Making the News

Research

Gene for sex hormone synthesis could play key role in eczema

A study led by UT Southwestern dermatologists suggests that Atopic dermatitis (AD), a form of eczema, may stem from poorly regulated sex hormones. The finding, published this week in PNAS, could offer an unexpected new target to fight this condition.

“We often think of eczema as a dry-skin condition and treat mild cases with moisturizers,” said corresponding author Tamia Harris-Tryon, M.D., Ph.D., Assistant Professor of Dermatology and Immunology at UTSW. “Here, we’re showing that a gene that’s important for making sex hormones seems to play a role in the skin making its own moisturizers. If we could alter this gene’s activity, we could potentially provide relief to eczema patients by helping the skin make more oils and lipids to moisturize itself.”

AD affects up to 13% of children and 10% of adults, with an annual treatment cost of $5.3 billion in the U.S. alone.

Postdoctoral Fellow Appreciation Day

On September 23^rd, we gathered to celebrate our Postdocs with treats, post-it message posters, and fellowship. Thank you all for your amazing contributions this year!

Postdoc Appreciation Week!

UTSW celebrated Postdoc Appreciation week September 20-24. The University offered Postdocs a week of events, including panel discussions, career development workshops, network opportunities, and a symposium. As a Department, we planned a small get together with breakfast treats. Employees had an opportunity to write messages of gratitude for each of the Postdocs.

If you don’t work on the NL side of Dermatology, you might be asking yourself, “What is a Postdoc?” or maybe “Who are the Postdocs?” A Postdoctoral Researcher is a person who has received a PhD or equivalent doctorate. The purpose of the position is to prepare the person for a career as an academic or research scientist, or research faculty position. The Postdoc is supervised by a faculty member and has the freedom, and is expected, to publish their research while in the position. Postdocs are limited to six combined years in a postdoctoral position.

At the time of the appreciation week there were six Postdocs in the department.

• Dr. Elnaz Ghotbi from the Le Lab
• Dr. Yi-Hui Huang from the Wang Lab
• Dr. Chunhui Jiang from the Le Lab
• Dr. Maria Sindhura John from the Harris-Tryon Lab
• Dr. Nipunika Somatilaka from the Le Lab
• Dr. Dong-Min Yu from the Wang Lab

Please join us in congratulating Dr. Jiang who has completed his postdoctoral program and is now a Research Scientist. Great work!

Thank you to all the amazing Postdoctoral Researchers in our Department. We appreciate all your hard work.