Co-Principal Investigators:
Minnelly Luu, MD – USC and Wynnis Tom, MD – UCSD
Overview:
Although atopic dermatitis (AD) affects all races and skin types with shared features of relapses and pruritus, it is a heterogeneous disease phenotypically. Anecdotal reports have noted that lesional morphology may depend on racial and ethnic background; however, few studies have systematically evaluated and quantified these clinical observations.
To address the gap in our understanding of morphologic variability across racial/ethnic groups, we are conducting a multicenter, prospective study to compare the frequency of defined morphologic subtypes in U.S. and Canadian children with untreated or minimally treated AD. As a secondary objective, we will characterize the morphologic presentation of pediatric patients with severe, recalcitrant AD. Lastly, we will build a patient registry with detailed morphologic data that can be utilized for future related biomarker studies.
We expect the findings to inform and improve therapeutic approaches and guide future studies to identify unique pathways and distinguishing biomarkers of AD across racial/ethnic groups.
Status:
This study was funded as a 2017 PeDRA Team Grant and is currently underway.