Many people with skin problems, like eczema or psoriasis, also experience significant psychological stress, which can worsen their condition. Likewise, patients with mental health disorders, like anxiety and depression, often experience worsening or comorbid dermatologic diseases such as skin picking disorder. This creates a vicious cycle and imposes significant burden for patients, their caregivers and the healthcare system. These conditions are called Psychodermatologic conditions and are often missed or untreated because of a lack of proper screening tools and training. This project aims to improve the way we identify and treat psycho-dermatologic disorders.
Our goal is to develop a new tool, the Alberta PsychDerm Scale (APDS), to help doctors better identify psychodermatology patients. The tool will be used by dermatologists, family doctors, and psychiatrists to screen patients, allowing for earlier diagnosis and referral such as to a specialized multi-disciplinary clinic. We will create this tool with input from patients and experts in dermatology, psychiatry, and psychology, and validate it with patients in Alberta. The tool will help ensure that patients receive timely and appropriate care, reducing their suffering and improving their quality of life. Once developed and validated, we will share the tool internationally, so it can benefit more patients worldwide.

Institution: The University of Alberta, Kaye Edmonton Clinic

Sites: 2

Provinces: AL, QC

Burn injuries are common and cause painful scarring that can result in psychological distress. It is a priority for both Burn Survivors and burn care providers to find ways to reduce the scarring. Until now there has been little research on what is the best anti-scar treatment (AST). Currently the treatments for scars are either painful injections into the scar or the use of uncomfortable and itchy compression garments and silicone gel sheets. Two main challenges to find the best AST are: i) the lack of clear ways of measuring the scar and ii) not enough people at each burn centre to study. We propose to overcome these obstacles by bringing together burn survivors, caregivers and researchers from across Canada. Once promising AST are identified this group will design and conduct trials comparing different AST at multiple burn units in Canada. This will allow us to study a large number of participants in a variety of settings to find the best AST and which people it works best in. These studies will also provide important information on how burn scars change, and the differences between the sexes as they heal. By building the infrastructure evaluating AST in this way we will also create a foundation for Canada to be a world leader in evaluating scar treatments and provide an excellent learning environment for trainees and new investigators. This project has the potential to significantly improve care and quality of life for burn survivors in Canada.

Institution: The University of Manitoba

Sites: 8

Provinces: WPG, QC, ON, BC, AL

Scleroderma is a rare autoimmune disease characterized by the abnormal growth of connective tissue, thus affecting various organs including the skin. In the skin, fibrosis and collagen deposition result in tightness and reduced flexibility. While the exact cause of scleroderma remains unclear, a combination of genetic, environmental, and immune factors is involved. Current treatment options solely focus on symptom management using moisturizers, immunosuppressants and physical therapy. 

We will leverage the complementary expertise from three clinical and basic scientists and two patients advocates to build a lasting multi-center team. We will conduct foundational preliminary work to develop and validate models and approaches for multicenter collaboration with the long-term goal to develop a novel treatment option for scleroderma.

We have the following goals: 

1. Develop methods and standard operating procedures (SOPs) for human 3D scleroderma models.
2. Develop methods and protocols for gene silencing of mesothelin-1 in fibrotic fibroblasts.
3. Develop and validate non-viral systems as delivery tools for RNA in scleroderma disease models.

The Patient advocates will be involved in the development and thinking process to provide insights from their perspective on topics like patient needs, acceptance, potential fears and challenges.  

Institution: The University of British Columbia

Sites: 3

Provinces: BC, AL, QC

Our new team of medical dermatologists, dermatopathologists, health service researchers, and patients from multiple provinces in Canada will work together to unlock the potential of Canadian health administrative data to study rare inflammatory skin diseases. We will work together to develop case definitions of bullous pemphigoid and pemphigus vulgaris based on pathology reports. We will apply those definitions to pathology reports in Ontario, and then link verified cases with other health administrative data. This will demonstrate the feasibility of using pathology reports to identify cases of rare skin diseases that can then be linked to study their epidemiology and health service utilization. We will use this preliminary work to expand our project to other provinces and answer questions about bullous pemphigoid and pemphigus vulgaris in routinely collected administrative health data. Our proposal aligns with the SkIN Canada Team Development Award objective of encouraging novel teams to develop infrastructure to conduct research that will benefit patients living with skin conditions and aligns with the Rare Skin Diseases focus area. We will use SkIN Canada’s support to apply for additional funding to conduct population-based studies on immunobullous and other rare conditions with the aim of improving outcomes for people living with rare skin diseases.

