Skin
deep
Event preview: London, 1 November 2007
Speakers at the forthcoming ‘Skin – Target or Barrier?’ conference will review the dual functionality of skin as an organ of defence and as a target for drug delivery
 Skin is the most visible sign of beauty and health. As such, it is the subject of intense marketing to promote a variety of cosmetic and pharmaceutical related products to treat both the skin itself and deliver drugs systemically. Equally important, but much less recognised, is its function as a barrier to harmful substances. Current thinking on the skin’s health - and protection - related properties will be discussed in a forthcoming SCI conference, Skin – Target or Barrier? to be held at SCI International Headquarters in London on
1 November 2007.
The one-day meeting will present the latest research in a number of skin-related areas where applications of sophisticated and sensitive biophysical techniques, molecular biology and computational techniques are rapidly advancing our knowledge of skin organisation and function. These approaches are also enhancing our understanding of mechanisms of permeation of pharmaceutical actives, cosmeceuticals and excipients. The conference will bring together scientists involved in basic research with those applying this work to tackle problems of dermal and transdermal bioavailability, skin defence and skin repair.
The conference will focus on biophysical techniques to interrogate the skin, new opportunities for topical and transdermal drug delivery, regulatory risk assessment and advances in predictive methods to model skin delivery.
SCI has joined forces with the Skin Forum to produce the conference. The Skin Forum is an Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council (EPSRC) funded network to reinforce the importance of applying multidisciplinary approaches to advance knowledge of skin structure and function. Skin Forum was established by Jonathan Hadgraft, School of Pharmacy, University of London in 1999 and represents scientists from a diverse range of disciplines who share a common interest in the physicochemical and biological properties of human skin. In order to achieve its aims. ‘Skin – Target or Barrier?’ has been organised around four sessions focusing on biophysical technical to image the skin, targeting drugs to the skin, skin and defence and modelling the permeability of the skin. It will cover a range of topics including:
- Skin structure and function – Majella Lane, School of Pharmacy, University of London;
- Spectroscopic methods to investigate the skin – Jonathan Hadgraft, School of Pharmacy, University of London;
- New measures of the effects of treatments delivered to the stratum corneum – Paul Matts, Procter and Gamble;
- Formulation strategies to overcome the skin’s defence – Adrian Davis, Limeway Consulting;
- New formulations for the treatment of psoriasis – Simon Ward, York Pharma;
- How we lose skin to defend ourselves – Tony Rawlings, AVR Consulting;
- The role of percutaneous absorption in risk assessment – Han Van de Sandt, TNO, Quality of Life, The Netherlands;
- Quantitative structure permeability relationships – Mark Cronin, Liverpool John Moores University;
- Modelling the effects of formulation factors on skin penetration – Taravat Ghafourian, Greenwich University.
The programme will be of interest to pharmaceutical scientists, formulation scientists and other researchers developing molecules for delivery to and through the skin, as well as regulatory specialists, toxicologists from industry, research organisations, government laboratories and managers who wish to obtain an overview of this exciting field. The conference will offer the opportunity for participants to contribute a poster presentation in any related field.
SCI BioActive Sciences Technical Group
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