Among the many bright stars in our Department of Dermatology, there is one star that is shining so brightly the rest of us seem dim in comparison. The name of this star is Kathleen Depp. Why you might ask is she such a bright star? Well, let me tell you. She has done something that I’ll wager more than 50 percent of you have wanted to do, tried to do, but failed to do. And this is what it is: In the last year Ms. Depp has lost more than 100 pounds—108 at this writing.

We wanted to know Ms. Depp’s secret to her success. We asked the whys and the how of her weight loss. What was her incentive? “Age,” she said. She’s not really old yet, but she added she knew she needed to lose weight and she worried about the long-term consequences of her overweight state. Today she eats differently from 13 months ago. She concentrates on protein, vegetables and fruit. It’s not so much the calories that matter; it’s more about the kinds of foods she eats. What does she miss most? “Potatoes! That was the last thing I thought I would miss,” she said — probably a result of her Irish genes. But, she said, she eats a potato once in a while. And the best part of her diet and weight loss? She feels satisfied, not denied and loses weight at the same time.

Hurrah we all said! What a great job! We wanted to celebrate Ms. Depp! Let’s have a party!

So, to honor Kathee and congratulate her for her achievement, we held an at-work party — a CELEBRATE 100 party. We gave her a gift — a gift card for a dollar per pound of weight lost. We ate (mostly healthy food). And we sang. Luckily for us, we were led in song by our newest faculty member Michelle Tarbox, M.D., who has the voice of an opera singer. We sang three songs, “Let It Go” (the pounds, that is), “I Am Woman” (the males could not bring themselves to sing this one), and Louis Armstrong’s “What A Wonderful World.” We had a good time, with lots of smiles and lots of laughs.

And we wished our brightest shining star continuing success in her great achievement.