View clinical trials related to Normal Volunteers.
Filter by:Background: - Skin disease can have many causes. It can have widespread consequences, and in rare cases can lead to death. Researchers want to determine the causes of various types of skin diseases and find a way to treat them. Objectives: - To determine the causes of various skin diseases and find ways to treat them. Eligibility: - People ages 2 and older who have: - A skin disease or at risk of developing a skin disease OR - A family member of persons with a skin disease - Healthy volunteers ages 2 and older Design: - Participants will be screened under a separate protocol. - Participants may take a survey about how their skin condition affects their quality of life. - Participants will have a medical history and a physical exam including a detailed skin exam. Pictures will be taken of their skin to document any skin disease. - Participants will have specimens collected. This may include: - Several teaspoons of blood taken at each visit - Stool samples - Nail and body fluid (like saliva) samples - Cheek swabs. The inside of the cheek will be scraped for about a minute in each direction to collect cells. - Collection of skin samples with: - A swab (like a Q-tip) - Gently scraping skin to remove the outer layers of cells - Applying and removing 1-inch pieces of tape - Participants may have up to 4 skin biopsies in 12 months, with 4 separate biopsies taken each time. - An area of skin will be numbed with an injection. - A piece of skin the size of a pencil eraser will be removed using a small instrument. - A flat scar usually develops at the biopsy site.
The need to obtain human tissue for methods development and disease correlation is frequent in Biomedical Research Center laboratories. This protocol is designed to create the opportunity to obtain such tissue samples including: blood, urine, saliva, sweat, feces, hair and nail clippings, nasal scraping, muscle, fat, skin and taste buds. It may also include samples taken during a surgical procedure, including: fluid from around the spinal column, heart, lungs and abdomen; fat, muscle, connective tissue and organs (liver, bladder, heart, kidney and skin). Information derived from such studies is for research purposes only and is not provided to the participants or their health care provider. Samples will be coded (no names) and identifying information linking the participant to the sample will be maintained in a secure location by the P.I. and Study Coordinator. Participants will be 18 years or older and have been identified by the investigator and/or physician to have a condition of interest for exploratory studies related to the participant s illness or other feature that offers the possibility of creating information that leads to scientifically useful and important studies. Participants could also be healthy volunteers, willing to provide their samples. These samples could be requested by an investigator to be used as age, gender, race and/or ethnicity-matched controls or to calibrate or compare and contrast across lab equipment. Participants will be excluded if obtaining the sample would be over and above usual clinical care, would result in excessive blood loss, or the individual is unable to provide informed consent. The expected outcome is to provide investigators with the opportunity to obtain tissues of interest for laboratory evaluation.