Eugene M. Farber Lecture
Towards Precision Therapeutics: A Systems Approach to Understanding Psoriasis Plaque Resolution and Endotype Analysis
BIO
Nick Reynolds is Professor of Dermatology and Director of the MRC/EPSRC Molecular Pathology Node in Newcastle where he also leads a multi-disciplinary psoriasis service for patients with severe disease. After qualifying in medicine from the University of London, he received his dermatology and academic training in Bristol, Ann Arbor Michigan, USA and Newcastle upon Tyne, with research fellowship support from the British Association of Dermatologists, the Psoriasis Association and the Wellcome Trust.
Nick Reynolds’ current research is focused on the mechanism of action of therapeutic agents in psoriasis and atopic eczema, human models of skin disease, systems biology and precision medicine. His group published one of the first personalized medicine studies in Dermatology – a randomised controlled trial of azathioprine in atopic eczema that utilised pharmacogenetic-based dosimetry (Lancet). His interdisciplinary and computer modelling studies of UVB phototherapy in psoriasis identified apoptosis as a biomarker of response and as a key mechanism involved in plaque remodelling. He has been a member of BADBIR’s (British Association of Dermatologists Biologics Intervention Register) Steering Committee since its inception and has chaired the Research Committee since 2009. As work-strand lead in a multi-centre stratified medicine programme – PSORT (Psoriasis Stratification to Optimise Relevant Therapy), he has contributed particularly to transcriptomic and systems analyses as well as working closely with patient groups. In 2016 he was appointed Director of Newcastle’s MRC/EPSRC Molecular Pathology Node, one of six units established in the UK to bring researchers, clinicians and industry together to develop molecular diagnostic tools for personalized medicine.
He was the inaugural Chair of UK TREND (Translational Research Network in Dermatology) and is past president of the European Society for Dermatological Research (ESDR).