PeDRA

Pediatric Dermatology Research Alliance

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Webinar: Reviewing and Publishing – Making an Impact in Pediatric Dermatology

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Join us for a live webinar with co-editors of Pediatric Dermatology, Lionel Bercovitch, MD, and Andrea Zaenglein, MD, and chair of PeDRA’s Outcomes Committee, Carrie Coughlin, MD! This webinar will offer guidance to reviewers on how to evaluate a manuscript and advice to authors on preparing a strong manuscript for submission. These skill-sets are not only important for career success, but they help make a positive impact in the field of pediatric dermatology. The program will include a live Q&A with our wonderful speakers.

Presented in partnership with the SPD Junior Faculty and Fellows Committee.

Reviewing and Publishing – Making an Impact in Pediatric Dermatology
Wednesday, June 8, 2022, at 5:30 PM PT / 8:30 PM ET

register now

Bios coming soon

Three PeDRA Members Receive 2020 Research Awards from the Dermatology Foundation

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March 24, 2020 – The pediatric dermatology community is proud to recognize three PeDRA members as recipients of 2020 Research Awards from the Dermatology Foundation.  Lisa Arkin, MD of the University of Wisconsin received a Pediatric Dermatology Career Development Award for a project titled Towards a Precision-based Treatment for Facial Vascular Stains, Leo Shmuylovich, MD, PhD of Washington University received a Dermatologist Investigator Research Fellowship to study Laser Stimulated Thermal Imaging of Nonmelanoma Skin Cancer, andJoy Wan, MD, MSCE of the University of Pennsylvania received a Career Development Award for a project titled Neurocognitive Functioning of Children with Atopic Dermatitis. 

Together with Elena Hawryluk, MD, PhD (Pediatric Dermatology Career Development Award, year 3) and Jeff Yu, MD (Pediatric Dermatology Career Development Award, year 2), this brings the total of active Dermatology Foundation-funded PeDRA members to five, and impacts projects spanning three of PeDRA’s five working groups. 

Visit the Dermatology Foundation website for information on all Research Awards granted in 2020 and to learn more about future funding opportunities.  To learn about research funding opportunities from PeDRA, visit the Grants & Awards Page.  

Pediatric and Adolescent Vitiligo Guidelines

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Project Lead:

Nanette Silverberg, MD
Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai

Overview:

People with vitiligo lose their color progressively over time, in locations easily seen like faces and hands. Half of the vitiligo cases start by age 20, one-quarter by age 10 years, making this one of the most common pediatric skin conditions. Children with vitiligo get teased, bullied, and become self-conscious. There are no specific guidelines for the care of pediatric vitiligo. We will gather as experts in pediatric vitiligo to critically review published evidence and make informed recommendations to guide the care of children with vitiligo.

Status:

This project was funded through a 2021 PeDRA Consensus Grant.

Characterizing the Cutaneous Late Effects in Pediatric Hematopoietic Stem Cell Transplantation Recipients

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Principal Investigator:

Rebecca Levy, MD, FRCPC
Hospital for Sick Children, Toronto

Overview:

Hematopoietic stem cell transplantation (HSCT) is a procedure used to cure a variety of potentially fatal diseases, including cancers and genetic conditions. For HSCT survivors, we now understand there exist a variety of long-term complications that can impact different parts of the body, including the skin. The late skin complications of children who have undergone HSCT are poorly understood. This project aims to analyze data from linked provincial databases to define the risks and predictors of skin cancers in individuals who underwent HSCT at the Hospital for Sick Children. Furthermore, the project aims to enroll children from our specialized HSCT Late Effects clinic to better understand the spectrum of skin diseases, factors that might predict for these diseases, and determine impacts on overall quality of life. Ultimately, we hope that this study will improve the recognition and management of skin diseases in pediatric HSCT recipients to improve their overall care.

Status:

This project was funded by a 2021 Weston Career Development Award.

Noninvasive Molecular Diagnostic Tests for Pediatric Pigmented Lesions

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Principal Investigator:

Elena Hawryluk, MD, PhD
Massachusetts General Hospital

Overview:

This research proposal seeks to better understand moles in children: features that may prompt concern for a skin biopsy, and the natural characteristics of nevi from patients with diverse skin pigmentation. For the first aim, an exciting non-invasive tape test is used on pediatric lesions that are being biopsied, to determine whether the same signals that are useful to detect melanoma in adults are found in lesions from children. This test is promising to improve our detection of melanoma and reduce skin biopsies and procedures in children when they are not necessary. The second aim focuses on the documentation of the appearance of pigmented birthmarks in patients with a variety of skin tones. It is expected that pigmented lesions have very diverse features that may be appreciated and documented, and this effort will improve our understanding of normal moles and how they change naturally over time.

Status:

This project was funded by a 2021 Career Bridge Research Grant.

Characterization of the presenting cutaneous manifestations of juvenile dermatomyositis

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Principal Investigator:

Sonia Kamath, MD
Children’s Hospital Los Angeles
Keck School of Medicine of the University of Southern California (USC)

Overview:

Juvenile dermatomyositis (JDM) is a rare autoimmune disease, causing muscle weakness and rash. The skin findings are variable and are crucial to establishing the diagnosis, as they often occur months or years prior to muscle weakness. Some children have a classic rash affecting the eyelids and knuckles, while others have less common findings, such as scalp rash. To better understand the skin disease in JDM, we propose to evaluate the spectrum of initial skin findings. We will conduct a multi-center, retrospective review of children diagnosed with JDM to determine the prevalence of skin findings at initial presentation, whether the presenting skin findings can help identify patients who develop muscle disease, and whether skin findings vary by race/ethnicity. Our findings will inform future prospective studies to define distinct presentations of JDM, characterize long-term disease outcomes, and improve treatment approaches for JDM.

Status:

This project was funded by a 2020 PeDRA Research Grant.

Pharmacologic Characterization of NTI-001 as First-In-Class Gαq R183Q Mutant Small Molecule Inhibitor

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Principal Investigator:

Naiem Issa, MD, PhD
University of Miami Leonard M. Miller School of Medicine

Overview:

Sturge-Weber Syndrome (SWS) is a rare disease where a mutation causes abnormal capillary malformations affecting the skin, eyes, and brain leading to disfiguring skin changes, visual disturbances, as well as seizures and intellectual disability. A pharmacologic treatment at the root of SWS, the GNAQ (Gq) protein, is in critical need. Current drug development efforts have been focused on targeting proteins downstream of Gq. However, there is no small molecule drug that directly targets the Gq mutation causing SWS.

We discovered the drug NTI-001 to be the first small molecule inhibitor of Gq. This is a critical and historic milestone for not just SWS but also for G protein drug discovery at large as this is first-in-class and will serve as the framework for future drug discovery endeavors. Our proposal is to further assess NTI-001 as an inhibitor for the SWS-specific mutant of Gq known as the Gq R183Q mutant.

Status:

This project was funded by a 2021 PeDRA Research Grant.