Research Corner

Drs. Thy Huynh and Vinayak Nahar continue their work to grow our research enterprise and support our three-part mission of health care, research, and education. Dr. Huynh is in active discussions to conduct future trials on skin conditions such as atopic dermatitis, psoriasis, scleroderma, and hidradenitis. Several trials are in various stages of study startup. In addition, registry collection will also be underway to assess impact of various skin conditions and their effect on quality of life.

We are excited to report that our department has been successful in obtaining additional extramural research funding over the past several months. Drs. Robert Brodell and Vinayak Nahar received $174,683 from Pfizer to address disparities in psychological health and help-seeking in Alopecia Areata patients in Mississippi's underserved communities. This Is in addition to the recent Pfizer award that Dr. Nahar received to develop, implement, and evaluate a telemedicine and face-to-face educational intervention to improve health care professionals' understanding of behavioral approaches and new and emerging therapies for the treatment of moderate-to-severe atopic dermatitis in children. In addition, Project ECHO, led by Drs. Chelsea Mockbee and Stephen Helms, has received another year of funding from the UMMC Telehealth Center of Excellence’s Health Resources and Services Administration (HRSA) grant. Finally, Dr. Brodell received funding from the Hearin Foundation to support the DURM Project: Underrepresented Minority Scholarship Program for UMMC Departments of Dermatology, Otolaryngology, and Orthopedics.

Our department plans to seek additional clinical and translational research funding and grow our research enterprise to support our three-part mission of healthcare, research, and education.