Thomas Holmes, PhD

Dr. Holmes began his research career as a laboratory technician in Dr. Juliane Soukup’s laboratory at Creighton University performing research on catalytic, self-cleaving RNA molecules termed riboswitches. He went on to receive his PhD from Creighton University in the laboratory of Dr. Laura Hansen where he was first introduced to cutaneous research. In the Hansen lab he investigated the mechanisms leading to inhibition of apoptosis in cutaneous SCC. His work displayed the aberrant overexpression and cytoplasmic relocalization of CDC25A and 14-3-3 proteins, their association with one another and ability to promote cancer cell survival.

In July of 2019, Dr. Holmes began his postdoctoral training in the laboratory of Dr. Amy Paller in the Department of Dermatology at Northwestern University performing research in the field of type 2 diabetic (T2D) wound healing. Currently, his work involves the use of 3D human skin equivalents (HSE) containing human-derived diabetic foot ulcer fibroblasts (DFUF) to investigate wound healing, keratinocyte-fibroblast signaling and keratinocyte proliferation. Specifically, Thomas is utilizing small molecule inhibitors and spherical nucleic acids to target the production of ganglioside GM3 to improve epidermal closure and determine its impact on IGF1R/EGFR signaling in keratinocytes.

Taking this work further, Thomas’s future research goals and interests include: integrating sensory nerves and endothelial cells into HSEs to determine the impact of perturbed DFUF signaling on nerve regeneration and angiogenesis during wounding; studying the relationship between sensory nerve afferents and keratinocytes in normal patients versus T2D; and investigating metabolic changes in T2D that lead to altered glucose uptake in keratinocytes and its impact on wound closure.

Publications