Photoaging and Aging Skin

Director: Gary Fisher, Ph.D.

The Photoaging and Aging Skin Research Program, under the direction of Dr. Gary Fisher, maintains three primary areas of research. Discoveries resulting from this work have led to an understanding of how UV irradiation from the sun alters the metabolism, structure, and function of collagen in human skin to cause premature skin aging.

• Molecular mechanisms by which ultraviolet (UV) irradiation from the sun damages human skin
  The Photoaging and Aging Skin Research Program is investigating early upstream signal transduction pathways that initiate cellular responses to UV irradiation eventuating in skin damage.
• Molecular mechanisms by which aging adversely affects skin connective tissue
  Stemming from the discovery that the transforming growth factor (TGF-β) pathway is impaired in human skin by UV irradiation, our research is examining molecular mechanisms that cause deterioration of human skin connective tissue during aging.