A*STAR Skin Research Labs bags $13.9m for Asian skin ageing study

The research will identify biological drivers of skin ageing in Asians and potential interventions.

Singapore has awarded A*STAR Skin Research Labs’ (A*SRL) Cutaneous Ageing & Maintenance Programme (CAP) a $13.9m grant to research skin ageing in Asian populations.

The research aims to identify biological drivers of skin ageing in Asians and discover potential treatments and preventive measures.

The CAP will test the hypothesis that inflammation throughout the body drives skin ageing, impacting the skin's ability to maintain its structure and resilience.

In addition, the CAP team will create a curated dataset of images, skin measurements, multi-omics, and microbiomes from healthy and aged skin, along with a unique molecular atlas of Asian skin.

Globally, skin conditions are the fourth leading cause of non-fatal disease burden,  affecting nearly 1.8 billion people. However,  most dermatological research has focused on Caucasian populations.

A*SRL’s executive director, Rachel Watson, will lead the research, with the participation of clinicians, biologists, engineers, and data scientists from the Agency for Science, Technology and Research (A*STAR), the National Healthcare Group (NHG), and Nanyang Technological University, Singapore (NTU Singapore).