for the first time since medical school - especially in the pediatric dermatology clinic with Dr. Schaffer as his attending!
Quotes the Schaffer family lives by:
“Hard days are the best because that’s when champions are made.”
- Gabby Douglas
“Everything is practice.”
- Pelé
