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Full NameProfessor Brian Kirby

Dermatology

University College Dublin

Webpage:ucdcharlesinstitute.ie

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Research Fields
  • infectious disease and the immune system
  • clinical trials
  • Other
Other Research Fields:

Dermatology - translational medicine, hidradenitis, psoriasis

Postgrad Medical Specialties
  • Medicine
Medical Subspecialties
  • Dermatology
My Work

I am co-chair with Dr Jean Fletcher, Immunologist at TCD of the Dublin HS-Research Interest group. We have a successful translational research group in the field of hidradenitis suppurativa. At St Vincent's University Hospital, we run the largest clinical service for hidradenitis suppurativa in Ireland and we are the leading centre for clinical trials with 3 phase III multi centre trials ongoing at the moment. I have been Principal supervisor of 15 successful MD and PhD students. I have published over 100 PubMed publications on inflammatory skin diseases in the last 10 years; over 280 in total.

Potential Projects

Hidradenitis suppurativa (HS) is a painful systemic inflammatory skin condition which is associated with premature mortality (approximately 15 years) predominantly from cardiovascular diseases. It is associated with obesity, metabolic syndrome and type 2 diabetes. GLP analogues are used to treat obesity and type II diabetes. These therapies also have anti-inflammatory effects and we and others have reported on the efficacy of GLP analogues in inflammatory skin diseases including HS. We currently have 90 patients with HS who are taking GLP analogues for obesity and diabetes.
Project 1:
We would like to investigate the anti-inflammatory action of GLP analogues in both skin and blood of patients with HS.
We would then assess their anti-inflammatory action in skin biopsies and in blood before and after treatment in conjunction with Dr Fletcher's group in TCD. We have previously assessed this for metformin which is also used in HS.
This is a poorly researched area. We believe that this may lead to significant improvements in HS care but also other inflammatory diseases.
Project 2:
We and others have previously reported that patients with HS have premature cardiovascular disease (CVD).
We reported elevated prevalence and severity of CVD in 20 patients using coronary CT angiogram screening.
We propose to screen 100 patients before and after biologic therapy with coronary CT angiograms to assess improvements in CTPA scores.
In addition, PET scans have been used previously to assess vascular inflammation in inflammatory diseases. This has not been done for HS. We would propose to study PET scans in 20 HS patients in addition to systemic inflammatory markers to assess the overall level of systemic inflammation and therefore at least partially explain the early CVD seen in these patients.

Hambly R et al. B-cell and complement signature in severe hidradenitis suppurativa that does not respond to adalimumab. Br J Dermatol. 2023;188:52-63. PMID: 36689500.

Moran B et al. Targeting the NLRP3 inflammasome reduces inflammation in hidradenitis suppurativa skin. Br J Dermatol. 2023 ;189:447-458. PMID: 37243544.

Petrasca A et al. Metformin has anti-inflammatory effects and induces immunometabolic reprogramming via multiple mechanisms in hidradenitis suppurativa. Br J Dermatol. 2023;189:730-740. PMID: 37648653.

Kearney N et al. Evidence of early coronary atherosclerotic plaque in hidradenitis suppurativa compared to the background population is indicative of myocardial infarction risk. J Eur Acad Dermatol Venereol. 2025;39:e363-e365 PMID: 39282937.

Lyons D et al. Semaglutide for weight loss in people with obesity as an adjunctive treatment for hidradenitis suppurativa: its impact on disease control and quality of life. Br J Dermatol. 2024;191:631-633. PMID: 38771673.

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