Agilent Announces Eczema Research Collaboration

Agilent Technology (Santa Clara, California, USA) has announced a collaboration with researchers at the University of Sheffield and the University of Manchester to investigate the risk factors surrounding atopic eczema (atopic dermatitis), a chronic skin condition that affects one in five children and one in 12 adults.

The study will follow a group of 175 babies during their first year of life to see how their skin matures, and identify which babies are most at risk of developing eczema. This early identification is crucial to preventing eczema from developing further, and could also potentially prevent the development of other inflammatory skin disorders.

“A growing body of evidence suggests a critical role for the skin barrier in the development and course of atopic eczema. A greater understanding of skin barrier optimization from birth, promises to identify susceptible individuals early on, and enable novel therapeutic options to improve standards of neonatal skin care and prevent clinical eczema development,” said Simon G. Danby, the lead researcher of the Skin Testing for Atopic eczema Risk (STAR) study and research fellow in the Sheffield Dermatology Research group at the University of Sheffield.

For more information, please visit: www.agilent.com