Medical Student Research Fellowship for Summer 2011

Mentor: Donald Glass, MD, PhD              
Departments: McDermott Center/ Dermatology
Room number: L5.120       
Mail Code: 9069                  
Phone number: 214-648-2703     
E-mail: donald.glass@phhs.org; donaldglass2@gmail.com             
Project title:   Finding the Genetic Determinants of Keloid Formation         

Human subjects IRB approved project number (where applicable): IRB #2379
Animal subjects IRB approved project number (where applicable):  not applicable

Project Type (patient-based research, animal-based research, or basic research; this characterization is only to permit a general classification for grouping similar types of projects) patient-based research and basic research.

Brief Description of Project:
Keloids are the result of an exuberant overgrowth of scar tissue that usually develops after healing of a skin injury; they occur more often in individuals with skin of color. There are no definitive treatments for this disease or known measures guaranteed to prevent their occurrence. Better treatment modalities, and the prevention of keloid formation, will require a better understanding of their genetic and molecular causes. Recent work has identified several regions of the genome that may predispose to keloid formation within families, but little of this work has been done investigating African-American and Hispanic populations. I am collecting blood samples from African-American and Hispanic kindreds with familial keloids, as well as patients who develop keloids without a family history. The medical student will be assisting with: the enrollment of individuals into the study (questionnaires, photography of lesions, and blood samples), the isolation of DNA from the blood samples obtained, and the analysis of data collected from questionnaires and linkage studies performed on DNA.

Previous Research Activities or Publications with Medical Students:
none