When Nicole Brogden, associate, joined the College of Pharmacy faculty last month, she wasn’t exactly new to the University of Iowa. She earned her PharmD from the college in 2007, and a BS in Biology from the UI in 2003. Her connection to the university runs deeper, though. By joining the faculty here, she joins a very special collaborator: her father, Kim Brogden, a professor in the Department of Periodontics and Dows Institute for Dental Research at the College of Dentistry.

Father and daughter have co-authored two manuscripts together already, during Nicole’s time as a PhD student at the University of Kentucky College of Pharmacy. There are significant similarities regarding peptides in the skin and mouth, therefore resulting in crossover between his work as a microbiologist, and hers in pharmacy focusing on transdermal delivery systems. They have plans to develop interdisciplinary research between the College of Pharmacy and the College of Dentistry.

Nicole’s research interest is to develop a translational and interdisciplinary laboratory setting in which clinical training and benchtop research training can intersect and generate a fluid transition between benchtop, animal, and human research studies. Her work focuses on transdermal and topical delivery systems and active means of disrupting the skin barrier to broaden the transdermal option to a wider variety of drugs, primarily focusing on microneedle delivery systems. Her primary interests are in the area of inflammatory skin diseases such as atopic dermatitis and psoriasis, and investigating new means of locally treating skin lesions with novel drug delivery systems.  Initial efforts will focus on antimicrobial and anti-inflammatory peptides and lipids.

At the College of Pharmacy, Nicole will be teaching both PharmD and graduate students, as well as starting a new laboratory. In her lab, Dr. Brogden will be working with collaborators in other departments and colleges to establish a research program focused on the treatment of inflammatory skin disorders and investigating the underlying physiological mechanisms of disease.