University Clinics in the Nordic Countries
Bispebjerg Hospital , Department of Dermato-Venereology : Current and Future Research Activities
Simon Francis Thomsen , Merete Hædersdal , Tove Agner , Hans Christian Wulf , Jørgen Serup and Robert Gniadecki
Department of Dermato-Venereology , Bispebjerg Hospital , Bispebjerg Bakke 23 , DK-2400 Copenhagen NV , Denmark . E-mail : simonfrancisthomsen @ gmail . com
Overview of research activities
The Department of Dermato-Venereology and the associated Wound Healing Centre at Bispebjerg Hospital in Copenhagen published a total of 116 scientific papers , books and book chapters in 2016 , corresponding to approximately 15 % of all publications originating from the hospital that year . The number of scientific publications has grown during the past 5 years , as has the number of scientific personnel , which , at present , constitute 6 full professors , two affiliate professors , 6 associate professors , and approximately 10 post-doctoral and 16 PhD students , as well as several master ’ s and bachelor students . The department has molecular diagnostic , fungal and immunofluorescence laboratories , a histopathology facility in relation to Mohs ’ micrographic surgery , and rodent staples for experiments on mice .
The research activities are of remarkable breadth and encompass several topics within clinical , epidemiological , pharmacological , as well as basic and molecular dermato-venereology and wound healing ( Table I ). Particularly strong areas of research are photodermatology , cutaneous lymphomas and skin oncology , laser dermatology and dermatological imaging techniques , eczema and contact allergy , tattoos and tattoo complications , as well as clinical databases on chronic urticaria , hidradenitis suppurativa , atopic dermatitis and psoriasis . A summary of these areas of research is presented here .
Photodermatology
The department ’ s research into the effects of UV radiation and sunlight deals with sun behaviour , damaging effects of UV radiation , positive effects of UV radiation , as well as prevention and treatment of UV-induced damage . The effect of UV radiation depends on skin sensitivity and exposure dose . The acute effect is sunburn , and the chronic effects are lentigines , skin ageing , cutaneous malignant melanoma , actinic keratosis , and keratinocyte skin cancer . Knowledge about sun exposure has long built on sun behaviour questionnaires . We have developed UV dosimeters to obtain objective data on UV exposure ( 1 ). Dosimeter data show that up to 40 % of the annual UV dose is received during just one week of summer vacation in the Mediterranean , and very high doses are received on very sunny and hot days in Denmark , whereas the day-to-day UV dose is of little importance . This also means that protection against UV radiation should focus on high-dose situations . Sun protection is important in order to avoid skin damage and we have developed a new strategy for increased protection by applying sunscreen twice before sun exposure . This is much more efficient than the advice to use one application every 2 hours , or to use a handful of sunscreen .
Table I . Overview of noticeable research topics at the department
Skin cancer Photodermatology Molecular skin-oncology Non-melanoma skin cancer Malignant melanoma Cutaneous lymphoma Organ transplant recipients Mohs ’ micrographic surgery Lasers and imaging techniques Experimental laser treatment Laser-assisted drug delivery Optical coherence tomography and skin ultrasound Confocal microscopy Inflammatory skin diseases Atopic dermatitis Contact dermatitis and contact allergy Work-related dermatitis Hidradenitis suppurativa Chronic urticaria Psoriasis Acne Tattoos and tattoo complications Tattoo allergy and inflammatory reactions Nomenclature of clinical tattoo complications Tattoo pigment biokinetics Evidence-based treatments Venereology HPV infection Mycoplasma and gonorrhoea
8 Forum for Nord Derm Ven 2018 , Vol . 23 , No . 1