Angela M. Christiano is a molecular geneticist in the field of

dermatology Dermatology is the branch of medicine dealing with the Human skin, skin.''Random House Webster's Unabridged Dictionary.'' Random House, Inc. 2001. Page 537. . It is a speciality with both medical and surgical aspects. A List of dermatologists, ...

. Her research focuses on genes involved in

hair Hair is a protein filament that grows from follicles found in the dermis. Hair is one of the defining characteristics of mammals. The human body, apart from areas of glabrous skin, is covered in follicles which produce thick terminal and ...

and

skin Skin is the layer of usually soft, flexible outer tissue covering the body of a vertebrate animal, with three main functions: protection, regulation, and sensation. Other animal coverings, such as the arthropod exoskeleton, have different ...

growth, as well as treatments for hair loss and skin cancers. She is the Richard and Mildred Rhodebeck Professor of

Dermatology Dermatology is the branch of medicine dealing with the Human skin, skin.''Random House Webster's Unabridged Dictionary.'' Random House, Inc. 2001. Page 537. . It is a speciality with both medical and surgical aspects. A List of dermatologists, ...

and Professor of

Genetics Genetics is the study of genes, genetic variation, and heredity in organisms.Hartl D, Jones E (2005) It is an important branch in biology because heredity is vital to organisms' evolution. Gregor Mendel, a Moravian Augustinians, Augustinian ...

and

Development Development or developing may refer to: Arts *Development (music), the process by which thematic material is reshaped * Photographic development *Filmmaking, development phase, including finance and budgeting * Development hell, when a proje ...

Columbia University Columbia University in the City of New York, commonly referred to as Columbia University, is a Private university, private Ivy League research university in New York City. Established in 1754 as King's College on the grounds of Trinity Churc ...

Vagelos College of Physicians and Surgeons The Columbia University College of Physicians and Surgeons (officially known as Columbia University Roy and Diana Vagelos College of Physicians and Surgeons) is the medical school of Columbia University, located at the Columbia University Irvin ...

Education and early career

Christiano attended Nutley High School in Nutley,

New Jersey New Jersey is a U.S. state, state located in both the Mid-Atlantic States, Mid-Atlantic and Northeastern United States, Northeastern regions of the United States. Located at the geographic hub of the urban area, heavily urbanized Northeas ...

. She attended

Douglass College Douglass Residential College is a non-degree-granting program established in 2007 and open to Rutgers undergraduates at any of the degree-granting schools of Rutgers University-New Brunswick. It replaced the liberal arts degree-granting Douglas ...

, a women-only residential college within

Rutgers University-New Brunswick Rutgers University ( ), officially Rutgers, The State University of New Jersey, is a Public university, public land-grant research university consisting of three campuses in New Jersey. Chartered in 1766, Rutgers was originally called Queen's C ...

, earning her

Bachelor of Science A Bachelor of Science (BS, BSc, B.S., B.Sc., SB, or ScB; from the Latin ') is a bachelor's degree that is awarded for programs that generally last three to five years. The first university to admit a student to the degree of Bachelor of Scienc ...

degree in 1987. She continued her scientific training at Rutgers University, earning her

Master of Science A Master of Science (; abbreviated MS, M.S., MSc, M.Sc., SM, S.M., ScM or Sc.M.) is a master's degree. In contrast to the Master of Arts degree, the Master of Science degree is typically granted for studies in sciences, engineering and medici ...

Molecular Pathology Molecular pathology is an emerging discipline within pathology which is focused in the study and diagnosis of disease through the examination of molecules within organs, tissues or bodily fluids. Molecular pathology shares some aspects of practice ...

and

Doctor of Philosophy A Doctor of Philosophy (PhD, DPhil; or ) is a terminal degree that usually denotes the highest level of academic achievement in a given discipline and is awarded following a course of Postgraduate education, graduate study and original resear ...

. As a

postdoctoral researcher A postdoctoral fellow, postdoctoral researcher, or simply postdoc, is a person professionally conducting research after the completion of their doctoral studies (typically a PhD). Postdocs most commonly, but not always, have a temporary acade ...

in the

Jefferson Medical College Thomas Jefferson University is a private research university in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, United States. Established in its earliest form in 1824, the university officially combined with Philadelphia University in 2017. The university is ...

Department of Dermatology, Christiano focused on genetic blistering skin diseases.

Research

Christiano established her

laboratory A laboratory (; ; colloquially lab) is a facility that provides controlled conditions in which scientific or technological research, experiments, and measurement may be performed. Laboratories are found in a variety of settings such as schools ...

at Columbia University in 1996.

