Clinical Studies

The National Vitiligo Foundation does not endorse or have any responsibility for the following clinical studies. Individuals who participate or volunteer do so of their own accord.

Vitiligo Quality of Life Study

Roopal Kundu
Northwestern University, Department of Dermatology

Northwestern University, Department of Dermatology is looking for participants in or near the Chicago area for a vitiligo quality of life study. Participants must be vitiligo patients, 18 years of age or older. You will be compensated for your time and travel. Participation will last approximately 15-20 minutes and you will be asked to complete four questionnaires. Your participation will help us understand the medical and psychosocial impact of vitiligo on patients' lives.

For more information please call 312-695-8181.

Vitiligo Skin Pigment Cell Transplantation Study

W. Lim, M.D., Professor and Director
Multicultural Dermatology Center, Henry Ford Hospital

Skin transplantation can be a very effective treatment option for vitiligo patients with stable disease who have not experienced success from light treatments or application of medicated creams. One particular skin transplantation technique, the melanocyte-keratinocyte transplantation procedure (MKTP) has been used successfully in Sweden, India and Saudi Arabia for more than 13 years.

In the MKTP, the pigment cells (melanocytes) are taken from a person's normal skin, made into a gel, and then transferred to the vitiligo patches. The melanocytes grow and multiply in this new location and the skin color is restored. Because a gel is transferred instead of a piece of skin, as is done in many other skin transplantation procedures, this procedure can be performed on an outpatient basis and patients can resume most normal activities immediately after the procedure.

We are performing this procedure in the Henry Ford Hospital (HFH) Dermatology Clinic in a clinical trial in order to see if we can achieve the same success that has been experienced in other parts of the world using this technique. We have performed 15 procedures so far and early results are encouraging. This procedure is only appropriate for patients whose vitiligo has not worsened in the past six months. People who develop vitiligo or thick scars (keloids) on parts of the skin which are scratched or cut should not undergo this procedure. Study participants would have to be able to come to the HFH dermatology clinic in Detroit, Michigan 8 times in 7 months. Further study requirements can be discussed by contacting the study doctors.

For more information please contact Dr. Richard Huggins at 313-916-6964 or rhuggin1@hfhs.org

International Study to Find Vitiligo Genes

Richard A. Spritz, M.D., Professor and Director
Human Medical Genetics Program, University of Colorado Health Sciences Center

Do you have vitiligo, or have you had it in the past? Or, does someone in your family have vitiligo? If so, would you or they be willing to take part in a major research project on this disease?

We have put together an international team of scientists to find the genes that cause vitiligo. Thus far, we have found that at least 5 genes (on chromosomes 1, 7, 8, 9, and 17) contribute to causing the disease in different families. We don't know what most of these genes are yet, and so we need additional patients and families to narrow our search. Our goal is to discover the causes of vitiligo, and the other autoimmune diseases that are often associated with it: thyroid disease, rheumatoid arthritis, psoriasis, pernicious anemia, lupus, Addison disease, and adult-onset insulin-dependent diabetes. We are currently focusing both on families in which more than one person has vitiligo or these other diseases and on individual people with vitiligo but no affected relatives. Please give serious consideration to participating. Our long-term goal is to better understand the causes of vitiligo and these related diseases to develop better treatments and even approaches to prevent them altogether.

The first step in participating is to fill out a questionnaire and send it to us via email (as an attachment) or regular mail. The email address and mailing address are contained at the end of the questionnaire. We will then contact respondents that might be appropriate for the study to get further information and arrange for a saliva (spit) sample. We thank you in advance for your help, and we look forward to hearing from you.

Detroit-Area Vitiligo Genetics Study

W. Lim, M.D., Professor and Director
Multicultural Dermatology Center, Henry Ford Hospital

Though there are many different treatments available for vitiligo, there are none that are effective in all patients. We are performing a study comparing the genes of patients with vitiligo to those without the disorder in order to uncover targets for new treatments.

We will be collecting blood samples from vitiligo patients and healthy adults without the disease. We will perform testing to evaluate the genes that are different between the 2 groups as well as determining what these genes do. We are seeking 500 volunteers with vitiligo and 500 healthy controls for this important study. Participants would have to come to the Henry Ford Hospital Dermatology Clinic in Detroit, Michigan for a single visit and they will be compensated for their time.

For more information please contact Dr. Richard Huggins at 313-916-6964 or rhuggin1@hfhs.org

Ginkgo Biloba for the Treatment of Vitiligo Vulgaris in Adolescents

Orest Szczurko, N.D., M.Sc.
University of Toronto, Leslie Dan Faculty of Pharmacy

Study Start Date: May 2009
Estimated Study Completion Date: November 2009

Please click here for additional details.

Epidermal Cell Transplantation in Vitiligo Skin With and Without Narrow-Band Ultraviolet B Treatment

Angelika Hofer, M.D.
Medical Univsersity of Graz, Department of Dermatology, Austria

For more information please contact Dr. Angelika Hofer, M.D. at angelika.hofer@meduni-graz.at

Study Start Date: February 2008
Estimated Study Completion Date: January 2010

Virus Early Transcription Factor (VETF) Multicenter Phototherapy Protocol

Mauro Picardo, M.D.
Istituto San Gallicano, Rome, Italy

For more information please contact Dr. Mauro Picardo, M.D. at picardo@ifo.it

Study Start Date: April 2007
Estimated Study Completion Date: December 2009

The Mechanism of Melanocyte Self-Assembly on Biomaterials and the Functional Analysis

Sung-Jan Lin, M.D., Ph.D.
National Taiwan University Hospital, Taipei, Taiwan

For more information please contact Dr. Sung-Jan Lin, M.D., Ph.D. at +886-2-23123456 ext 5323 or jsjl2000tw@yahoo.com.tw

Study Start Date: May 2006
Estimated Study Completion Date: December 2016

In Vivo Imaging of Pigmentary Disorders by Reflectance Confocal Microscopy

Xinaida Lima, M.D.
Clinical Unit for Research Trials in Skin, Boston, Massachusetts

For more information please contact Dr. Xinaida Lima, M.D. at 617-726-1660

Study Start Date: August 2008
Estimated Study Completion Date: July 2009 (still open of as August 2009)