To create comprehensive reference maps of all human cells—the fundamental units of life—as a basis for both understanding human health and diagnosing, monitoring, and treating disease.
Skin Biological Network
Additional information about this network, including datasets and any atlases assembled so far, can be found on our Data Portal.
Visit the HCA Data Portal
The skin is a readily accessible organ, with a defined spatial organisation, and is affected in many diseases.
The Skin Biological Network, building on a well-integrated international network of clinical and non-clinical researchers who study skin and a large body of existing information about skin cells from human and mouse experimental models, aims to answer several outstanding questions about the skin through constructing an atlas. These include how many distinct cell types and states are present in healthy adult human skin; how body site, gender, age, ethnicity and sun exposure cause variation in these cells; and how cellular composition of the skin changes in disease. Ultimately, a comprehensive reference map of skin cells will provide new insights into the properties of the tissue in health and disease.
Network Coordinators:
- Maria Kasper
- Maksim Plikus
- Fiona Watt
Coordinator email: