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 The Journal of Investigative Dermatology’s 2014 Impact Factor is now 7.216*, retaining its position as the #1 journal in Dermatology. Thank you to our authors, reviewers, readers, and editorial board members for your contributions in making us the premier Dermatology journal. (*Thomson Reuters 2014 Journal Citation Reports®) 
 
 In a new episode of Skinpod, Dr. Sarah Aaron, Assistant Professor of Dermatology at the UCSF Medical Center, discusses her research on viral oncogenesis and cutaneous squamous cell carcinoma (cSCC). Listen to the episode now. 
 
 Milestones in Cutaneous Biology 
 
 Much of the current cancer lexicon is derived from studies of human or rodent skin. Furthermore, the three major cancer-causing environmental agents, UV light, fossil fuel combustion products, and papilloma viruses, were recognized by astute clinicians and experimental biologists because they produced skin tumors. In fact, clinical observations and experimental studies of skin significantly advanced our understanding of cancer development and progression. Read more in the Milestones in Cutaneous Malignancy. 
 
 Intersociety Collegiality Awards: Readers of the JID are reminded of a series of awards available for SID, ESDR and JSID members to encourage participation of members of one society at one of the other society meetings. This initiative is supported by the Boards of all 3 societies. The objective is to promote the academic and international profile of "young investigators" involved in skin research. To date, more than 20 awards have been made and the personal and career benefits are both rewarding and satisfying. For further details, please refer to information posted on SID, ESDR and JSID webpages. 

 A man with almost no hair on his body has grown a full head of it after a novel treatment by doctors at Yale University. 
 
 There is currently no cure or long-term treatment for alopecia universalis, the disease that left the 25-year-old patient bare of hair. This is the first reported case of a successful targeted treatment for the rare, highly visible disease. 
 
 The patient has also grown eyebrows and eyelashes, as well as facial, armpit, and other hair, which he lacked at the time he sought help. 
 
 "The results are exactly what we hoped for," said Brett A. King, M.D., assistant professor of dermatology at Yale University School of Medicine and senior author of a paper reporting the results online June 18 in the Journal of Investigative Dermatology. "This is a huge step forward in the treatment of patients with this condition. While it's one case, we anticipated the successful treatment of this man based on our current understanding of the disease and the drug. We believe the same results will be duplicated in other patients, and we plan to try." 
 
 The patient had previously been diagnosed with both alopecia universalis, a disease that results in loss of all body hair, and plaque psoriasis, a condition characterized by scaly red areas of skin. The only hair on his body was within the psoriasis plaques on his head. He was referred to Yale Dermatology for treatment of the psoriasis. The alopecia universalis had never been treated. 
 
 King believed it might be possible to address both diseases simultaneously using an existing FDA-approved drug for rheumatoid arthritis called tofacitinib citrate. The drug had been used successfully for treating psoriasis in humans. It had also reversed alopecia areata, a less extreme form of alopecia, in mice. 
 
 "There are no good options for long-term treatment of alopecia universalis," said King, a clinician interested in the treatment of rare but devastating skin diseases. "The best available science suggested this might work, and it has." 
 
 After two months on tofacitinib at 10 mg daily, the patient's psoriasis showed some improvement, and the man had grown scalp and facial hair -- the first hair he'd grown there in seven years. After three more months of therapy at 15 mg daily, the patient had completely regrown scalp hair and also had clearly visible eyebrows, eyelashes, and facial hair, as well as armpit and other hair, the doctors said. 
 
 "By eight months there was full regrowth of hair," said co-author Brittany G. Craiglow, M.D. "The patient has reported feeling no side effects, and we've seen no lab test abnormalities, either." 
 
 Tofacitinib appears to spur hair regrowth in a patient with alopecia universalis by turning off the immune system attack on hair follicles that is prompted by the disease, King said. 
 
 The drug helps in some, but not all, cases of psoriasis, and was mildly effective in this patient's case, the authors said. 
 
 King has submitted a proposal for a clinical trial involving a cream form of tofacitinib as a treatment for alopecia areata. 
 
 He cited work by Columbia University scientist Angela Christiano as the reason he decided to try tofacitinib as a therapy in this patient with both alopecia universalis and psoriasis. She has shown that tofacitinib and a related medicine reverse alopecia areata in mice. King called her work exemplary and a clear example of how society's investment in science research leads to improvement in human life. 
 
 "This case highlights the interplay between advances in science and the treatment of disease," he said, "and it provides a compelling example of the ways in which an increasingly complex understanding of medicine, combined with ingenuity in treatment, benefits patients." 
 
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 The paper is titled "Killing Two Birds with One Stone: Oral Tofacitinib Reverses Alopecia Universalis in a Patient with Plaque Psoriasis." 

 There is currently no cure or long-term treatment for alopecia universalis--a disease that left a 25-year-old subject without hair on his head, including eyebrows and eyelashes. Yet a novel treatment by doctors at Yale University in New Haven, Conn., that involved an arthritis drug helped the young patient grow back the hair he never had. 
 
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 "The results are exactly what we hoped for," said Brett A. King, M.D., assistant professor of dermatology at Yale University School of Medicine and senior author of a paper, published in the Journal of Investigative Dermatology. "This is a huge step forward in the treatment of patients with this condition. While it's one case, we anticipated the successful treatment of this man based on our current understanding of the disease and the drug. We believe the same results will be duplicated in other patients, and we plan to try." 
 
 Before treatment, the patient had been diagnosed with both alopecia universalis and plaque psoriasis, a condition characterized by scaly red patches of skin. Researchers referred him to Yale Dermatology for treatment of the psoriasis in order to deal with symptoms of the disease, according to a news release. 
 
 Researchers said they believed that both could potentially be addressed simultaneously using an existing FDA-approved drug for rheumatoid arthritis known as tofacitinib citrate. The drug had previously been used to successfully treat psoriasis in humans and was found to reverse a less extreme form of alopecia in mice. 
 
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 The patient was put on the drug for two months at 10 mg per day. His psoriasis showed some improvement and he was able to grow the first scalp and facial hair that he'd seen in seven years. Following three months of the therapy at 15 mg per day, he had completely regrown scalp hair and clearly had visible eyebrows, eyelashes and facial hair, armpit hair and hair in other areas, as well. 
 
 Researchers note that as tofacitinib was mildly effective in this patient's case by turning off the immune system's attack on hair follicles that's prompted by alopecia universalis, the drug may not be so successful for other cases. 
 
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– It turns out an FDA-approved rheumatoid arthritis drug might just cure baldness—at least the form caused by a rare immune disease. During an eight-month trial of the drug, a 25-year-old man whose body was nearly hairless grew, well, a lot of it, including plenty atop his head, armpit hair, eyebrows, and eyelashes, Yale researchers say. The scalp and facial hair he grew was the first he'd grown there in seven years. The man, who suffers from a rare disease known as alopecia universalis, reported no side effects after taking tofacitinib citrate, which had reversed a less severe form of alopecia in mice and been used to treat plaque psoriasis, a skin condition the man also suffered from, according to Science World Report. A co-author of the paper reporting the results noted, "We've seen no lab test abnormalities, either." Alopecia universalis, which causes the immune system to attack hair follicles, has no cure or approved long-term treatment, making this "a huge step forward in the treatment of patients with this condition," a researcher explained in a study of the case. "While it's one case ... we believe the same results will be duplicated in other patients, and we plan to try." The drug was only somewhat effective in treating the man's psoriasis. (Another big breakthrough could lead to treatments for baldness.)