And the 2024 American Acne and Rosacea Society’s Grant Award recipients are…
The AARS Clinical Research Scholar Grant
Jean McGee, MD, PhD, of the Department of Dermatology at Brigham and Women’s Hospital in Boston, has received AARS Clinical Research Scholar Grant.
The AARS Clinical Research Scholar Grant will fund Dr. McGee’s research into the effects of doxycycline on the gut microbiome of acne patients and the potential for environmental factors to modify these changes. She and her team will use various analytical techniques to compare the gut microbiome of acne patients who are undergoing doxycycline to that of those taking isotretinoin (non-antibiotic control). Dr. McGee says that she hopes the team’s findings will allow clinicians to, “take the first step toward optimizing antibiotic stewardship in dermatology that can effectively reduce the risk of antibiotic resistance and mitigate antibiotic-induced, metabolic and immunologic consequences in our patients.”
AARS Clinical Research Grants
Albert Young, MD, of Henry Ford Health Department of Dermatology and Nina Rossa Haddad, MD, of Johns Hopkins School of Medicine, Department of Dermatology received The AARS Clinical Research Scholar Grants
With funding from the Annual AARS Clinical Research Grant, Dr. Young and colleagues seek to identify biomarkers that may predict treatment response to adalimumab among individuals with hidradenitis suppurativa (HS). Their prospective cohort study will enroll 30 patients starting adalimumab for HS and analyze their blood immune profiles at baseline and after 12 weeks of treatment with the goal of identifying immune biomarkers associated with clinical outcomes.
Dr. Haddad and her team will explore the potential relationship between endocrine-disrupting chemicals (EDCs) like phenols and phthalates—found in ultra-processed foods as well as in plastics and food containers used for processed foods storage—and HS. An AARS Clinical Research Grant will support their efforts to collect sweat and skin biopsies from HS patients and healthy controls to compare EDCs levels between the two groups. “Proving that EDCs are causing HS and determining the exact pathway will allow for further understanding of the underlying mechanisms of HS and particularly shed light on the role of diet and the environment in its development,” Dr. Haddad says. “Understanding this aspect may pave the way for novel treatment strategies.”
These grants are conferred on an annual basis to support promising research aimed at improving the care of patients with acne, rosacea, and HS. Updates on the awardees’ research will be available from the AARS. Information on past awards can be found at acneandrosacea.org.
