Nu Skin, One Foundation
establish dermatology center at Stanford
BY MIKE GOODKIND
Nu Skin Enterprises and
the One Foundation have pledged up to $9 million to
create a Nu Skin Center for Dermatological Research at
the Stanford University School of Medicine.
Alfred Lane, MD, professor
and chair of dermatology, said that the center will focus
on dermatological investigation, product development,
patient care and training. Nu Skin is a direct marketer
of personal care and nutritional products.
The One Foundation, a
nonprofit organization established by Nu Skin co-founder
and chairman Blake Roney and his wife Nancy, has pledged
annual stock donations for nine years to provide
unrestricted research funds valued at up to $750,000 a
year, Lane said.
The contribution will be
used to study genetic therapies for skin disorders --
including a debilitating and often fatal disease,
epidermolysis bullosa (EB) -- as well as clinical
research for more common skin conditions and products.
The remainder of the $9
million pledge is part of a research contract between Nu
Skin and Stanford University. The contract provides
$250,000 per year for nine years to fund clinical trials
and research involving existing and potential Nu Skin
products, ingredients and formulas, Lane said.
The agreement allows
Stanford to independently publish results of the
research, while Nu Skin will own the rights to any
commercial applications that may result, Lane explained.
"This significant
commitment represents an innovative way for Stanford
researchers, including junior scientists who otherwise
would have difficulty gaining research experience, to
generate new knowledge of benefit not only to desperately
sick patients, but to the general public as well,"
said Lane.
"We're particularly
enthusiastic that our efforts to find a genetic treatment
for EB will receive a valuable boost from the foresighted
generosity of the One Foundation in making an
unrestricted grant for this research," he added.
Stanford assistant
professors Scott Herron, MD, PhD, and Peter Marinkovich,
MD, have identified and traced the genetic origins of the
defective proteins that cause EB. A Stanford team led by
Paul Khavari, MD, PhD, associate professor of
dermatology, is now exploring techniques to correct these
defects in patients by delivering genetic material
directly through the skin.
"We expect to be able
to provide clinical trials of the gene therapy techniques
within two years," said Lane. Stanford is the
Western regional site of the National EB Registry,
sponsored by the National Institutes of Health. The
illness afflicts about 50,000 Americans overall, and
approximately 10 patients from all over the world visit
the EB clinic at Stanford each month.
The gene therapy technique
is expected to be most effective against acute EB, which
usually kills infants before they reach the toddler
stage, Lane said. A chronic form of EB, which claims the
lives of patients in early adulthood, requires sufferers
to endure hours of daily bathing and the application of
topical treatments. Afflicted children must refrain from
most normal activity, because the skin and mucous
membranes are so fragile that blisters are caused by the
slightest touch.
Developing a better
understanding about the underlying mechanisms of
blistering could ultimately lead to improved treatment of
EB, as well as other, less severe skin diseases, Lane
noted.
Steven J. Lund, president
and chief executive officer of Nu Skin Enterprises, noted
that Nu Skin has provided contributions to Stanford
dermatology research since 1996 through donations from
the sale of one of its products, as well as through
regular corporate and distributor donations.
Nu Skin and the One
Foundation are based in Provo, Utah. The foundation is a
philanthropic organization that provides funding to
address hunger, special medical needs, and other issues
that can have a significant impact on children. SR
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