Molecular and Genetic Understanding of Epidermal Skin and Skin Diseases: 2023 Benjamin Franklin Medal in Life Science presented to Elaine Fuchs, Ph.D.

Elaine Fuchs is the recipient of the 2023 Benjamin Franklin Medal in Life Science for her exceptional research on the genetics of keratin-based skin diseases and mechanisms behind the regenerative properties of adult skin stem cells. Her groundbreaking work has yielded critical insights into the fields of aging, inflammation, and cancer. Throughout her career, Fuchs has consistently sought out new frontiers and leveraged cutting-edge genetic and genomic technologies. Fuchs received a degree in chemistry as an undergraduate, then pursued a graduate degree focused on bacte-rial genetics. Then, upon hearing a lecture as a senior graduate student showing that epidermal skin cells can be grown in a dish in culture, she embraced the study of the epidermal skin for her postdoctoral studies and remained in this field for her independent career. Her early work focused on characterizing the intermediate cytoskeletal proteins known as keratins, which developing epidermal cells express on their way to generating the terminal stage of the skin. Launching into novel molecular genetic technology, she cloned the keratin genes and used insightful cell culture ap-proaches coupled with in vivo transgenic mouse technologies to study the functional domains of the keratins. She hypothesized that mutations in keratins may underlie human skin disorders. Her findings demonstrated a novel approach to discovering the molecular basis of human disease through reverse genetics: by discovering the function of a gene and then searching for human disorders that mimic the phenotype. Her work opened up the study of skin disorders to molecular understanding, a harbinger toward the era of personalized medicine. The research driven by the Fuchs laboratory has encompassed many aspects of skin differentiation, especially understanding the niche and signals that regulate proper maintenance and development of the adult stem cells. Her contributions have advanced the understanding of aging of skin stem cells, cancers of the skin, and situations of chronic inflammation. For these many contributions, Elaine Fuchs is recognized as an impactful, vital leader in the study of epidermal skin and adult stem cells by The Franklin Institute with the awarding of the 2023 Benjamin Franklin Medal in Life Science.