Who has influenced your choice of research the most? And why?

My interest in skin started with the topic of my PhD thesis which dealt with characterizing and developing novel nanoparticulate carrier systems to facilitate topical drug delivery. I had the opportunity to attend several international meetings where I met other interdisciplinary skin researchers that worked on the basic, translational and clinical side of things. Somehow, I got fascinated by the skin and stuck to it. So, if you are asking ‘Who’ it would be probably my PhD supervisor who suggested the topic to me. The skin research I am currently doing, however, evolved over time and is a melting pot of interdisciplinary elements which I picked up at the different academic stages and institutions over the past years.

What are the greatest challenges you have faced or are facing in your research area?

As a non-clinician, it is always challenging to get access to patient material, which, however, is often pivotal for our research. To overcome this drawback, I maintain close collaborations with clinicians who facilitate patient recruitment or take biopsies and such. While this works generally well, it is sometimes difficult to establish such connections and to find clinicians who are willing to carve out time from their clinical work to support bench science. Other than that, my research is highly collaborative and interdisciplinary which is great as such, but logistics and project management can be challenging at times as many different players need to be coordinated.

What can be done to grow the impact of skin research in Canada?

I think fostering better connections and networks between established and junior people engaged or interested in skin research (basic, translational and clinician scientists and patient groups) is key. This is exactly SKiN Canada’s mandate, and therefore this initiative is so important. In addition to that, the limited funding options in Canada are problematic but this is skin unspecific.

If you have worked with patients as part of the research team, what did you learn? if you have not yet, what are you looking forward to learning from patient research partners?

I am always impressed by how well-informed and up-to-date patients are regarding medications, novel treatment options and such. It was also super helpful to better understand their needs, their point of view, and their pain points. Also, most of the patients are super supportive of research activities even when it’s not directly benefiting them. This is very impressive. Finally, patients and their stories really motivate me as helping them is basically why I am doing what I am doing.

What are the key factors that attract trainees and early career investigators to choose skin research as their field of study?

Initially, I think it’s often by chance unless there is an intrinsic interest, maybe triggered by their very own skin disease or an affected family member. Another avenue is engaging in outreach activities to get attention for the work we do. Or offering and advertising internships for undergraduate students which I found to be a quite fruitful approach.

Once in the system, community building is super important which provides the trainees and ECRs with the opportunity to connect, build collaborations, and discuss challenges, but also to meet more senior people that could be the potential next step when building their career.