Institution: Women’s College Hospital

Sites: 4

Provinces: ON, BC, AL, QC, NS

Solid organ transplant recipients (SOTRs) are at high risk of skin cancer, and keratinocyte carcinomas (KC) are a significant source of morbidity and mortality. Research in the field of transplant dermatology to address the complex care needs of these patients is limited by the absence of an interdisciplinary, national research network that can collaborate to identify critical areas for shared future inquiry, share relevant data, and complete large-scale research studies.

Therefore, we propose a Canadian transplant dermatology research network that connects and supports dermatologists and patient stakeholders nationwide in identifying innovative solutions for the skin problems facing SOTRs. Key work plan milestones are to: 1) conduct a priority-setting initiative to identify the most pressing issues in transplant dermatology; 2) recruit additional sites and physician members; and 3) create a national shared transplant dermatology database using SkIN Canada’s data-sharing agreements. Potential early areas of research focus will include identifying chemoprophylactic strategies, effective risk prediction tools, and imaging modalities for advanced or recurrent cancer. We predict this network will have numerous associated benefits, such as: a) pooled resources and collaboration to encourage the completion of ongoing studies and expand the potential scale of future projects; b) a national repository of clinical, biochemical, and histopathologic data to direct future population-based analyses to identify modifiable risk factors and cost-effective preventative strategies; and c) interdisciplinary and multisite collaboration to improve study design, execution, and each individual participating locations’ research culture, processes, and systems based on the experiences of other institutions. The overarching goal of our proposal is to identify innovative research projects and develop cost-effective healthcare solutions for the skin challenges encountered by SOTRs. More specifically, our proposal builds capacity to address a Top Ten research priority identified by SkIN Canada: chemoprevention for squamous cell carcinoma in transplant recipients.

Institution: Women’s College Hospital

Sites: 4

Provinces: ON, BC, AL, QC, NS

Itch is major problem for many people with scleroderma, a rare skin disease. However, little is known about it.

We will form a team of researchers, clinicians, and people with scleroderma to lay the groundwork for large, informative multi-centre studies on itch in scleroderma.

Our team includes Canadian and international leaders with expertise in itch and scleroderma, including dermatologists, rheumatologists; a cell biologist, a psychologist, a graduate student, and 3 people with scleroderma and itch.

We will develop a questionnaire to map the experience of living with itch in scleroderma. We will get feedback on the questionnaire from people with scleroderma to ensure it captures their experiences. We will also select standardize measures to compare difference aspects of itch in scleroderma to other conditions.

We will administer the questionnaire we develop and standardized measures to over 1,500 people with scleroderma in our  international cohort. What we learn will support additional research by our team and research by others to better understand itch in scleroderma and improve management options.

Institution: Lady Davis Institute for Medical Research of the Jewish General Hospitaland Department of Psychiatry, McGill University

Sites: 6

Provinces: ON, QC

We will work together as a new interdisciplinary, multi-institutional team of clinicians, researchers and patients to develop a strong collaborative capable of answering questions on the evidence-based treatment of skin disease that are important to patients and clinicians. Our proposal aligns with SkIN Canada’s overall goals of developing national infrastructure for multicentre skin research, fostering collaborations between researchers, clinicians and patients and creating a new team that will grow the skin research community by engaging trainees and young investigators. Using a systematic review and network meta-analysis of topical treatments for psoriasis as a demonstration project, we will optimize our collaborative workflows and demonstrate the feasibility of working together as a team while simultaneously answering a research question identified by patients and clinicians as a top research priority for psoriasis in the SkIN Canada Priority Setting Initiatuve. Patient partners will be involved at every stage, ensuring our results meet the needs of people living with psoriasis. Trainees will make substantial contributions and will learn best practices for advanced evidence synthesis.
We will build on that success by collaborating on future projects in evidence-based dermatology. This will include applying for funding to CIHR, Canadian Dermatology Foundation and disease-specific funders to conduct evidence synthesis projects. We will also be poised to apply for funding from organizations such as the American Academy of Dermatology to directly support clinical practice guideline development.

