Strengths
The SSI's research serves governmental agencies, organizations,
and the industries that develop skin-based products for use in
medical and hospital settings. Skin health is a key strategic
positioning for them.
The SSI links skin and health care industries with academic
researchers to optimize scientific progress and facilitate
technology transfer.
Infant Skin Focus
Our scientific focus on newborn infant skin is supported by
several factors:
- Infant skin is the standard for "ideal" skin among consumers
of health care products and services. The nature of this
perceived "gold standard" is scientifically complex.
- Infant skin structure and function is relevant to agencies
and industries interested in prolonging the optimum skin
state.
- All adult states are potentially contained in the
quantitative description of infant skin condition.
- The condition of skin is tightly coupled to behavioral and
emotional states, making evaluations of adults very complex.
Infants, however, have a limited number of behavioral states that
can be quantified with existing scoring systems and correlated
with physical properties.
- The environmental history and exposure to topical drugs is
minimal in infants compared to adults, thereby providing less
variability in quantitative parameters.
- Importantly, adaptation to a terrestrial environment is
commonly cited as the principal evolutionary driver underlying
stratum corneum formation. The study of changes in infant skin
following birth has a strong evolutionary context.
