In addition to nucleic acid-based therapeutics, Dr. Hickerson is also interested in developing small molecules to treat genetic skin disease. To this end, her team is engaged in three collaborative projects with the Drug Discovery Unit and the National Phenotypic Screening Centre, both within the University.
Hickerson 1 (2019)
Development of a Skin Fragility Assessment Tool
About our funding
| Research Leader | Dr. Robyn Hickerson |
| Institution | Division of Biological Chemistry and Drug Discovery, School of Life Sciences, University of Dundee |
| Types of EB | All |
| Patient involvement | N/A |
| Funding amount | £38, 225 |
| Project length | 4 years |
| Start date | 01/09/2015 |
| End date | 2019 |
Project details
This project was granted funding to develop a skin fragility assessment tool to obtain objective clinical endpoints. These clinical endpoints are a meaningful measurement that helps map the occurrence of a particular disease or condition. In this case it will be for patients with all types of EB as well as other blistering disorders as there is a major requirement for research in this area needed.
The team at Dundee have designed the device that will allow a clinician to objectively and reproducibly measure multiple variables related to the minimum amount of trauma required to form a blister. The aims were to: (1) optimise the current design; (2) add the optics necessary to measure changes in the skin that are undetectable by eye; (3) test the device on control and EB patient volunteers; and (4) gain ethics and regulatory approval.
Clinical endpoints that are carried out by a dermatologist such as the number and the size of blisters are considered to be subjective measurements. However, collecting data on objective clinical endpoints is difficult to do. The tool will collect data on processes in the skin that have been subjected to blistering by performing a special kind of imaging of the skin that is being subjected to friction, so as to detect any changes (e.g. oxygenation, keratinocyte rupture) that precede macroscopic blistering.
The instrument will be built, tested and validated on both healthy volunteers as well as EBS patient volunteers. By identifying and validating these objective clinical endpoints, it will provide data in preparation for clinical trials in EBS.
Dr. Robyn Hickerson
Robyn Hickerson’s primary research focuses on drug discovery for rare genetic skin disorders. A major arm of this program is focused on nucleic acid-based therapeutics – specifically the development of strategies to deliver these potential therapeutics. Her team has developed novel and state-of-the-art ex vivo human skin models required for evaluation of delivery and efficacy. With programmes primarily focused on antisense therapeutics through a partnership with WAVE Life Sciences, the primary goal is to bring these molecules to the clinic within the next few years.