Institution: Leslie Dan Faculty of Pharmacy, University of Toronto

Sites: 5

Provinces: ON

Systemic autoinflammatory diseases (SAIDs) are a group of rare disorders characterized by dysregulation of the innate immune system resulting in recurrent inflammation affecting multiple organs, including the skin. These lifelong conditions, which cause various skin manifestations, have a significant impact on patients and families. Due to the rarity of these diseases, dermatologists’ limited familiarity with the skin manifestations of SAIDs can lead to misdiagnosis and inadequate treatment. The SkinSAIDCanada project involves physicians, researchers, patients and patient advocates focused on improving the understanding and management of SAIDs-related skin conditions. Goals include 1) establishing a Canadian network of dermatologists and experts in SAIDs and skin science, 2) creating a multicenter database to describe the epidemiology of these conditions, current access to care and management, and to identify unmet needs in Canada, and 3) developing educational materials for both physicians and patients. Our network will facilitate collaborative research through a multicenter approach to rare diseases. Standardized data collection using REDCap® will enable robust analyses. The physician clinical awareness strategy aims to increase early diagnosis, improve patient care and engage new stakeholders. Patient education materials will empower patients and their families with evidence-based information and engagement opportunities. A study of skin manifestations in SAIDs will enable the identification of unique patterns of skin involvement, stimulating diagnostic and therapeutic advances (biomarkers, targeted therapies, new mutations…). Led by Dr. Piram, the multidisciplinary team combines expertise in SAIDs, clinical research and patient engagement. Overcoming challenges to network development, such as stakeholder engagement and multicenter ethics approval and contracting, is
critical and SkINCanada funding will address these initial barriers. In summary, our proposal aims to create a collaborative platform that will revolutionize SAIDs research and care in Canada. Our network envisions a comprehensive approach to improving the understanding and management of skin manifestations of SAIDs in Canada.

Institution: Université de Montreal

Sites: 4

Provinces: ON, BC, AL, QC

The CACTI project is a multicenter observational prospective cohort study based at three Canadian institutions (Women’s College Hospital/University of Toronto, McGill University Health Science Centre, University of British Columbia). It will enroll patients with severe atopic dermatitis with inadequate control from topical therapy and collect biospecimens (blood, microbial swabs, skin biopsies) from consenting participants. It also contains a nested randomized controlled trial comparing two types of phototherapy. This project requires a secure online data platform to collect and centrally store unidentified longitudinal clinical data for participants across the three sites. The central study site is Women’s College Hospital, making a partnership with SkIN Canada seamless. Each site will enter their own data into the database. The platform must also be able to randomize patients eligible for the nested randomized controlled trial. It must also be able to document and track biospecimens collected at the different sites. It should also be able to track storage and laboratory analyses of these samples.

Project lead: Drs. Aaron Drucker, Carolyn Jack, Vincent Piguet and Sunil Kalia

Institution: Women’s College Hospital

Sites: 3

Provinces: ON, QC, BC

Morphea is a chronic relapsing autoimmune disease characterized by scarring of the skin/subcutaneous tissue. It affects ~75,000 Canadians. Several clinical subtypes exist, and severe forms (linear, generalized, pansclerotic) have a high risk of extracutaneous involvement, pain, disfigurement, and disability.
Many clinical/research gaps in morphea remain. Only 2 single-center registries exist (Morphea in Adults and Children (Texas), National Registry for Childhood-Onset Scleroderma (Pittsburgh)). Current studies are limited by small patients’ number, unequal ethnocultural representation, retrospective data collection, and use of invalidated classifications, making data interpretation/clinical translation difficult. We created the first national morphea patients’ registry (C-MORE) comprised of 36 multidisciplinary physicians across 17 academic sites, aimed to understand morphea’s clinical characteristics, triggers, severity and burden in Canadian patients.
The aim of this study is to characterize morphea patients in Canada, their demographics, disease severity/complications, to elucidate the impact of morphea on patients’ lives and the risk factors associated with worse disease. This data will be directly relevant to patients as it will instruct clinicians about which patients are at higher risk of
complications and should be followed/investigated more thoroughly. Better understanding the burden of disease will help to stimulate research and development in morphea.

Project lead: Dr. Elena Netchiporouk

Institution: McGill University

Sites: 15

Provinces: BC, AB, SK, ON, QC, NS,NB

A multicentre study of follow-up practices for patients diagnosed with squamous cell carcinoma (SCC). Due to a lack of evidence and diverse recommendations across organizations including the AAD and BAD, there is likely substantial variability amongst dermatologist practices. As such, we hope to better understand the practice patterns amongst Canadian dermatologists to help establish the baseline landscape and identify opportunities for improvement. Study objectives are outlined below. We currently have over 10 community and academic dermatologists from across Canada involved in this project.

