Genetic Signals
Identify inherited and acquired variants that influence disease risk and severity.
Stanford University School of Medicine
Skin as a Sensor
Using the body’s most accessible organ to detect, understand, and monitor disease.
Reading Disease Through the Skin
The Sarin Lab
The Sarin Lab combines dermatology, genetics, molecular biology, imaging, and artificial intelligence to discover signals in the skin and translate them into better approaches for earlier detection, monitoring, and treatment.
140+
PublicationsPublications
18+
Years in CareYears in Patient Care
40+
Trainees MentoredTrainees Mentored
Skin as a Sensor
Why Skin?
The skin is uniquely suited to reveal what is happening inside the body, and to do so again and again over time.
Visible
Skin changes can be observed directly and non-invasively.
Accessible
Skin can be imaged and sampled with relatively low burden to patients.
Information-rich
Skin contains molecular, cellular, neural, vascular, immune, and genetic signals.
Easy to monitor over time
Repeated measurements can track disease progression and treatment response.
Our Research Approach
How We Read the Skin
We integrate complementary signals, genetic, molecular, imaging, and digital, and translate them into meaningful insights about disease.
Molecular Signals
Profile RNA, proteins, immune pathways, and other biomarkers that reveal disease biology.
Imaging Signals
Capture structure and function from the cellular to tissue scale.
Digital Signals
Apply artificial intelligence and data science to detect patterns and measure outcomes.
Tools & Technologies
Tools That Reveal What Matters
High-resolution imaging, molecular profiling, and artificial intelligence that turn signals in the skin into measurable insight.
Optical Imaging
High-resolution, non-invasive optical imaging technologies, including OCT and optical clearing, to reveal skin structure and disease at cellular and tissue scales.
Learn More
3D Molecular Pathology
Studying intact tissue architecture alongside molecular and cellular data to see how skin structures are organized in three dimensions.
Learn More
Artificial Intelligence & Data Science
AI-based image analysis, quantitative phenotyping, multimodal integration, and predictive modeling for measuring disease.
Learn MoreLatest From the Lab
Recent Work
A selection of recent publications from the lab. Browse the complete list on PubMed.
NeurofibromatosisMarch 2026
Stigmatization related to cutaneous neurofibromas in neurofibromatosis 1: development, validation and severity strata of the cNF-PUSH-D
British Journal of Dermatology
Read on PubMed
Skin CancerFebruary 2026
Dissection of Gαs and Hedgehog signaling cross-talk reveals therapeutic opportunities to target Hedgehog-dependent tumors
Cancer Research
Read on PubMed
NeurofibromatosisFebruary 2026
Phenotypic characterization of neurofibromatosis type 1 in a large Chinese cohort: a cross-sectional study
JAAD International
Read on PubMed