Centre for Skin Sciences

Name	Prof. Desmond J Tobin
Position	Professor of Cell Biology; Centre for Skin Sciences Director
School	School of Life Sciences
Research Area	Cutaneous Biology
Room and Building	J20, Richmond Building
Telephone	(01274) 233585
Email	d.tobin@bradford.ac.uk
Research and Knowledge Transfer Centre	Centre for Skin Sciences (CSS)

Biography

Graduated from

• Undergraduate science degree from National University of Ireland Maynooth 
• PhD from St. John's Institute of Dermatology, University of London
• Post-doctoral research at New York University Medical School (Dermatology)

Professional Activities (University)

• Director of CSS
• Research & Knowledge Transfer Strategy Committee (RKT Centre representative)

 

Professional Activities (External)

• Fellow of Society of Biology
• Fellow of The Royal College of Pathologists (FRCPath)
• Fellow of The Institute of Trichologists  (FIT, Lond.)
• Fellow of Higher Education Academy (UK)
• Member of The European Society for Dermatology Research (ESDR)
• Member of The European Society for Pigment Cell Research
• Member of International Federation of Pigment Cell Societies
• Member of The British Society of Investigative Dermatology

Research

General Research Areas

Regulation of skin and hair follicle pigmentation; POMC peptides in skin and hair follicle pigmentation; Melanocyte aging; Regulation of melanosome transfer from melanocytes to keratinocytes; Melanocyte : mesenchyme interactions in the hair follicle; Autoimmune responses to hair follicles in alopecia areata; Role of the hair follicle mesenchyme in wound healing.

More information >>

Current Projects

• Role of of  hair follicle HPA axis components in wound-healing
  Funder: Plastic Surgery & Burns Unit
  Period: 2011-2013 
• Study of pigmentation pathways in pigment cells (melanocytes) from the skin and the hair.
  Funder: Multinational company
  Period: 2009-2011
• Study of melanin transfer from melanocytes to keratinocytes in human epidermis
  Funder: Multinational company
  Period: 2006-2010

Current Laboratory Personnel

• Dr SK Singh - Research Investment Lecturer
• Dr Karl Gledhill - Post Doctoral Research Assistant
• Mr Debrata Mondal (with Dr SK Singh) - PhD Student
• Mr Chandra Talari  -  MSc 
• Ms Wanting Lui  (with Dr Yonghong Peng)  - PhD Student
• Mr Mohamed Al-Shamari (with Dr Yonghong Peng)  - PhD Student

Research Collaborations

Internal:

• Andrew Wilson: Archeological Sciences. To exploit hair fiber as a bio-resource in forensic and archeological sciences. 
• Julie Thornton: CSS. Estrogen action in hair follicle melanocytes
• Anna Nicolaou: Interaction of the skin melanocyte with UVR 
• Yong-Hong Peng: Systems biology of skin

External

• Andrzej Slominski (University of Tennessee); 
• Ralf Paus (Universities of Luebeck and Manchester); 
• Anne White (University of Manchester); 
• Heinz Fischer, Medical University of Vienna); 
• Thomas Reinheckel (University of Freiburg),
• Eugene Healy (Southampton University).

Teaching and administrative roles

• School of Life Sciences Chair/Reader Promotions Panel
• Member of Dean's Advisory Group
• Member of the University Research Think Tank
• Member of UoB RKT Strategy Commitee
• Representative for KTC Centre Directors

Recent publications

Tobin DJ.

Ex vivo organ culture of human hair follicles: a model epithelial-neuroectodermal-mesenchymal interaction system.

Methods Mol Biol. 2011;695:213-27.
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/21042975

Sharov AA, Schroeder M, Sharova TY, Mardaryev AN, Peters EM, Tobin DJ, Botchkarev VA.

Matrix Metalloproteinase-9 Is Involved in the Regulation of Hair Canal Formation.

J Invest Dermatol. 2010 Sep 30. [Epub ahead of print] No abstract available.

Leung MC, Sutton CW, Fenton DA, Tobin DJ.

Trichohyalin is a potential major autoantigen in human alopecia areata.

J Proteome Res. 2010 Oct 1;9(10):5153-63.
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/20722389

Gledhill K, Rhodes LE, Brownrigg M, Haylett AK, Masoodi M, Thody AJ, Nicolaou A, Tobin DJ.

Prostaglandin-E2 is produced by adult human epidermal melanocytes in response to UVB in a melanogenesis-independent manner.

Pigment Cell Melanoma Res. 2010 Jun;23(3):394-403. Epub 2010 Mar 17.
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/20236442

Singh SK, Kurfurst R, Nizard C, Schnebert S, Perrier E, Tobin DJ.

Melanin transfer in human skin cells is mediated by filopodia - a model for homotypic and heterotypic lysosome-related organelle transfer.

FASEB J. 2010 Oct;24(10):3756-69. Epub 2010 May 25.
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/20501793

Miranda BH, Tobin DJ, Sharpe DT, Randall VA.

Intermediate hair follicles: a new more clinically relevant model for hair growth investigations.

Br J Dermatol. 2010 Aug;163(2):287-95. Epub 2010 May 25.
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/20500795

Masoodi M, Nicolaou A, Gledhill K, Rhodes LE, Tobin DJ, Thody AJ.

Prostaglandin D(2) production in FM55 melanoma cells is regulated by alpha-melanocyte-stimulating hormone and is not related to melanin production.

Exp Dermatol. 2010 Aug;19(8):751-3.
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/20482620

Rhodes LE, Gledhill K, Masoodi M, Haylett AK, Brownrigg M, Thody AJ, Tobin DJ, Nicolaou A.

The sunburn response in human skin is characterized by sequential eicosanoid profiles that may mediate its early and late phases.

FASEB J. 2009 Nov;23(11):3947-56.    
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/19584301

Plonka PM, Passeron T, Brenner M, Tobin DJ, Shibahara S, Thomas A, Slominski A, Kadekaro AL, Hershkovitz D, Peters E, Nordlund JJ, Abdel-Malek Z, Takeda K, Paus R, Ortonne JP, Hearing VJ, Schallreuter KU.

What are melanocytes really doing all day long...?

Exp Dermatol. 2009 Sep;18(9):799-819. Epub 2009 Jul 30. Review.

Erratum in: Exp Dermatol. 2009 Dec;18(12):1096.
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/19659579

Melanocortin receptor ligands: New horizons for skin biology and clinical dermatology

Bohm, M, Luger, TA, Tobin, DJ and Borron, JC (2006) Melanocortin receptor ligands: New horizons for skin biology and clinical dermatology, J. Invest. Dermatol., 126, 1966-1975.

Histological correlates of postmortem mitochondrial DNA damage in degraded hair

Gilbert, MTP, Janaway, RC, Tobin, DJ, Cooper, A and Wilson, AS (2006) Histological correlates of postmortem mitochondrial DNA damage in degraded hair, Forensic Sci.Int., 156, 201-207

Resistance of degraded hair shafts to contaminant DNA

Gilbert, MTP, Menez, L, Janaway, RC, Tobin, DJ, Cooper, A and Wilson, AS (2006) Resistance of degraded hair shafts to contaminant DNA, Forensic Sci.Int., 156, 208-212

Modulation of the human hair follicle pigmentary unit by corticotropin-releasing hormone and urocortin peptides

Kauser, S, Slominski, A, Wei, ET and Tobin, DJ (2006) Modulation of the human hair follicle pigmentary unit by corticotropin-releasing hormone and urocortin peptides, Faseb J., 20, 882-895

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