Centres participating in the A-STAR project
Bristol Childrens’ Hospital
Dr Louise Newell
Consultant Dermatologist, Bristol Royal Infirmary and Bristol Children’s Hospital. Extensive experience in managing severe eczema requiring systemic treatment, in adults and children.
Guy’s and St Thomas’ NHS Foundation Trust
For children
Prof. Carsten Flohr (Chief Investigator)
Carsten Flohr studied at Cambridge and Oxford Universities and then trained in both paediatrics and dermatology. He was the first UK National Institute for Health Research (NIHR) Clinician Scientist in Dermatology and was recently awarded a senior Career Development Fellowship from the NIHR.
He is Professor of Dermatology and Population Science and directs the Unit for Population-Based Dermatology Research at St John’s Institute of Dermatology, King’s College London and Guy’s & St Thomas’ NHS Foundation Trust.
He is also Consultant in Dermatology and Research & Development Lead at St John’s Institute of Dermatology.
Prof Flohr has a particular interest in atopic eczema, its causes and novel methods of disease prevention and treatment
For adults
Dr Richard Woolf
Richard Woolf is a consultant dermatologist at the St John’s Institute of Dermatology, Guy’s and St Thomas’ NHS Foundation Trust. His key clinical interest is in medical dermatology, working across large specialist eczema and psoriasis services. He also works in the general dermatology and skin cancer screening services.
Clinical Lead for medical dermatology at the St John’s Institute of Dermatology, starting September 2021. Also involved in the operational delivery of the eczema and psoriasis services and has led on service redesign and innovation. Principal Investigator and Sub-Investigator on multiple trials in atopic dermatitis and psoriasis.
Liverpool University Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust – Broadgreen Hospital
Dr Ben Thompson
MRC Human Immunology Unit and Oxford University Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust
Dr Ben Thompson
Norfolk and Norwich University Hospital
Dr May Fadhil, Consultant Dermatologist, Norfolk and Norwich University Hospital.
North Tees and Hartlepool NHS Foundation Trust and The James Cook University Hospital NHS Trust
Dr Sharmela Darne
Royal Children’s Hospital Glasgow
Dr Paula Beattie
Dr Paula Beattie is a Consultant Dermatologist in Glasgow and Honorary Senior Lecturer at University of Glasgow. She has a clinical and research interest in Atopic Eczema in both Children and Adults and has been involved in a number of UK wide eczema studies and trials. She sat on the development committee for the NICE guideline for assessment and diagnosis of food allergy in children.
Royal United Hospitals Bath NHS Foundation Trust
Sheffield Teaching Hospital and Sheffield Children’s Hospital
Professor Mike Cork
I joined the University of Sheffield in 1991 as a lecturer in dermatology whilst continuing as a practising dermatologist for the NHS in Sheffield. I had previously been a Registrar in Dermatology at the Royal Hallamshire Hospital, Sheffield, and before that a Registrar in Respiratory General Medicine at Leeds General Infirmary.
I have been closely involved with research in many areas of dermatology; including Atopic Eczema(dermatitis), Psoriasis, Vitiligo and the Genetics of Skin Disease. My major current research work is aimed at identifying gene–environment interactions in the development of atopic dermatitis leading to skin barrier breakdown and the understanding of how topical agents interact with the skin barrier; using this information to enhance the treatment of atopic dermatitis.
I am currently Head of Sheffield Dermatology Research in the Department of Infection, Immunity & Cardiovascular Disease at the University of Sheffield Medical School and am Honorary Consultant Dermatologist to both Sheffield Children´s Hospital NHS Foundation Trust and to Sheffield Teaching Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust; my time is evenly split between the University and the NHS.
University hospital of Wales
Senior Lecturer and Consultant Dermatologist, Cardiff University and Cardiff & Vale University Health Board, with a particular interest in inflammatory skin disease. Editor-Elect of the British Journal of Dermatology and recipient of a five year Health Fellowship from Health and Care Research Wales (HCRW). Dermatology Specialty Lead for HCRW, coordinating dermatology clinical trials activity across Wales.
