Putting Healthy Skin First - L’Oréal Active Cosmetics Division & MRA Strengthen Longstanding L’Oréal and MRA Partnership
By Cody Barnett, MPH, MRA Senior Director of Communications & Patient Engagement | 1 May 2020 | Allies & Partnerships, News, Science
Some partnerships just make sense. For example, L’Oréal-owned SkinCeuticals, CeraVe and La Roche-Posay apart of the L’Oreal Active Cosmetics Division and MRA both share a mission and ethos for promoting healthy skin. It is no surprise that the two are longtime partners in the fight against melanoma. In fact, these brands and MRA have just announced an expanded partnership just in time for Melanoma Awareness Month.
“As the global leader in dermocosmetics, L’Oréal is committed to the science of skin health. We are proud to partner with the Melanoma Research Alliance to help advance this crucial research in skin cancer prevention and detection using sophisticated AI technology,” said Group President of L'Oréal USA's Active Cosmetics Division, Marc Toulemonde. “It is our hope that our work together will bring much needed attention to melanoma and the role of dermatologists serving on its front lines.”
The headliner of this new, expanded partnership is the three-year L’Oréal Dermatological Beauty Brands-MRA Team Science Award that has been awarded to researchers at Stanford University’s School of Medicine who are studying how Artificial Intelligence (AI) within dermatologic practices can be used to improve melanoma detection.
The award will support work led by Dr. Roberto Novoa that will help highlight ideal use-cases and the unforeseen benefits or pitfalls of AI implementation in clinical practice. This kind of research aims to improve the early detection of melanoma when it is most treatable.
“My collaborators and I are honored to receive this Team Science Award funding from Melanoma Research Alliance and L’Oréal” noted Dr. Roberto Novoa, Clinical Associate Professor of Dermatology and Pathology. “The funding will enable our team to expand our AI research into a real-world dermatology setting. If our research proves successful in the real world, we believe we will be one step closer to a tool that can aid physicians’ triage and care for patients who may have melanoma.”
In addition to funding the Team Science award, L’Oréal Active Cosmetics Divison and MRA will also raise awareness of melanoma and the need for early detection by directing patients and consumers to the Skin Check Pledge microsite. By taking the pledge, users commit to learning what to look for, performing a monthly-self exam and seeing a dermatologist for an annual exam. Learn more or take the pledge at https://www.curemelanoma.net/skincheck/.
Over the last decade, L’Oréal and MRA have worked closely together to support several research awards including two MRA-Team Science Awards, and three young investigator awards. In addition, L’Oréal has generously underwritten national campaigns for television and lifestyle magazines featuring its extensive network of celebrity spokespeople to create far-reaching public service announcements anchored by the likes of Eva Longoria, Diane Keaton, and Whitney Carson.
“We are thrilled to continue to partner with L’Oréal Active Cosmetics Division to further our mission of ending suffering and death due to melanoma. We couldn’t ask for a better – more aligned – partner in this work,” says MRA President & CEO Michael Kaplan.