On the 24th of October 2024, Jannik Rousel successfully defended his PhD thesis. Jannik’s thesis uncovers non-invasive multimodal technologies to characterize skin disorders for better decision-making in early clinical trials.
Chronic inflammatory skin diseases such as atopic dermatitis, acne vulgaris, alopecia, psoriasis, rosacea or vitiligo arise from abnormal immune activation and affect around 20% of the world's population. These chronic disorders cause sore, itchy skin and affect the daily lives of patients physically as well as psychologically. Despite advances in treatment, many therapies remain insufficient, causing patient dissatisfaction and financial strain on healthcare systems. High attrition rates in drug development stem from poor decision-making and underfunding in research.
This thesis aims to improve early clinical drug development by introducing new data-rich methods to characterize inflammatory skin diseases. The first section details a comprehensive assessment of seborrheic dermatitis using multiple diagnostic tools, applied within a trial of a new treatment. The second section presents a model trial in psoriasis, showing how multimodal technologies increased confidence in clinical outcomes, particularly in patients with mild disease. The final section identifies the ceramide profile of the outer layer of the skin as a valuable biomarker and potential target for enhancing skin barrier health. Overall, these findings can be applied in future clinical trials, supporting a more strategic approach to early-stage drug development in dermatology.
Find his thesis here
