
The developmental and regenerative dermatology laboratory studies the genetic processes that govern development, homeostasis and regeneration of the skin in the mouse. Our research aims at understanding the genetic and molecular basis of common human regenerative skin diseases such as skin cancer and eczema.
The lab made the pivotal discovery that Yes-associated protein (YAP) functions as a key molecular switch in epidermal stem/progenitor cell proliferation and differentiation (Beverdam et al., JID 2013). Currently investigate the developmental genetic context in which YAP functions to control skin stem/progenitor cells in normal and in disrupted skin biology. We employ genetically manipulated mouse models, human patient skin biopsies, advanced imaging technology including confocal microscopy, whole mouse in vivo imaging, atomic force and intravital microscopy, gene and protein expression analyses and whole genome approaches to address our research questions. Our research will open up exciting new avenues for the development of treatments for human regenerative skin disease.
Dr. Annemiek Beverdam is a mouse developmental geneticist with special interest in skin development and regeneration, and in the genetic basis of human skin disease. She obtained her PhD in the laboratory of Dr Frits Meijlink at the Hubrecht Institute in The Netherlands. Subsequently, she performed a short postdoctoral research project in the lab of Dr Giovanni Levi in Genova, Italy. Then she moved to the IMB in Brisbane, where she was postdoc in Professor Peter Koopman's laboratory. She initiated her current research interest into the role of YAP in epidermal regeneration as a Senior Postdoc in Professor Brian Key's laboratory at UQ. Her primary research focus at UNSW Sydney is the genetic context in which Yes-associated protein (YAP) functions to control normal skin regeneration, and how these processes are perturbed in skin cancer and eczema. Her research is funded by the NHMRC, and is part of a larger, long-term and ambitious goal to develop therapeutic approaches to treat human regenerative skin disease.
Enthusiastic, bright and hard-working undergraduate and postgraduate students and postdocs who are interested in research projects that concern the developmental and regenerative biology of the skin, should contact Dr. Annemiek Beverdam for further information. (A.Beverdam@unsw.edu.au)
ANAT2341/embryology – course co-convener
ANAT3212/microscopy – course co-convener (with Dr. Renee Whan)
BGDA/BGDB embryology and histology
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/?term=beverdam+a
NHMRC Project grant: 'Regulation of skin inflammation by mechanosensor YAP'. $604,109
NHMRC 'New Investigator' Project Grant: 'YAP and the Wnt pathway in skin biology'. $383,447
MREII equipment grant, Beverdam et al. 'Essential high-end equipment to enable non-routine histological procedures for morphology and protein and RNA expression analyses in mouse, rat and human tissue sections in vivo'. $93,527
MREII equipment grant: Whan et al., Zeiss Light sheet microscope. $575,000