Study Aims and Hypotheses:

a) To characterize the practice patterns for follow up of immunocompetent patients by dermatologists after a diagnosis of primary invasive cutaneous SCC.

Hypothesis: Variation will be seen in the frequency and duration of follow-up.

b) To identify factors associated with the time to the first follow-up skin exam after SCC diagnosis.

Hypothesis: Patients who are at higher risk of recurrence, metastasis, or additional skin cancers (older age, advanced tumour stage) will be followed more frequently for skin exam.

Project lead: Drs. Nicole Hawkins, Jorge-Ryan Georgakopoulos and An-Wen Chan

Institution: Women’s College Hospital

Sites: 23

Provinces: BC, AB, ON

Atopic dermatitis (eczema) is frequently associated with food and environmental allergies, but the impact of allergy testing and management on skin disease severity in people with atopic dermatitis is unclear. We will create electronic surveys to evaluate current practices regarding allergy testing for adults with atopic dermatitis and interest in participating in studies of allergy testing. The survey responses will be anonymous; clinicians may provide contact information for future studies. We will ask local, provincial, and national dermatology societies to disseminate the survey via e-mail and social media. The patient survey will be shared via Eczema Society of Canada and Canadian Skin Patient Alliance email lists and social media channels. We will calculate the proportion of responses for each question item, and open-ended responses will be summarized into themes. We will document patterns of care and interest in research on allergy testing as an intervention for atopic dermatitis. These results will further our understanding of current practices among dermatologists and capture the perspectives of adults with atopic dermatitis regarding different types of allergy testing in the management of atopic dermatitis. These results may inform future research on allergy testing for patients with atopic dermatitis.

Project lead: Drs. Irina Turchin and Aaron Drucker

Institution: Women’s College Hospital

Sites: 8

Provinces: BC, AB, ON, QC, NS

Project lead: Drs. S. Joseph Kim and An-Wen Chan

Institution: Women’s College Hospital

Sites: 9

Provinces: BC, AB, ON, QC

Non-Melanoma Skin Cancers include the 2 most common human cancers, Basal Cell Carcinoma (BCC) and Squamous Cell Carcinoma (SCC), respsectively. The risk of developing skin cancer in fair skin individuals approach 40%. While most BCC and SCC remain localized and can be cured, 1-4% of them can become more aggressive locally and even spread to other organs. We do not know much about these advanced, more aggressive cancers. The progression from high-risk early BCC/SCC to advanced BCC/SSC is not well understood. High-risk early tumors and advanced tumors are rarely collected and studied, hence targeted treatments are few. In this proposal, we aim to establish and optimize sample collection for skin cancers from patients across several hospitals in Québec, with help from basic science collaborators for determining optimal conditions for liveability and with help from epidemiologists and patient partners to identify important clinical information and make it standard across hospitals. We want to involve patient organizations into improving how clinicians and those involved in biobanking can deliver skin cancer diagnosis and sun awareness messages. Researchers and clinicians will have more data and potential markers of disease severity and aggressivity, and will understand more the development and progression of BCC and SCC.

Project lead: Dr. Philipe Lefrancois. 

Institution: Lady Davis Institute

Sites: 4

Provinces: QC

Frostbite happens when people, particularly their skin is exposed to extremely cold temperature for a long time. While severe frostbite is not an everyday occurrence it happens throughout Canada. Because it is seen so infrequently, hospitals usually don’t have specialists on call to deal with this very serious issue. Patients with extreme frostbite often require amputation and other skilled procedures, which have a lingering and long term effect on their life. Based on our climate, Canada is uniquely qualified to be experts in frostbite treatment. We have previously investigated the national interest in forming a Canada-wide group to share treatment options, success, and failure. This study will create a website to allow that collaboration. In addition, patients require support and significant long-term care. The website developed through this project will provide the opportunity for patients to connect with others who have been through treatment for frostbite and the complications that may occur, such as amputation. Having a national website for collaborators will allow Canada-wide research and potentially clinical trials aimed at improving patient recovery.

