The Kwatra lab’s focus is on pruritic and inflammatory skin conditions in diverse patient populations, and the mechanisms by which these conditions affect patients. We employ a patient focused approach utilizing collection of clinically curated skin biopsies, blood samples, and microbiome specimens.

Analysis techniques such as fluorescence-activated cell sorting from peripheral blood mononuclear cells and skin biopsies help to identify dysregulated disease mechanisms that can then be further studied with a variety of techniques, including targeted functional studies in mice. The lab also verifies these findings with machine learning techniques of multi-center data and translationally focused, mechanistically anchored clinical trials. An overview of our approach is below. 

Along with bench research, the Kwatra lab also brings research findings to the bedside through clinical trials of promising medications for conditions with limited FDA treatments such as prurigo nodularis and chronic pruritus of unknown origin. Our current clinical trials include A Study to Assess the Efficacy and Safety of Nemolizumab (CD14152) in Participants With Prurigo Nodularis and A Phase 2a Open-Label Study to Assess the Efficacy, Safety, and Tolerability of Abrocitinib for Reducing Pruritus in Adults with Prurigo Nodularis and Chronic Pruritus of Unknown Origin.