New HU Institute to Expand Research on Conditions Affecting Skin of Color
Jun 2009
Research in the field has not reflected increasing diversity of American population
HUSCRI, slated to open this August, will be housed in Hampton University’s new Research Center (rendering above).
Researchers involved with an innovative program being established at Hampton University (HU) hope to shed light on why certain conditions affect those with darker skin tones.
Two local dermatologists, Dr. David McDaniel and Dr. Valerie Harvey, both professors at Eastern Virginia Medical School, first broached the idea of the Hampton University Skin of Color Research Institute (HUSCRI) with William Harvey, the university’s president, in 2007.
“We will be seeing things that no one has seen before.”
— Dr. David McDaniel
“They explained to me that skins are different other than just the pigments, and they talked about the lack of knowledge and research regarding diseases and other issues that affect black people and other people with skin of color, and that’s what piqued my interest,” shares William Harvey of the initial meeting. “So many people—myself included before I got involved in this—do not know that skins are different [in more than just their] pigmentation. There are differences between black, white, brown, yellow and red skin. There are numerous disorders more prevalent in some racial and ethnic groups than in others.”
Until recently, research focusing on skin conditions of minorities has been overlooked, but Valerie Harvey and David McDaniel hope to change that as directors of HUSCRI.
Valerie Harvey, who, coincidentally, is the university president’s daughter-in-law, notes: “Population growth of skin-of-color citizens [including Africans, African-Americans, Hispanics, Asians and Native Americans] of the U.S. means that by 2050 this population will be the majority in our nation, yet there is relatively little data on either the structural and functional differences in skin of color or [on] skin disorders that are more common, unique, or present differently in individuals with skin of color.” Her aim is that the Institute’s research will increase understanding of these conditions to help develop new treatment options.
Adds McDaniels: “The research often [historically] has not reflected the ethnic diversity of our country and people nor the global population, but fortunately these attitudes [affecting research] are changing.” He hopes the new Institute will play a leadership role in studying “the science of the unique features and disorders as well as the common features of skin color, which will benefit skin of all colors.”
William Harvey has five goals for the Institute:
• To promote an environment that encourages relevant basic scientific research, including such emerging fields as genomics.
• To identify and understand the factors of racial disparity in skin disorders.
• To generate knowledge to impact an understanding of treatment and prevention of skin diseases in people of color.
• To disseminate this knowledge via education programs to physicians, researchers, medical students and other medical care providers.
• To attract scientists and investigative dermatologists to engage in cutting-edge research about skin diseases in people of color.
“We are hoping that other researchers will be able to use this to enhance patient care, and that’s important to me,” states William Harvey. “I think this [HUSCRI] is going to make an important contribution. I think it is going to have world-class implications.”
HUSCRI will be housed in the new Hampton University Research Center, which is slated for completion this summer. Research will include clinical trials as well as compilation of data. Patients will be from the general population, though university students will have the opportunity to be involved with the programs as well.
“One of our main objectives will be to encourage and support minority students who wish to enter research and clinical areas relevant to cutaneous (skin-related) disorders,” asserts Dr. Valerie Harvey. “Students will have the opportunity to participate in research projects as well as attend local, regional and national conferences.”
Dr. Harvey has been interested in the differences in skin of color for some time.
“I first became interested in this specific area during my dermatology residency when I encountered patients with a particular form of scarring alopecia [hair loss] that occurs almost exclusively in African-American women,” she recalls. “Little was known about the [causes and origins] of this condition, and effective therapies were and still are lacking. As co-director of HUSCRI, one of my major efforts will be to further the understanding of the factors that contribute to disparities in certain skin conditions like Central centrifugal scarring alopecia.”
Central centrifugal scarring alopecia affects African-American and other minority women ages 20 to 60. The cause is unknown, though some believe heredity may play a role, as well as the type of hair-styling techniques and products that these women use, such as extensive curling, braiding, or blowdrying.
McDaniel says: “[It] has been a dream of mine for many years to help develop a program like [HUSCRI]. The Institute has many areas of value. We will be looking into the very heart of the science of how skin cells function and communicate with each other at the genomic level. We will be seeing things that no one has seen before.”