Project lead: Dr. Caitlin Champion

Institution: NOSM University

Sites: 3

Provinces: YT, MB, ON

Skin cancer is the most common type of cancer in Canada. It is important to know how skin cancer is cared for in Canada, in order to ensure the best care is provided for every person with skin cancer in Canada. We are making a team of researchers and patient
partners that will develop tools to allow experts to study this topic. We are going to study Merkel cell carcinoma in order to develop these tools. Because Merkel cell carcinoma is rare, it is especially important to study this cancer using as many sources of information from across Canada as possible. We will do this first in Ontario, Alberta and British Columbia. The tools we develop to do this, and the team that we will build during this work will help us do this same sort of information collection across Canada. The knowledge gained through our initial work in Ontario, Alberta and British Columbia will help us apply for research funding to do this, and to develop research projects involving people from across Canada with other forms of skin cancer, and even other skin diseases.

Project lead: Dr. Timothy Hanna

Institution: Queen’s University

Sites: 3

Provinces: ON, AB, BC, NS

Non-melanoma skin cancers are the most common cancer in the world. In this project, we assemble a team of experts and patient research advocates that will work toward the identification of new therapeutic opportunities for the treatment of aggressive nonmelanoma skin cancers by capitalizing on our ability to mimics these cancers in mice. Importantly, our project will contribute to the mentoring of outstanding graduate
students that will be part of the next generation of leaders in the field of skin
tumorigenesis.

Project lead: Dr. Mélanie Laurin

Institution: Université Laval

Sites: 2

Provinces: ON, QC

Hidradenitis Suppurativa (HS) is a chronic disease in which patients have recurrent inflamed painful nodules, draining sinus tracts, and scarring. It can be debilitating for patients and is associated with negative impacts on quality of life. HS is a main research priority for the Skin Investigation Network of Canada. Many areas for further research have been identified, including information about the disease in children and patients of diffei ent ethnicities, data on what treatments may work best in different patients, and information gathered in real-world settings. We are proposing to create a registry of Canadian patients, including children and adults of all different backgrounds. Our team will include physicians of multiple specialties (dermatology, rheumatology, general surgery, endocrinology) and patients to make sure that we are considering all aspects of the disease and its associations. We will enroll patients in multiple different centres. We will collect information on their HS and other health conditions, as well as treatments and changes over time. We will also include advanced tests of genetics and cytokines to advance understanding of the disease. This data will help us in figuring out how to best treat and manage patients with HS in Canada.

Project lead: Dr. Irene Lara-Corrales

Institution: Sunnybrook Hospital

Sites: 5

Provinces: ON

Recessive dystrophic epidermolysis bullosa (RDEB) is a disease affecting the skin and mucosa. RDEB patients have fragile skin due to collagen 7 mutation. There is no cure for EB. The only option is to treat recurrent wounds with daily care and bandages. Patients experience pain and suffering.The LOEX/CHU de Québec-Université Laval, a leader in regenerative medicine aimsto find a treatment for RDEB. The therapy would be based on skin substitutes produced with patient’s cells corrected by gene therapy. The objective of the proposal is to bring together clinicians, researchers and patient partners from Québec, Ontario and British Columbia. This group will work together to prepare a multicenter clinical trial to apply laboratory discoveries to patients. The patient partners will participate to the study design (for example, cost, patient information and consent form). In addition, we aim to give information on EB research to the Canadian patient community. Ultimately, our goal is to develop a definitive treatment for RDEB with our new therapeutic approach. This rare disease impacts on the quality of life of patients and their families. Therefore, this new treatment, if proven successful, could change lives of Canadian patients by improving skin stability and preventing recurring wounds.

Project lead: Dr. Lucie Germain

Institution: Université Laval

Sites: 3

Provinces: ON, QC

Atopic dermatitis (AD), also known as atopic eczema, is the most common and most burdensome skin disorder in the world and is strongly connected to asthma and allergies. Suffering with AD throughout life is now known to be common, and adults often have more severe skin inflammation and more changes to blood immune cells. The reasons why are unclear, but one-tenth of adults develop AD late in life, so environmental factors may play a large role. Evidence for such culprits is strongest for the bacteria Staphylococcus aureus (staph). Commonly found in our noses, staph can cause serious infections; in AD skin, it is usually present. More staph growth associates with more severe disease and coincides with flares. We don’t understand how this bacterium interacts with the skin immune system in AD; this, together with missing information on genetic factors, needs substantial research. Collaborative research teams with broad expertise must also integrate patient experience and knowledge, especially when considering resistance to treatment. Our proposed team has the largest Canadian adult AD database and biobank, and aims to share specimens, protocols, and management infrastructure, along with digital tools. Our aim is to work together to promote long-term remission of disease.

