Desmond J Tobin
Summary
Desmond Tobin is Professor of Dermatological Science, and Director of the UCD Charles Institute of Dermatology, School of Medicine, University College Dublin, Ireland. EU. Prior he was Professor of Cell Biology & Director of the Centre for Skin Sciences at University of Bradford. He holds a BSc from the National University of Ireland (Maynooth), a PhD from University of London (St. John’s Institute of Dermatology) and post-doc training from New York University Medical School. Over 20y he has researched in basic and applied skin/hair sciences, with a particular focus on the biology of human melanocytes/ pigmentation and hair growth disorders incl. with immune basis.
He was the first to identify antibodies to hair follicle-specific antigens in patients with acute alopecia areata, and first to establish melanocytes from human hair follicles in long-term culture. He has identified a self-similarity of the POMC peptide system in human hair follicle pigmentary unit, how pigmentation can be regulated by CRF/POMC peptides (incl. b-endorphin), and more recently by bone morphogenetic proteins. He revealed an unexpected role for filopodia in melanin transfer under influence of myoxin-X & cdc42. Des is a Fellow of Royal College of Pathologists, Fellow of Royal Society of Biology, and Fellow of Institute of Trichologists (Vice-President). Des serves(ed) on several editorial boards, and has published over 140 publications, incl. 3 books. His H-Index is currently 50.