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Drug repurposing to strengthen EBS skin cells

by Prof Albena Dinkova-Kostova, 19th May 2026 (Last updated 19th May 2026)

Albena Dinkova-Kostova, with brown hair and glasses smiles outdoors, wearing a green quilted gilet and standing in front of flowering trees.

I am Albena Dinkova-Kostova, a Professor of Chemical Biology at the University of Dundee School of Medicine.

Which aspect of EB are you most interested in?

I am interested in EBS and the keratin proteins that give skin cells their strength. There are lots of keratin proteins and EBS is usually caused by a genetic change that affects production of keratin-5 or keratin-14. My particular interest is a protein that can make skin cells produce more keratin.

For many years, I have been working on this protein called Nrf2. It exists inside skin cells in an ‘inactive’ form but can be switched to its active form by certain substances such as sulforaphane, which is found in broccoli. Another substance that activates Nrf2 is a medicine called omaveloxolone that is licensed to treat the symptoms of Friedreich’s ataxia, another rare genetic condition, and could potentially be repurposed for EBS.

I am interested in the possibility of improving skin strength in EBS by using Nrf2 activating drugs that boost the production of keratins, to compensate for the defective keratin-5 or keratin-14. An added benefit of this approach is that activation of Nrf2 helps to reduce inflammation, another process that contributes to skin fragility in EBS.

 

What’s great about where you work?

Dundee Art Museum with layered, angular design beside a body of water, under a partly cloudy sky.

Dundee is the birthplace and home of RRS Discovery, the steamship whose first mission was the British National Antarctic Expedition (1901-1904) led by Robert Falcon Scott and Ernest Shackleton, known as the Discovery Expedition. Scientific discovery is in the heart of the University of Dundee’s mission to improve lives, locally and globally. The open sharing of ideas and resources, together with strong collaboration between clinical academics and basic scientists, makes this a very special place.

 

What difference will your work make to people living with EB?

I hope that one day Nrf2 activators will be used to improve skin strength and reduce inflammation. Ultimately, this work could lead to repurposing the existing medicine, omaveloxolone, that activates Nrf2 to restore skin health in people with EBS.

 

Who/what inspired you to work on EB?

Many years ago, whist working on Nrf2 in the lab of Paul Talalay at Johns Hopkins University, we collaborated with Pierre Coulombe who had discovered one of the keratins that causes EBS. Experiments by Michelle Kerns in Pierre’s lab showed that using an Nrf2 activator could overcome the skin blistering in EBS. This was a really exciting finding, but at that time there was no Nrf2 activator licensed for use in people. The recent approval of omaveloxolone for clinical use by the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) in 2023, and subsequently by the European Medicines Agency (EMA) one year later, was a huge inspiration for us to resume our work on EBS. The possibility for drug repurposing, substantially reduces the time and costs for a medicine to reach people living with EBS.

During my time working with Paul, Pierre and Michelle, and continuing to today, my greatest inspiration comes from discussions with patients, colleagues and collaborators, including Peter van den Akker, Irwin McLean, Birgitte Lane, Robyn Hickerson and Aileen Sandilands. Finding answers to scientific questions and making new discoveries is hugely inspirational as are the times when my students and postdocs present their research to the scientific community and receive awards for their work.

 

Albena Dinkova-Kostova poses indoors with three students holding certificates and smiling at the camera.

 

What does the funding from DEBRA UK mean to you?

Funding from DEBRA UK is hugely important as it allows us to test our ideas and hopefully, ultimately improve the lives of people with EBS. Being a rare disease, it is inevitably more difficult to obtain EBS research funding from other organisations, which often prioritise funding for research addressing common medical problems.

 

What does a day in your life as an EB researcher look like?

As for all scientists, no day is the same as the previous one. The daily activities include reading, exchanging ideas, planning and discussing experimental details with colleagues and collaborators, analysing the results of experiments, determining the next steps, writing papers describing the experimental outcomes, and writing grant applications to fund continued research. Other responsibilities are teaching and assessing undergraduate students, as well as administrative duties. Again, the various day-to-day interactions with students and colleagues, discussing scientific problems and searching for potential solutions, are what makes each day unique and exciting.

 

Who’s on your team and what do they do to support your EB research?

My current colleagues in the lab are Billy James, a PhD student, and Aileen Sandilands, a postdoctoral researcher. Aileen is a highly experienced skin geneticist who is the primary investigator on our EB project. Although Billy’s project is different, in his experiments, he also uses omaveloxolone, which provides us with further information on what this drug can do in other disease contexts. We work very closely with our collaborators at the University of Groningen, Peter van den Akker, a clinical geneticist and EB expert, Jeroen Bremer, an expert in skin tissue models, and Marieke Bolling, a clinician who sees patients with EB. We also collaborate with Robyn Hickerson, the co-inventor of the tensioned skin model that we use in this project.

 

An Atlantic puffin stands on rocky ground, its beak full of small fish.

How do you relax when you’re not working on EB?

I relax by walking in the forests and along the coasts of Scotland. I find these walks refreshing, stimulating, and inspiring as I see the seacoast and forests continuously changing.

It is amazing how tiny islands, such as the Isle of May, can provide homes to thousands of nesting seabirds that peacefully coexist with each other. And the funny-looking puffins are always ready to pose for a photo, carrying multiple small fish in their beaks!

 

What these words mean:

  • Keratin = a protein that forms tough fibres to give cells a supportive skeleton – found in skin, hair and nails
  • Nrf2 = a protein that can control production of other proteins that protect cells from damage
  • Clinical academic = a medical doctor who also carries out research as well as treating patients
  • Basic scientist = a scientist who carries out research that doesn’t involve patients