Project lead: Dr. Carolyn Jack

Institution: McGill University

Sites: 5

Provinces: ON, QC, BC

Hypertrophic scars (Hsc) are very common sequelae of deep wounds in general but especially following burns. However, treatments of these pathological scars show a low efficacy whereas the level of research in Canada is low. To stimulate research in this field, access to the human tissues or cells is needed. Our goal is to set up the conditions to create a biobank dedicated to Hsc. We are therefore requesting funds to carry out the administrative work to set up the conditions for a biobank including Hsc samples as well as normal skin samples from the same patients. This project will be carried out in 4 main steps: 1. Determine the area and number of biopsies that can be taken to allow for maximum studies; 2. Obtain ethical and administrative approval to begin biobanking; 3: Develop a protocol and train research staff to process, store and ship samples. 4: Perform the first biopsies to evaluate the process. The ability for researchers to have access to a biobank is a factor that will encourage them to focus on this condition and find a way to treat it.

Project lead: Dr. Véronique Moulin

Institution: Université Laval

Sites: 2

Provinces: MB, QC

Hidradenitis suppurativa (HS) is a painful and debilitating skin condition that affects many people around the world. We aim to establish a registry for HS patients across Canada, which will help us to understand more about the disease and how to improve treatment options. We will collect data on the characteristics of the disease, including its severity and duration, as well as information about any other medical conditions that patients may have. We will also focus on skin of color patients to ensure that they are adequately represented in our research.
In addition, we will also investigate the barriers and facilitators to accessing biologic therapy, including adalimumab, for HS patients in Canada. We will collect data on factors such as geographic location, insurance coverage, and socioeconomic status to identify disparities in access and develop strategies to improve access for all HS patients, especially those who are underrepresented in clinical trials. Finally, we will investigate the real-world response to adalimumab, a medication commonly used to treat HS, in skin of color patients. We will recruit patients who have recently started using adalimumab and collect data on their disease characteristics, treatment response, and adverse events. We will analyze this data to understand the factors that contribute to a favourable or unfavourable response to the medication, particularly among skin of colour patients.
By conducting this research, we hope to improve our understanding of HS and treatment effectiveness especially those from diverse backgrounds.

Project lead: Dr. Raed Alhusayen

Institution: Department of Dermatology, Sunnybrook Research Institute

Sites: 7

Provinces: MB, QC, ON

Although rare, the number of skin disorders with a genetic basis (genodermatoses) that are considered “orphan” affect a significant number of patients. Rarity, coupled with lack of available treatment, makes recognition and management of these conditions difficult. There is a need to develop a network of specialists, industry partners and patients and families to improve the diagnosis and management of these patients across the country and facilitate research into these rare conditions.
We propose to organize a meeting with all stakeholders to identify expertise across the country, understand the Canadian landscape and develop a network that would enable mechanisms for sustainable cross-talk and collaboration.

Project lead: Elena Pope

Institution: The Hospital for Sick Children and the University of Toronto

Sites: 8

Provinces: AB, QC, ON, BC

Brooks SG, Pawluk MA, Litvinov IV, et al. Informing a Canadian Skin Science Trainee Program Based on the State of Trainee Programs Offered by International Academic Societies. Journal of Cutaneous Medicine and Surgery. 2023;27(1):20-27. doi:10.1177/12034754221137570

A publicly accessible web database of skin researchers and expertise in Canada.

Submit main profile

Determining the needs of a population through stakeholder input is a superior method of directing research efforts than reviewing the current state of the literature. This process was used to prioritize skin research topics and produce a roadmap for the skin research landscape of Canada.

Publications

Drucker A, Kleiner O, Manion R, Philip A, Dutz J, Barnard K, et al. Top ten research priorities for psoriasis, atopic dermatitis
and hidradenitis suppurativa: the SkIN Canada Priority Setting Initiative. J Cutan Med Surg. 2023 [In press].

See full protocol

See final results

The Master Network Agreement defines terms for data sharing, data banking, and publication. This comprehensive agreement has taken two years to develop in consultation with institutional contracts offices. It allows SkIN Canada members from academic and community sites to exchange data for future studies without needing to re-negotiate a data sharing agreement with every new study. The Master Agreement will help to mitigate the start-up delays that are commonly encountered with multicentre projects.

Kim KS, Chan AW, Belley-Côté EP, Drucker AM. Noninferiority Randomized Controlled Trials. J Invest Dermatol. 2022 Jul;142(7):1773-1777. doi: 10.1016/j.jid.2022.04.015. PMID: 35715156.