This application is in response to the Mid-career Investigator Award in Patient-Oriented Research (PA-98-053) which was created to support young, active and successful clinical investigators to overcome some of the major barriers to patient-oriented research: time, resource and mentoring. Dr. Sewon Kang represents such a clinical researcher with years of specialty training and commitment to mentoring the next generation of clinical investigators. The objectives of this program are to further establish the candidate's independent patient-oriented clinical research program, especially in clinical translational research, and to provide him the time and resources necessary to mentor trainees pursuing clinical investigations in skin. The areas of activity of this project are Dr. Kang's research plan focused on therapeutic use of ultraviolet (UV)-A1 radiation in fibrosing skin diseases, effects of antioxidants in UV-signaling relevant to photoaging in human skin in vivo, and interleukin-10 in psoriasis, along with his plans for mentoring beginning clinical investigators. The three projects allow, in addition to the more traditional avenue of training in sound study design, execution, and analysis, opportunities for a novel avenue for training of clinical investigators to use tools required for reproducible observation and reliable documentation of molecular phenomenon relevant to human disease. The candidate has an established record of providing mentorship to pre- and post-doctoral trainees. Dr. Kang's research program will provide the context for him to continue to train beginning clinical investigators. His research and mentoring programs will be supported by the outstanding clinical research and training programs of the University of Michigan. These include the recently awarded institutional curriculum to teach the essentials of clinical research to young trainees and junior faculty (K-30), a well- funded General Clinical Research Center, the Center for Clinical Investigation and Therapeutics, educational program in Clinical Research Design and Statistical Analysis, and the School of Public Health. In summary, the candidate's expertise and accomplishments in patient-oriented research, his ability and commitment to mentor beginning clinical investigators, and the research and training strengths of the University of Michigan combine to provide an ideal context to accomplish the specific aims of this proposal.
| Wang, Frank; Kwak, Heh Shin R; Elbuluk, Nada et al. (2009) Retinoic acid 4-hydroxylase inducibility and clinical response to isotretinoin in patients with acne. J Am Acad Dermatol 61:252-8 |
| Cho, Soyun; Lowe, Lori; Hamilton, Ted A et al. (2005) Long-term treatment of photoaged human skin with topical retinoic acid improves epidermal cell atypia and thickens the collagen band in papillary dermis. J Am Acad Dermatol 53:769-74 |
| Kafi, Reza; Fisher, Gary J; Quan, Taihao et al. (2004) UV-A1 phototherapy improves nephrogenic fibrosing dermopathy. Arch Dermatol 140:1322-4 |
| Orringer, Jeffrey S; Kang, Sewon; Hamilton, Ted et al. (2004) Treatment of acne vulgaris with a pulsed dye laser: a randomized controlled trial. JAMA 291:2834-9 |
