Research Overview
Our group studies how injured tissues heal, and in some cases, how injured tissues regenerate without a scar. We have innovated new methods for studying wound healing and tissue regeneration in mice and humans. Based on our own findings, we are actively running clinical trials to bring these therapies to the clinic. Our group also studies inflammatory skin diseases. We are actively collecting human patient samples and performing genomics studies to understand the underlying pathophysiology of disease.
Mammalian Tissue Regeneration
Inflammatory Skin Diseases
Molecular Therapeutics
Skin offers an attractive site for development of new approaches in molecular therapeutics, and our laboratory is pursuing development of new molecular therapeutics for the treatment of skin and systemic disease. As a practicing dermatologist, my clinical expertise is genetic or inherited skin diseases. Between 2011-2015, I co-directed the Stanford multidisciplinary Epidermolysis Bullosa (EB) clinic. EB is an inherited skin disorder that causes blisters after even the mildest trauma. Children with the most severe subtype are considered the sickest of all chronically ill children. At Stanford, I participated in an innovative, cutting-edge clinical trial aimed to cure this disease. In that trial, we grew patient-specific skin cells, corrected the gene mutation in the lab, and then transplanted the corrected cells back to the patient. With my experience in genetic skin diseases and clinical trials, I intend to establish a similar program to tackle other genetic skin diseases.