Specifically, he is working on ways to add microbes that produce natural antibiotics to over-the-counter products as a means of protecting users with eczema from infection-causing bacteria.
Dr. Gallo found strains of protective bacteria that secrete antimicrobial peptides but are sparse in the skin microbiome of those afflicted with atopic dermatitis, a type of eczema. His team grew a large supply of the bacteria—harvested from the volunteers’ own skin—and mixed the beneficial bugs with OTC moisturizer. The results were encouraging, and clinical trials have been launched.
The work was published in the journal Science Translational Medicine.
“It’s a really important paper,” Dr. Emma Guttman-Yassky of the Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai Hospital in New York, told The Courier News. “It does open a window for a potential new treatment.”