NAAF is thrilled to announce the recipients of the 2024 Early Career Awards and Research Grants! Three investigators have been awarded funding for innovative studies aimed at advancing our understanding of alopecia areata. These projects have the potential to drive new discoveries and expand future treatment options for those affected by the disease. Last year, NAAF introduced the Early Career Award program to encourage interest and commitment to alopecia areata as a research focus and bring new voices and ideas to the alopecia areata research community. Meanwhile, Research Grants continue to support scientists and clinicians exploring innovative approaches to understanding and treating the disease. Learn more about the 2024 awardees and their funded projects below. Early Career Awardee: Ryan Hobbs, PhD, Assistant Professor, Department of Dermatology, Penn State Health Project title: Uncovering autoimmune regulator function in alopecia areata Project overview: Although the exact cause of alopecia areata (AA) remains unknown, it is widely appreciated that AA occurs by immune cells inappropriately attacking and destroying skin cells within hair follicles. The ability to study how AA develops has been limited by a lack of animal model systems that mirror the progression of AA in patients. Dr. Hobb’s group recently reported that mice lacking the gene AIRE (pronounced like “air”, short for autoimmune regulator) will spontaneously develop hair loss that visually and molecularly mirrors human AA lesions. Human patients with mutations in AIRE also develop AA. The goal of this study is to investigate how loss of the AIRE gene leads to hair loss. The AIRE-deficient mouse model for AA along with genetically engineered cells in petri dishes will be used to reveal cellular and molecular reasons for AA onset and progression. By doing so, this research may help to uncover new targets for potential therapeutic intervention to treat AA patients. Early Career Awardee: Leo Wang, MD, PhD, Assistant Professor, Department of Dermatology, Perelman School of Medicine, University of Pennsylvania Project title: Hydrogel-based drug delivery in alopecia areata Project overview: Janus kinase (JAK) inhibitors play a large role in treating alopecia areata. The broad, long-term objective of this project is to develop a safe, effective, and durable treatment for alopecia areata (AA) by engineering an injectable hydrogel for the sustained, localized release of baricitinib, one of three FDA-approved JAK inhibitors for AA. A hydrogel is a large network of polymers that baricitinib can be chemically bound to. The hydrogel can be injected directly into the skin, where it then slowly releases the drug to the affected hair follicles, while preventing absorption into the rest of the body. This approach could thus make the use of JAK inhibitors safer and more efficacious. To validate this approach, we will create a hydrogel that can retain baricitinib and release it over time using a thioimidate chemistry. We will measure release profiles and injectability into the skin. Additionally, we will use a model where human skin is grafted onto mice to study how well the hydrogel delivers baricitinib to the skin while measuring systemic side effects. Finally, we will perform experiments to determine if the hydrogel can prevent hair loss and promote hair regrowth in a mouse model of AA. This research could have significant impact on how AA is treated, by potentially creating a safer, more targeted way to deliver JAK inhibitors. Additionally, this technology could be applied to other autoimmune and inflammatory skin diseases in the future. Research Grant Awardee: Monique Waldman, PhD, Postdoctoral Research Scientist, Department of Dermatology, Columbia University Project Title: Investigating the role of keratinocyte phagocytosis and antigen presentation in alopecia areata Project Overview: Alopecia areata (AA) is an autoimmune disease where immune cells known as T cells attack hair follicles (HFs), leading to hair loss. Despite its significant impact on AA patients, the exact mechanisms driving AA are still not fully understood. This proposal aims to uncover how cell death and immune cell regulation contribute to AA development and persistence. The hair cycle consists of growth (anagen), egression (catagen), and resting (telogen) phases, during which programmed cell death (apoptosis) remodels the lower HF during catagen. In healthy HFs, keratinocytes in the hair matrix begin to apoptose as the follicle contracts in catagen. The dying cells are then cleared away by neighboring hair follicle stem cells and keratinocytes through a process called phagocytosis, where dead cells are engulfed and digested. This cleanup is essential for maintaining a healthy hair follicle environment. However, in AA, we believe this process may be disrupted, leading to an unintended immune response. Our study will address two questions: 1. Do hair follicle keratinocytes engulf necroptotic debris? If so, can these keratinocytes present antigens and activate T cells locally in the skin? 2. Is antigen presentation by keratinocytes required to initiate disease? With these investigations, we aim to determine how these cellular mechanisms contribute to the initiation of the immune response in AA. Interested in future grant opportunities? Sign up for our Research Grant Opportunities Interest List here.
