Dr. Lara Cutlar, an EB researcher at the Charles Institute in UCD, recently traveled to the 75th Society of Investigative Dermatology meeting in Arizona and reported this to us….

It was a large and busy meeting with over 1,200 experts in the field gathered to discuss the latest developments and progress in the area of investigative dermatology. On the third day there was a dedicated session to EB research and clinical care. This was just before the gene therapy session of the meeting which highlights the importance of EB to the organizers. Leaders in the field presented their most recent progress on research into EB at the session, which was hosted by Dr Jouni Uitto and CEO of DEBRA America, Brett Kopelan. Dr’s Hovnanian, Tolar, Marinkovich, Chen and Woodley from Europe and the US, all spoke at the meeting about the EB work on going in their labs. Notably the group in Stanford presented the news that they are are lowering the age of patients which can be accepted into their skin grafting trial for RDEB, to patients 13 years and older, after approval having been given by the FDA. Other groups presenting at the conference included Amicus Therapeutics who are currently enrolling for a phase 3 trial in a topical treatment for EB.

In other news for Dr. Wexin Wang’s lab, where Lara is based, their EB research is progressing well so they recently hired Dr Irene Lara-Sáez from Valencia, Spain for the next stages. We welcome Irene to Ireland and wish her the best of luck with her research!