2. What has already been done and how is it related?
• Identification of new targets…but there must be more
• Are we looking in the right places? Hair follicle..? ECM..?
• Are we looking for the right signals…? Other cytokines…?
• Are we looking at the right cells…? NK? Other regulatory cells?
• Efforts toward antigen discovery progress being made and needs
to keep going
• What can we learn from patients who don’t respond to JAK
inhibitors?
• How can we better define those who will respond to JAK
inhibitors?
3. What questions still need to be answered?
• Need to understand how to stratify/select patients
• What defines a JAK responder vs a JAK non-responder?
• Are all non-responders not responding for same reason(s)? Different
reason(s)?
• Are there confounding diagnoses in JAK treated patients (AGA, other
alopecias?)
• Can we define a set of markers to select/stratify JAK responders, and
group the non-responders for further studies?
• What is the mechanism of longstanding disease? Is there burnout?
• Correlation of clinical status with research efforts – new onset patients,
longstanding disease, pediatric populations, etc.
4. What resources are needed?
• Additional funding for immunological studies
• Exploration to other immune mechanisms – NK cells, gammadelta
T cells, Tregs, B cells, DCs, mast cells, monocytes, others
• Further genetic studies – only 14 confirmed genes so far…there
are likely many more. Defining complete architecture to find
more pathways, potentially the ‘minor’ ones
• Biology of the end organ – hair follicle, cycle, pigmentation- and
its role in disease
• Consideration of environmental factors that interact with genetics
• Biomarkers and tools to monitor response to treatments
5. What can NAAF do to help?
• Liaise with other autoimmune disease groups to leverage research
findings, funding schemes, research priorities, shared disease
mechanisms (T1D, RA, thyroiditis, vitiligo, etc)
• Continued funding of exploratory ideas, to advance new concepts
and young investigators
• Continue to drive drug development pathway
• Continued emphasis on developing new outcome measures
• Continue with Research Summit to help define priorities and set
the agenda for the coming years!