Roxane PouliotPh.D.

Dr. Roxane Pouliot is a regular researcher at the CHU Research Centre of Quebec-Laval University, and Professor at the Faculty of Pharmacy of Laval University. As a regular member, she is also part of the Centre for Advanced Materials Research (CAMaR), as well as the Centre Québécois on Functional Materials (CQMF). Her research interests focus on a better understanding of the structures and functions of skin tissue through advanced models of tissue reconstruction. Her team recently developed an immunocompetent psoriatic skin replacement model reconstructed from human cells, a major breakthrough in this area.

Dr. Pouliot is the recipient of Laval University’s 2016 Graduate Teaching and Coaching Award.

Understanding the complexity of structures and functions of skin tissue

In vitro skin diffusion tests are one of the first steps in the development of a transdermal drug. To this end, a robust model of cutaneous biomaterial is necessary for the precise study of the diffusion mechanisms of therapeutic molecules. Advanced lipidomic characterization of tissue-engineered samples is essential for understanding the skin lipid domain, which is complex and poorly reproduced in vitro. However, the biomimetic quality currently developed within our research team allows us to consider improving the models to obtain the qualities found within a native skin, whether healthy or pathological.

Modelling psoriasis and developing new pharmacological strategies

Cutaneous diseases such as psoriasis are complex diseases whose development and persistence involve several cellular processes and cell types. In recent years, our research team has developed a world-unique model of reconstructed psoriatic skin. Through tissue engineering, it becomes possible to reconstruct, according to the self-assembly method, a completely autologous pathological skin, that is to say without exogenous material, and composed of both a dermis and an epidermis. This model of pathological skin provides us with the opportunity to study separately the players involved in the development of psoriasis, and therefore becomes a powerful tool in the mechanistic analysis of this complex pathology. Distinctly, the latter is three-dimensional, designed from psoriatic human cells, in addition to developing in a highly physiological environment.