2006 NAAF Research Grant Awardees

NAAF Continues to Fund Innovative Research in 2006

NAAF recently awarded six new grants totaling $172,606 dollars for research to help us better understand alopecia areata and bring us closer to a cure. Some of these grants are funding ongoing research in key fields like genetics, and some grants are funding promising new projects. NAAF has now funded over 3.5 million in research grants.

Angela Christiano, PhD, of Columbia University in New York, New York, has been awarded a grant for her ongoing “Genome-Wide Search for Alopecia Areata Susceptibility Genes.” With the advent of modern genomics, we are uniquely poised to end the profound lack of knowledge surrounding the genetics of alopecia areata. Critical to the success of any genomics initiative is access to a large body of well-characterized and well-organized patient material, and such a body of material from patients with alopecia areata is now being created in the context of the National Institutes of Health (NIH)–funded National Alopecia Areata Registry. This research grant will fund a genome-wide search for linkage from families enrolled in the registry. The search will utilize the latest technology. The funding of studies using the National Alopecia Areata Registry is a priority for NAAF.

Carl K. Edwards III, PhD, of the University of Colorado Health Sciences Center at Fitzsimons in Aurora, Colorado, has been awarded a grant for a “Proinflammatory Cytokine Gene Expression Analysis in Alopecia Areata.” Classic research studies have shown that inflammation occurs in the hair follicles of people with alopecia areata. Alopecia areata is a classic “tissue-specific” autoimmune disease. Edwards and his fellow researchers will use gene expression assays to identify alopecia areata–prone people and to look for cytokine markers for disease progression or severity. They will study blood and tissue samples from patients with alopecia areata and compare these samples to samples from control subjects. Previous studies related to rheumatoid arthritis, another autoimmune disease, establish a paradigm for this and other studies related to alopecia areata.

Rebecca Porter, PhD, of the Wales College of Medicine at Cardiff University in Wales, will study “Defolliculated (Dfl): A Model for Investigating Immune-Driven Hair Follicle Destruction.” Several murine models for alopecia areata have been utilized for research. But, as with the human disease, the onset of the disease in these murine models is sporadic, and it is difficult to examine the events prior to hair loss. Other models are therefore required to study immune-driven hair follicle destruction. Defolliculated is a mouse model characterized by hair loss and hair follicle destruction that occurs in a predictable manner between eight and twelve weeks. The immune system is overactive in these mice and previous studies suggest that it is involved in the destruction of the hair follicle. This study seeks to determine how the immune system is involved in hair follicle destruction and whether this will be a useful animal model for understanding the mechanisms involved in immune-driven hair follicle destruction.

John Sundberg, DVM, PhD, of The Jackson Laboratory in Bar Harbor, Maine, will undertake the “Molecular Identification of Drug Targets for Alopecia Areata: A Mouse Model.” Mouse models are powerful genetic tools to dissect complex polygenic diseases such as alopecia areata. Dr. Sundberg has identified and characterized and is using both the spontaneous and full thickness skin graft mouse models that are considered the animal models of choice for studying mechanisms of alopecia areata. He recently worked with The Jackson Laboratory’s In Vivo Laboratory in West Sacramento, California, to set up a program for the preclinical screening of potential new drugs for alopecia areata and to develop a production and distribution plan to make these mouse models more readily available to the research community. To better market this model to pharmaceutical companies he proposes performing serial gene expression profiling of both the graft and spontaneous alopecia areata mouse models to define major changes in transcripts as the mice develop alopecia areata. Using the new Ingenuity Networks Analysis System, he will define gene networks that are activated or down regulated, which will provide insight into the mechanisms underlying the alopecia areata mouse models. More importantly, this tool will define Food and Drug Administration–approved drugs that are available and safe and that target specific gene products. We can predict potential new treatments for alopecia areata and test them in mice.

Sue Ann Wee, of New York University in New York, New York, will be undertaking “A Pilot, Half-Scalp Study Examining the Safety and Preliminary Efficacy of the Excimer Xenon Chloride Laser in the Treatment of Moderate to Severe Alopecia Areata.” Alopecia areata is an unpredictable yet common form of hair loss that is associated with significant psychological and emotional distress. For unknown reasons, the body’s own immune system directs an inflammatory response against hair follicles, leading to hair loss. Current treatment options aim to decrease this inflammation, but these treatments are limited by concerns over safety (systemic steroids, cyclosporine), efficacy (topical treatments), and pain (intralesional corticosteroid injections). The excimer xenon chloride laser emits a specific ultraviolet B light that has been shown to decrease inflammation in the skin. The purpose of this study is to examine the safety and efficacy of the excimer laser in the treatment of subjects with moderate to severe alopecia areata. Preliminary studies have described successful treatment of alopecia areata. Wee plans to treat 10 to 20 patients with moderate to severe alopecia areata twice weekly for 24 weeks on one-half of their scalp. She will compare the results to the untreated half. If successful, the excimer laser may become a painless, viable treatment for alopecia areata.

Xingqi Zhang, MD, PhD, of the University of British Columbia in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada, is studying “Stress, Stress Responsiveness, and Alopecia Areata.” Recent research has provided evidence in support of a lymphocyte-mediated pathogenic mechanism consistent with alopecia areata as an autoimmune disease. Regulation of the hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal (HPA) axis action, a major component of the stress system, is pivotal in maintaining balanced activity within the immune system. Stress has been suggested as one potential factor promoting alopecia areata, but the results of several clinical studies have been controversial. This study aims to elucidate the role of stress and stress responsiveness in the pathogenesis of alopecia areata using a mouse model. The hypothesis of this research is that the hypo-responsiveness of the stress hormone to physically and psychologically stressful events contributes to the onset, severity, and recurrence of alopecia areata. The study might lead to the development of new therapeutic approaches that aim at a speedy recovery and eventual cure for alopecia areata patients by targeting dysregulation or altered responsiveness in the stress system, specifically, the HPA axis.