STRATEGIC OBJECTIVES

• Characterize growth factors and transcriptional regulators involved in the proliferation and differentiation of skin stem cells and in the regulation of the hair cycle, as well as in pathologies related to the function/dysfunction of these cells.
• Implement new clinical therapies based on skin stem cells to promote skin regeneration: burns and wounds, chronic ulcers, and alopecia.
• Develop dermo-epidermal skin equivalents or next-generation artificial skin prototypes. Evaluate their use at a clinical level, as a disease model, or to assess response to topical treatments.
• Implement diagnostic methods and therapeutic targets for non-melanoma skin cancer, especially premalignant lesions such as actinic keratoses.
• Characterize the efficacy, safety, and improvement in morbidity and mortality of new molecules or biological drugs for the treatment of psoriasis, atopic dermatitis, and generalized vitiligo.
• Develop new technologies in the field of dermatological diagnostics. Incorporation of cutaneous ultrasound, confocal microscopy, and OCT in the diagnosis and monitoring of various skin diseases and their comorbidities.
• Clinical trials with novel therapeutic targets and development of prevention strategies in patients at high risk of non-melanoma skin cancer and transplant recipients.
• Description of the genes and trichoscopy patterns associated with different types of alopecia.
• Characterization of the clinical, histological, and immunological expression patterns in patients with severe drug reactions (TEN, DRESS syndrome, Stevens-Johnson syndrome).
• Development and standardization of laser and non-coherent light sources (LLLT, LEDs) as treatments, and sunlight or photodynamic therapy for various dermatological conditions (vascular malformations, ulcers, tissue regeneration, alopecia, acne).
• Creation of a gut microbiota biobank from patients with inflammatory and neoplastic dermatological diseases. Vitiligo treatment unit offering melanocyte transplantation for refractory cases of localized vitiligo.
• Operating in inter-service units for complex dermatological conditions: blister unit, lymphomas, apheresis, cutaneous reactions to chemotherapy, and rare severe inflammatory diseases.

RESEARCH LINES

Regenerative Dermatology and Stem Cells:

• Characterization of novel regulatory mechanisms of skin stem cells with potential applications in regenerative medicine and the treatment of various skin conditions.
• Characterization of molecular factors involved in skin stem cell-associated pathologies (alopecia and others).

Therapeutic Targets in Non-Melanoma Skin Cancer:

• Development of diagnostic methods and identification of therapeutic targets for non-melanoma skin cancer.

Clinical Dermatology:

• Identification of new molecules, targets, biomarkers, prognostic factors, comorbidity factors, and treatment response factors in inflammatory dermatological conditions.
• Implementation of non-invasive diagnostic imaging techniques in dermatological conditions.
• Development of treatments for advanced non-melanoma skin cancer and strategies for its prevention, including in high-risk patients.
• Genetic and trichoscopic characterization of alopecia.
• Characterization and treatment of severe adverse drug reactions and chemotherapy treatments.
• Research into the photochemical, photobiological, photomechanical, and photobiomodulatory effects of applying light sources in the treatment of skin diseases and malformations.
• Characterization of the microbiota associated with dermatological pathology.
• Development of melanocyte transplantation.
• Development of a multidisciplinary unit for complex dermatological patients.

Trichology:

• New therapies for androgenic alopecia (oral minoxidil).
• JAK inhibitors for alopecia areata.
• Genetic characterization of patients with frontal fibrosing alopecia.
• Microbiota analysis in patients with alopecia areata and folliculitis decalvans.