Desmond J TOBIN Prof

Dr Desmond J. Tobin is Professor of Dermatological Science at the The Charles Institute of Dermatology and Honorary Visiting Research Professor of Cell Biology and Director of the Centre for Skin Sciences at University of Bradford. He holds a BSc from the National University of Ireland (Maynooth), a PhD from the University of London (St. John’s Institute of Dermatology) and post-doctoral training from New York University Medical School’s Dept. of Dermatology.  Over the past 20 years he has researched in basic and applied skin/hair sciences, with a particular focus on the biology of human melanocytes/ pigmentation and hair growth disorders especially those with an iinflammatory or mmune basis. He was the first to identify antibodies to hair follicle-specific antigens in patients with acute alopecia areata, and also the first to establish melanocytes from the human hair follicles in long-term culture. He has identified a self-similarity of the Pro-opiomelanocortin (POMC) peptide system in the human hair follicle pigmentary unit, how pigmentation can be regulated by 'stress-axis' peptides like CRF and POMC peptides (incl. beta endorphin), and more recently by bone morphogenetic proteins. His laboratory revealed an unexpected role for filopodia in melanin transfer to keratinocytes under the influence of myoxin-X and cdc42. 

Des Tobin is a Fellow of Royal College of Pathologists, Fellow of the Royal Society of Biology, and Fellow of the Institute of Trichologists (Vice-President). He is the current president of the British Society for Investigative Dermatology. Des serves(ed) on several editorial boards and is executive editor of International Journal of Trichology. He has published over 140 publications, incl. 3 books. Many of these publications are focused of skin and hair follicle pigmentation in health and disease, as well as hair growth in healthy and disease (especially immune-mediated hair loss conditions like alopecai areata). is H-Index is currently 56 (Scopus).