Michael Smith Health Research BC is pleased to announce that Dr. Youwen Zhou is the recipient of the 2022 Health Professional-Investigator Award for his research into “Maresin 1 as a novel therapy for vitiligo“.
Dr. Zhou’s research proposal:
Patients with vitiligo experience social stigmatization due to white patches on their face and hands. The existing therapies have limited effectiveness. Our lab recently discovered that an omega-3 essential fatty-acid derivative, maresin 1, has the ability to prevent development of vitiligo patches. In this proposal, I plan to test its effectiveness and long-term safety using a mouse model of vitiligo. We will induce vitiligo in B6 mice, and then treat them with maresin 1 injections three times a week for 80 weeks, which is equivalent to 60 years of human life, and observe the mice for changes in white patches and development of side effects. We expect maresin 1 treatment to shrink the white patches without causing cancers or other side effects. The experiments will be performed by an experienced research associate, Dr. Mingwan Su, and a graduate student. My lab is located in Vancouver Coastal Health Research Institute, which has a licensed animal care facility. The results will be vital for planning of maresin 1 clinical trials in the future. Despite using mice for our research, we will collaborate with vitiligo patient partners who will help ensure our findings will eventually be useful to vitiligo patients.
About Dr. Zhou:
Dr. Youwen Zhou received a BSc in Biology at Nankai University in China, a PhD in molecular genetics and immunology at State University of New York, and an MD at University of Toronto, before completing a dermatology residency at University of British Columbia (UBC) in 2000.
Youwen is a professor and the director of research at UBC’s department of dermatology and skin science. His lab has done pioneering work on the pathogenesis of vitiligo, eczema, psoriasis and skin cancers.
In addition, his team has played a leading role in the recent successful development of tapinarof (WBI1001) by Welichem Biotech (Burnaby BC), a company founded by talents and financial resources from BC and the Trans-Pacific Regions. Tapinarof, the first FDA-approved topical psoriasis drug in more than 40 years, is one of the most significant Canadian therapeutic contributions. Not only has it improved the lives of millions of psoriasis patients worldwide, it has enriched Canadian and BC economies by hundreds of millions of dollars.