Genes driving alopecia areata

Alopecia areata is an

autoimmune disease An autoimmune disease is a condition that results from an anomalous response of the adaptive immune system, wherein it mistakenly targets and attacks healthy, functioning parts of the body as if they were foreign organisms. It is estimated tha ...

where a patient's

immune cells White blood cells (scientific name leukocytes), also called immune cells or immunocytes, are cells of the immune system that are involved in protecting the body against both infectious disease and foreign entities. White blood cells are genera ...

attack their own

hair follicle The hair follicle is an organ found in mammalian skin. It resides in the dermal layer of the skin and is made up of 20 different cell types, each with distinct functions. The hair follicle regulates hair growth via a complex interaction betwee ...

s, causing hair to fall out in clumps. In collaboration with the National Alopecia Areata Foundation (NAAF), Christiano and her group were able to compare genomes between patients and healthy control individuals. In 2009, Christiano and her group published the discovery of 139

genetic marker A genetic marker is a gene or DNA sequence with a known location on a chromosome that can be used to identify individuals or species. It can be described as a variation (which may arise due to mutation or alteration in the genomic loci) that can ...

s linked to alopecia areata. Although many expected that genes involved in alopecia would also be involved in other inherited hair and skin diseases, they found that genes linked to alopecia were linked to other types of autoimmune diseases instead: type-1 diabetes,

rheumatoid arthritis Rheumatoid arthritis (RA) is a long-term autoimmune disorder that primarily affects synovial joint, joints. It typically results in warm, swollen, and painful joints. Pain and stiffness often worsen following rest. Most commonly, the wrist and h ...

, and

celiac disease Coeliac disease (British English) or celiac disease (American English) is a long-term autoimmune disorder, primarily affecting the small intestine. Patients develop intolerance to gluten, which is present in foods such as wheat, rye, spel ...

Potential implications for cancer therapy

In patients with alopecia, one of the genes that are hyperactive is

IKZF1 DNA-binding protein Ikaros also known as Ikaros family zinc finger protein 1 is a protein that in humans is encoded by the ''IKZF1'' gene. Ikaros - transcription factor Ikaros is a transcription factor that is encoded by the ''IKZF'' genes o ...

, which results in overproduction of immune cells that subsequently attack hair follicles. In contrast, many

cancer Cancer is a group of diseases involving Cell growth#Disorders, abnormal cell growth with the potential to Invasion (cancer), invade or Metastasis, spread to other parts of the body. These contrast with benign tumors, which do not spread. Po ...

cells escape detection and elimination by immune cells. Scientists in the Christiano Lab were able to activate IKZF1 in certain cancer types, e.g.

melanoma Melanoma is the most dangerous type of skin cancer; it develops from the melanin-producing cells known as melanocytes. It typically occurs in the skin, but may rarely occur in the mouth, intestines, or eye (uveal melanoma). In very rare case ...

, and suppress tumor growth.

Strategies for growing human hair

In addition to her efforts in understanding the genetics behind alopecia, Christiano is also researching ways to treat it and other types of hair loss. Most therapies focus on stopping or slowing down hair loss, while

hair transplantation Hair transplantation is a surgery, surgical technique that removes hair follicles from one part of the body, called the 'donor site', to a bald or balding part of the body known as the 'recipient site'. The technique is primarily used to treat ...

simply moves one part of the scalp to another. Christiano's goal is to grow human hair in lab settings that could be then transplanted onto human scalp with minimal scarring. Although mouse and rat hair easily grow in lab, the methods do not work as well when growing human hair. In 2013, Christiano and her group adapted the hanging drop

cell culture Cell culture or tissue culture is the process by which cell (biology), cells are grown under controlled conditions, generally outside of their natural environment. After cells of interest have been Cell isolation, isolated from living tissue, ...

technique to grow human cells that successfully grew human hair when transplanted onto the backs of

nude mice Nudity is the state of being in which a human is without clothing. While estimates vary, for the first 90,000 years of pre-history, anatomically modern humans were naked, having lost their body hair, living in hospitable climates, and not ...

. In 2015, Christiano and her group found that a class of drugs called JAK inhibitors promoted hair follicles to enter growth phase. In 2019, Christiano and colleagues developed a "hair farm", using a 3D-printed scaffold as a microenvironment to grow human skin cells and produce hair.

Honors and awards

*Elected member,

National Academy of Sciences The National Academy of Sciences (NAS) is a United States nonprofit, NGO, non-governmental organization. NAS is part of the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine, along with the National Academy of Engineering (NAE) and the ...

(2020) * William Montagna Lectureship from the Society for Investigative Dermatology (2009)

Personal life

Christiano is the first member in her family to attend college and graduate school. Hair has been an integral part of her family, as her grandfather was a barber and her mother was retired hairdresser. In her first year of establishing her lab, Christiano started experiencing hair loss and was diagnosed with alopecia areata. While it was known that alopecia areata is genetic, it was not well understood which genes were involved and how they worked. Christiano decided to use her scientific training to address this gap in knowledge.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Christiano, Angela American women scientists American women biologists Women geneticists Women molecular biologists Members of the United States National Academy of Sciences Rutgers University alumni Living people Year of birth missing (living people) 21st-century American women