Read Full Article HereU.S. Dermatology Partners has launched a program intended to increase access to clinical trials for diagnostic testing and treatment options, according to a press release.
With 36 active trials, the U.S. Dermatology Partners Research Institute is conducting observational studies, interventional trials and device trials. The research centers plan to collaborate with pharmaceutical companies through industry-sponsored clinical studies.
Healio spoke with Lindsay Ackerman, MD, who leads the program.
Healio: Why is this program important?
Ackerman: Our program is important for the myriad of patients across different demographics and disease states that otherwise are dealing with conditions for which we need better therapeutic options.
Healio: What is the impact of this program on practicing clinicians?
Ackerman: Those of us clinicians participating in the clinical trials have access to potential therapeutic options for our patients that otherwise are not accessible to other providers for many difficult-to-treat diseases. We have a much broader and more robust armamentarium of choices that we can offer, which can be particularly rewarding in managing those patients whose disease may limit their ability to function with even basic life requirements, such as getting to work, taking care of children, socialization, intimacy, and even avoiding hospitalization, etc. For practicing dermatologists not directly involved in our research, we hope that our work will ultimately allow for them to reach further into a treatment tackle box with more options of greater opportunities for their patients.
Healio: What diagnostic and treatment options are being tested in these trials?
Ackerman: Diagnostically, one of the things we are working on is looking at less invasive diagnostic techniques for inflammatory skin diseases and skin cancer, so we may not have to cut a hole in someone, that is, biopsy, to come to a diagnosis. We are looking at ways to prevent skin cancer development in our most high-risk populations, such as solid organ transplant recipients, and how to more specifically treat their skin cancers when advanced. As mentioned, we are looking at the molecular makeup of various inflammatory diseases, hoping that these data will allow for a choice of therapy based upon a patient’s specific disease state makeup, rather than just treating a disease by name. And lastly, perhaps of greatest reward in our research efforts, is the work we are doing to explore new treatment options for very difficult-to-treat and very consequential skin disorders. We are working hard to make sure the pipeline of drugs available to treat our patients is both more broad, and more effective.
Healio: Anything else?
Ackerman: There’s nothing more fulfilling than taking someone from a place where life in all aspects — even sleeping — was uncomfortable, where patients were living, resenting how their disease unfairly affected not just the day-to-day, but the overall trajectory of their life, and giving them a novel option, with, moreover, oftentimes a novel life experience. I’m very grateful for this opportunity being afforded to me.
