MRC Career award

MRC Career award

Melanocyte Progenitor Cells and their Role in Repigmentation of Human Skin

Both vitiligo and burns result in depigmented areas of the skin. As these areas are often in exposed parts of the body, they can lead to severe psychological stress and often result in discrimination, particularly in darker-skinned individuals. This project plans to adopt a holistic approach to this problem. The basic science component involves understanding the molecular and cellular mechanisms underlying the activation, proliferation and migration of melanocytes in the skin.

The psychological component will help us to evaluate patients' perceptions of living with patches of depigmented skin. Together these will ultimately lead to better therapeutic modalities.