Skin, Inflammation, Informatics and Neoplasia
Skin, Inflammation, Informatics and Neoplasia (SkIIN)
Who we are | The executive team | Research themes | Research projects
The skin is our largest organ: the boundary between the body and the environment, and the immune system’s first line of defence. In collaboration with the School of Public Health and Preventive Medicine, we’re using cutting edge technologies, and leveraging critical advances in genomics and immunotherapy to gain insights into disease processes and develop novel approaches to management.
Who we are
Our team combines leading expertise in Skin research across Inflammatory dermatoses, Informatics and Neoplasia, with established collaborations across disciplines, including oncology, pathology, cardiology, endocrinology, infectious diseases, radiology, transplant medicine, rheumatology, autoimmunity, data science, artificial intelligence, data engineering, bioinformatics, biostatistics, genomics, immunoproteomics, immunology and microbiome, pharmacology and drug discovery.
The executive team
Co-Heads
Program Leads
Dr Miles Andrews is a Senior Research Fellow and leads the Cancer and Host Dynamics Group in the School of Translational Medicine at Monash University. He is also a Medical Oncologist and Head of Immuno-oncology at The Alfred and leads the Neoplasia stream of the SkIIN Discovery Program.
Dr Asolina Braun leads the Skin Immunology Group in the Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology at Monash University. She obtained a PhD in Infection Biology by establishing a novel intralymphatic injection technique to track how immune cells migrate from the periphery to the draining lymph nodes. During postdoctoral studies, she developed a keen interest in skin-resident CD8+ memory T cells (TRM) and immunopeptidomics. Now, Dr. Braun’s group combines mass spectrometry-based antigen discovery approaches with TRM biology research to gain a better understanding of the antigen-specific mechanisms that make or break tolerance, with a focus on skin immunity. Find out more about 
A/Prof Zongyuan Ge conducts interdisciplinary research at the boundary between Medical Artificial Intelligence, Computer-aided Diagnosis, Biomedical Engineering, Digital Health, Medical Imaging and Machine Learning and is a multi-award-winning medical information science and technology entrepreneur. His research leverages cutting-edge AI technologies using large-scale multi-modality medical data including imaging, biological signal, medical records, genomics data, multi-omics and models the clinicians’ medical knowledge underlying tasks like diagnosis, prognosis, disease management and treatment for eye (ophthalmology), skin (dermatology), heart (cardiovascular) and neurodegeneration diseases such as epilepsy and multiple sclerosis. He is also one of Australia’s most in-demand experts in advanced technology, including medical robotics and artificial intelligence, and is a passionate science communicator.
Ms Céline Pattaroni is a group leader in the Department of Immunology at Monash University, where she leads the Computational Immunology group, part of the Mucosal Immunology lab. With postgraduate degrees in Medical Biology and Bioinformatics from the University of Lausanne, Switzerland, Céline specialises in leveraging computational tools to integrate multi-omics data from clinical samples. Her research primarily focuses on childhood asthma and atopic dermatitis, utilising a comprehensive approach that includes microbiome profiling, transcriptomics, proteomics, and metabolomics. In the era of omics technologies and artificial intelligence, her passion lies in harnessing the power of big data to extract meaningful insights. By applying these advanced methods to the skin, our largest organ, she aims to unravel complex disease mechanisms and discover information that traditional approaches could not reveal. Céline's work has significantly advanced the understanding of early-life immune-microbial dynamics, with publications in high-impact journals such as Cell Host & Microbe and Nature Immunology. She has secured over $4.7 million in competitive funding, including a recent Sanofi Pathways Grant for atopic dermatitis research. Through her innovative research, Céline continues to contribute to the development of precision medicine in immunology. Find out more about Research themes
Image analysis/AI
Multi-modal based Foundation Models (FM), which are large-scale AI models with billions of parameters capable of performing a wide range of tasks, represent a key paradigm in our dermatology AI research. Through our data-linkage and center programs, such as ACEMID, we aim to train and apply FM Dermatology to address overdiagnosis and variability, improve the selection of patients at high risk of disease progression, and positively impact care delivery.
Integrative Bioinformatics and Microbiome
Our goal is to unravel the complexities of skin diseases through multiomics profiling, which involves integrating data from various biological layers. This approach includes analysing information from different skin cells and the diverse microbes that inhabit our skin, known as the microbiome. By combining these datasets, we aim to gain a comprehensive understanding of skin health and disease, such as eczema.
Neoplasia
Our skin protects us from the external environment, but prolonged and repeated insults like UV radiation, physical, chemical and microbial damage, and inflammation all take their toll, contributing to skin cancer formation. We aim to reduce the morbidity and mortality of skin cancers through better use of existing anti-cancer therapies, and by discovering new ways to prevent or treat skin cancer. To achieve this, we study skin cancer patient cohorts, clinical biospecimens and pre-clinical cancer models using techniques such as next generation sequencing, multiparameter spectral flow cytometry, and blood-based biomarker screening. Through interdisciplinary cooperation we hope to accelerate our understanding of how the skin, immune cells, and the broader environment interact to cause – or defeat – skin cancer.
Skin Immunology
The involvement of the immune system in skin can provide a beneficial defence against environmental threats or trigger detrimental pathology. By exploring the diverse immune cell types and their interactions within the skin’s unique epidermal and dermal microenvironments, we aim to uncover the mechanisms behind skin diseases such as atopic dermatitis, eczema, psoriasis, and skin infections. We utilise advanced immunological approaches, mass spectrometry and spatial technology to enhance our understanding of skin-specific immunity and pave the way for innovative treatments.