University of Dundeee
Dr Ross Hearn
Consultant Dermatologist, Dundee; specialist clinics for adult and paediatric eczema.
University of Edinburgh
Dr Richard Weller
Richard Weller, Reader and Honorary Consultant Dermatologist, University of Edinburgh. Runs the eczema clinic in NHS Lothian and is active in basic and clinical research in eczema. Dermatology Lead for NHS Research Scotland. Expert advisor to NICE on dermatology.
University of Manchester
Professor Richard Warren
Professor of Dermatology and Therapeutics and Honorary Consultant Dermatologist, The University of Manchester.
His work in Dermatology has focussed on: pharmacogenetics (forming the basis of his PhD thesis), the genetic susceptibility to psoriasis and more recently biological therapies and their use in the treatment of psoriasis. For his work into the pharmacogenetics of methotrexate he has received national and international awards from the British Association of Dermatologists (BAD) and American Academy of Dermatology.
He is widely published in the field of Dermatology with numerous abstracts, papers and book contributions including The Lancet, Nature Genetics and The Journal of Investigative Dermatology. He is currently the EU Editor in Chief for the journal Dermatology and Therapy. He currently chairs the BAD guideline group for methotrexate and is a member of the BAD biologics committee and research subcommittee.
University of Newcastle
Professor Nick Reynolds
Professor of Dermatology, Newcastle University, with a particular interest in therapeutics. Published one of the first stratified medicine studies in dermatology, a RCT of azathioprine in atopic eczema that utilised pharmacogenetic-based dosimetry. Co-Investigator in BADBIR since its inception, also leads one of the workstreams for PSORT. Director of Newcastle’s EPSRC/MRC Molecular Pathology Node, one of six units established in the UK to develop molecular diagnostic tools for stratification. Inaugural Chair UK TREND (Translational Research Network in Dermatology), now demitted and Past President of the European Society for Dermatological Research (ESDR).
University of Southhampton
Professor Dr Michael R. Ardern-Jones BSc, MBBS, DPhil, FRCP
Michael Ardern-Jones (MAJ) trained in Dermatology at St John’s Institute of Dermatology, London and subsequently Oxford. His DPhil (PhD) at Oxford explored the immunology of atopic dermatitis. He was appointed to University Hospitals Southampton NHS Trust and to the Faculty of Medicine, University of Southampton in 2005.
He has a specific academic interest in inflammatory skin disease and leads the clinical service for eczema, skin allergy and drug hypersensitivity reactions. His clinical unit undertakes clinical trials in atopic eczema and other skin diseases. MAJ has long-standing research interest in all aspects of atopic eczema including: immunological mechanisms, immunotherapy, and the skin microbiome. His research lab comprises post-doctoral scientists, PhD students, clinical fellows and technicians.
Michael Ardern-Jones is President of the British Society for Medical Dermatology and Immediate Past Chair of the British Society for Investigative Dermatology. He also chairs The Skin Investigation Society. He is lead author on the Atopic eczema chapters and co-author for Drug allergy in Rook’s Textbook of Dermatology. He is an expert advisor to NICE and the MHRA on dermatology.
West Hertfordshire Hospitals NHS Trust
Dr Victoria Brown
Dr Victoria Brown is a Consultant Dermatologist at West Hertfordshire Hospitals NHS Trust. She runs clinics for adults with chronic inflammatory dermatology conditions, including eczema. She is currently the local Principal Investigator for all the dermatology research studies carried out at West Hertfordshire Hospitals NHS Trust. Her previous research experience includes working as a Medical Research Council Clinical Training Fellow at the Centre for Cutaneous Research at the Royal London Hospital.
Chelsea and Westminster Hospital NHS Foundation Trust: West Middlesex Hospital
Jerome Baldago
