The Department of Dermatology, together with its subdivision Netherlands Institute for Pigment Disorders (SNIP) and affiliated STI outpatient clinic of the Municipal Health Service Amsterdam (GGD Amsterdam), is recognized nationally and internationally as a research oriented clinical department.
The department has substantial obligations in the interrelated areas of patient care, education and research in experimental immunology, infectious skin diseases, translational dermatology, and clinical dermatology. The ambition is to strengthen the department's leading position in chronic immune-mediated dermatoses, expand studies on infectious skin-diseases and perform clinical immunotherapy trials in the NKI-AVL.
Alliance with VU University medical center (VUmc)
As of January 2012 the Department of Dermatology of the AMC has merged with the Department of Dermatology of the VUmc. Consequently, integration of research interests is now being pursued.
Research lines
Our research efforts are in experimental immunology, translational dermatology, and clinical dermatology. In experimental immunology, studies are directed at understanding immuno-regulation of the skin immune system (SIS). The major experimental research effort is aimed at unravelling pathomechanisms of infections and of chronic immune mediated skin diseases with a focus on psoriasis, vitiligo, and atopic dermatitis.
Translational immunodermatology is directed at developing new therapeutic agents and management strategies for these chronic skin diseases. The collaboration with the NKI-AVL provides an excellent platform for our translational melanoma-research, to perform clinical trials of our newly developed, innovative immunotherapy of melanoma.
In clinical immunodermatology we have:
- development of new therapeutic agents such as the biologics;
- development of evidence-based diagnostic and treatment guidelines;
- systematic development and application of patient reported outcome measures.
These 3 programs are focussed on the chronic immune-mediated skin diseases mentioned.