UC Irvine's Department of Dermatology conducts clinical research studies in therapeutic areas including psoriasis, acne, acne scars, eczema, atopic dermatitis, rosacea, skin cancer, actinic keratosis, hair and nail disorders, fungal disease, hemangioma, port wine stain, cellulite, skin aging and photoaging. UC Irvine has conducted various light technology trials using the pulsed dye laser, photodynamic therapy, fractionated CO2 laser, and 1064 nm Nd:YAG laser.
Psoriasis
Psoriasis is a disease of the skin that causes red scaly patches on the skin. UC Irvine has different clinical trials for different treatments for psoriasis.
Pemphigus
Pemphigus is an autoimmune disease characterized by blistering and caused by autoantibodies against certain cells in the skin. This disease most commonly occurs in individuals ages 50 and older, and it presents as painful shallow erosions and/or blisters in the mouth and/or skin.
The purpose of this research is to study alternative treatments for the skin disease pemphigus by using sirolimus, an immunosuppressive drug. Immunosuppressive drugs inhibit or prevent the activity of the immune system and are commonly used to treat autoimmune diseases, inflammatory diseases, and organ transplantation rejection.
Infantile Hemangioma
Infantile hemangioma is a benign vascular tumor that develops in newborns within the first few months of life. These birthmarks are the most common tumors of infancy.
There is a medical need for a better treatment for these tumors. Based on new findings, a medication called propranolol is expected to be of significant benefit in the treatment of hemangiomas. UC Irvine is currently conducting a clinical trial to confirm the efficacy of propranolol in infantile hemangiomas compared to placebo.
Actinic Keratosis
Actinic keratosis (AK) is a pre-cancerous growth on the skin. AK's are very common, especially in people that have had a lot of sun exposure. AK's looks like small red patches that are rough and dry. The patches are usually seen on the sun exposed areas, such as the face, scalp, ears, arms, and upper chest.
UC Irvine recently conducted a clinical trial examining a light treatment to treat solid organ transplant patients who have multiple AKs. These patients often have more AK's than the normal population.
Laser Hair Removal
Laser hair removal is becoming an increasingly popular method to remove unwanted hair on the body. There are currently many different types of lasers that offer this popular method. However, there continues to be a need for a laser that offers effective hair removal, while providing comfort and efficiency for the patient.
UC Irvine is currently conducting a clinical research study comparing two current laser systems. Patient recruitment is closed for this study.
Basal Cell Carcinoma
Basal cell carcinoma is the most common form of skin cancer. This slow growing skin cancer most frequently occurs secondary to long-term exposure to ultraviolet (UV) radiation from sunlight.
The purpose of the study is to determine if a new imaging device can help us improve treatment for patients with basal cell carcinoma. After taking pictures of your skin cancer it will be removed surgically based on the current standard of practice.
Port Wine Stain
Port Wine Stains are vascular birthmarks which produce a red to purple discoloration of the skin.
The DCRC in conjunction with the Beckman Laser Institute is conducting an innovative study combining laser treatment and a topical cream to lighten these birthmarks. In order to participate in this study, patients must have lighter skin to avoid discoloration from the laser.
Vitiligo
Vitiligo is a relatively common disorder that causes depigmentation (loss of color) of skin. Patients with this disease will have white patched of the skin.
There is an international team of scientists working to find the genes that cause Vitiligo. Thus far, at least 5 genes have been found to contribute to causing vitiligo in different families; on chromosomes 1, 7, 8, 9, and 17. We don't know what most of these genes are yet, and so we need additional patients and families to narrow our search. At UC Irvine, we are looking for patients with vitiligo and their family members to provide a small amount of medical information and a saliva sample for chromosome analysis.
If you are interested in participating in future studies in which you meet the enrollment criteria, please feel free to sign up for our potential study participants registry. In order to enroll in our database, you must give us permission to contact you at any time. When you are contacted, you will be provided with further information regarding the study. There is no guarantee that you will qualify for any of the studies.
If you agree to participate in the registry, you will be asked to provide information regarding your birth date, gender, race/ethnicity, contact information, and the types of research studies that you are interested in. The information provided to us will be kept confidential and will only be used for purposes of our studies. Only authorized individuals from UC Irvine Department of Dermatology will have access to your information. Your information will remain in our secured database for 5 years before being deleted. Participating in the registry does not commit you to participating in any of our studies. You may decide to remove your information from the database at any time by contacting us at 949.824.7103 or
bswasdib@uci.edu.