I. Caroline Le Poole Ph.D

Caroline Le Poole received a Masters degree from the University of Utrecht and defended her PhD thesis on ‘Aspects of melanocytes in relation to vitiligo’ for the University of Amsterdam in 1993, both in the Netherlands. She was the first woman to receive a Ph.D. degree from this Department of Dermatology in its 100+ years of existence. Publications from the thesis focused both on immunological aspects of melanocytes and on chemical properties implicating the involvement of detoxifying enzymes in vitiligo.

In 1995, Caroline came to the US to work in Dr. Raymond Boissys laboratory at the University of Cincinnati on intrinsic abnormalities of vitiligo pigment cells on a stipend supported by the Dutch Organization for Scientific Research (NWO). In 1999, she has moved to Loyola University Chicago where she is currently an Associate Professor of Pathology. Research in her laboratory is focused on the crossroads of immune reactivity to normal pigment cells in vitiligo and to tumor cells in melanoma, the ‘mirror image’ of vitiligo. Her research has been supported by the Dermatology Foundation, the National Institutes of Health and repeatedly by the National Vitiligo Foundation. None of this would be possible without the continued support from vitiligo patients donating time, tissue and dollars to help find a cause and a cure. Caroline can be contacted at ilepool@lumc.edu.