Unraveling Skin Biology From Molecular Insights to Clinical Applications
Our laboratory primarily focuses on inflammatory skin diseases and the development of novel therapeutic approaches
Our Research
Healing Diabetic Wounds
The laboratory has studied diabetic wounds for the past decade with a focus on membrane-based glycosphingolipids that modulate growth factor receptor signaling. Presently, our research trajectory is directed towards elucidating the role of subsets of cutaneous afferents in the context of both normal and diabetic wound healing processes.
Genetic and Inflammatory Skin Diseases
Amy Paller, MS, MD, is a pediatric dermatologist known for her expertise in caring for children with genetic disorders (e.g., ichthyoses and epidermolysis bullosa) and immune-mediated inflammatory skin diseases (e.g., atopic dermatitis, psoriasis and autoimmune disorders). Our laboratory has facilitated assessment of samples (biopsy, tape strips, skin swabs, blood) from children with these disorders and elucidation of underlying mechanism, particularly through omics analysis (transcriptomics, proteomics, lipidomics, microbiome).
Our laboratory uncovered the unique ability of spherical nucleic acids (SNAs), generated through the Chemistry Department at Northwestern University, to penetrate intact human skin, facilitating the delivery of oligomers capable of suppressing gene targets associated with diabetes, psoriasis, and scar formation.
Cutaneous Sensory Nerves and Itch/Scratch
The laboratory uses genetic modulation of specific nerve subsets in mouse models to evaluate not just the impact on wound healing, but also in a variety of mouse models of inflammatory skin diseases in which cutaneous innervation is altered. As an extension of this work, the Paller Laboratory is investigating the underlying molecular basis for itch and pain in skin disease and how sensory nerve subsets may contribute. Some of these studies with mice mesh with Paller’s ongoing clinical research on the same disorders in humans.
About Dermatological Research at Northwestern
Learn more about the research done in the field of dermatology here at Northwestern University Feinberg School of Medicine.