News

• 3 2026

  Journal of Investigative Dermatology published our collaborative work on characterizing Vulvar Lichen Sclerosus spearheaded by the Dai and Kraus Labs Scott Atwood

  Vulvar diseases are a neglected area of women's health, profoundly affecting patients' QOL. Lichen sclerosus is a chronic inflammatory vulvar skin disorder leading to severe itching, pain, scarring, and an increased risk of malignancy. Despite this burden, the molecular pathogenesis of vulvar lichen sclerosus is not well-understood, limiting treatment options. In this study, we analyze lesional, nonlesional, and healthy vulvar skin using technologies including spatial and single-cell transcriptomics. Our findings identify unifying molecular changes across multiple cell types in lesional vulvar lichen sclerosus skin, including keratinocyte stress response, necroptosis, and basal/stem cell depletion. Chronic T-cell activation, enhanced cytotoxicity, aberrant cell-cell communication, and elevated IFN-γ/JAK/signal transducer and activator of transcription signaling were also observed. Functional studies suggest keratinocytes' dual role as both targets of microenvironmental signaling (eg, IFN-γ) and sources of inflammatory alarmins (eg, S100A8/9). This work reveals keratinocytes as central players in vulvar lichen sclerosus pathogenesis and identifies potential biomarkers and therapeutic targets for future research. Read More PDF

• 1 2026

  Arinnae Kurdian has joined the lab as a PhD candidate! Scott Atwood

  Arinnae has decided to pursue her PhD graduate work in the Atwood lab. Arinnae received her B.S. in Cellular and Molecular Biology from California State University - Northridge where she investigated the gut bacterium Akkermansia muciniphila. She went on to perform research at UCLA where she utilized brain organoids to investigate neurological diseases and epileptogenesis. She earned her M.S. in Cellular and Molecular Biology at UC Irvine where she worked on human skin equivalent organoids and epidermal ridge formation. Arinnae is excited to continue her work on defining how stem cells contribute to epidermal ridges. Welcome to the lab!

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