Paldus Video Recording
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Dr. Kay: [00:00:00] Well, hello. Hello, guys. You're listening to Beauty Bites with Dr. K, Secrets of a Plastic Surgeon. And today on the podcast, very exciting. We're interviewing a skin scientist. It's Dr. Barbara Paldas. She's a Canadian born scientist, entrepreneur, investor. She's renowned for her contributions to spectroscopy and biotechnology and sustainable skin care.

She actually got a bachelor's of science in math and electrical engineering from University of Waterloo, followed by a PhD in electrical engineering from Stanford. And by the time she was 34, she founded two Silicon Valley companies, including Picaro. Specialized in greenhouse gas detection for climate change monitoring and finesse solutions.

This developed biotech equipment for cancer and vaccine therapy monitoring. And then recently, in 2018, she founded Codex Labs, which is also a silicon based company that creates sustainable plant based skin care solutions with clinically proven results. She has a new product coming out for eczema, and [00:01:00] she just drives the innovation of science and sustainability for skin.

Excited to welcome you. Thank you for coming on, Barbara. Thank you so much for having me, Dr. K. Well, so you started in electrical engineering and math and all things hard science. And then how did you transition to interest in skin?

Dr. Paldus (3): So what happened was when I was running Finesse Solutions, we were making bioprocessing automation solutions.

So we were working with the vaccine manufacturers like J& J, Pfizer, et cetera. We were working with monoclonal antibody and cancer therapeutic companies. And my son was actually diagnosed with ADHD when he was nine. And that was in 27. Well, actually eight when he was in 2017. And so, um, I had to make a life choice and I could either keep traveling and growing the company.

We were roughly 65 million at that point in revenue. And I was traveling three weeks out of the month and had two nannies, or I could sell the company and actually be present for my child. And my child actually had eczema. [00:02:00] So I chose the latter. Um, I sold the company and, um, Basically 2017 and left because the company that bought it was still making me travel a lot.

And so I left in 2018 and we resolved, you know, as best we could, the management of his ADHD, the management of his eczema. And, um, I became very interested in skin because I was always trying to figure out the root cause of what had caused his eczema. Now, obviously that's impossible because we don't know whether eczema starts on the inside or it starts on the outside.

You know, we know that there's that inflammatory cascade with IL 13 31, but, um, it led me to be very interested in skin products. And so we started actually in cosmetics, because that's a little bit easier than starting jumping right into medical dermatology. And, uh, we started studying the skin barrier.

We started studying skin inflammation. We started studying, uh, sebum production. By that time, he Had started, you know, started to [00:03:00] develop acne. So we also had to deal with acne. And, um, that led me to Founding Codex. And, um, we are doing a lot of research now also on gut microbiome and, uh, internal inflammation and gut inflammation.

And we're realizing that to solve skin problems, you actually need to start on the inside. It's not just about the outside to get the full effect.

Dr. Kay: That's so true. What, um, and you also had developed kind of a dermatology telehealth platform. Can you describe what that patient experience looks like?

Dr. Paldus (3): Absolutely. So we're actually, it's been, we've been developing it for two years because we wanted to do something very different. Then what your typical we're going to have a video. We're going to have a transcript. I'm going to prescribe you something. We wanted something for the next generation dermatologist.

And so part of the platform that we're going to be launching at the American Academy of Dermatology in March is a series of diagnostics, integrated diagnostics. So not just your typical standard saliva hormone test. [00:04:00] or HSCRP blood spot for inflammation, but also more rare things like heavy metals, because it turns out there's far more lead and arsenic, um, in the American diet through our supplements and other sources that a lot of people are not aware of, which can cause, you know, again, hives, they can cause, um, rashes, um, neurotransmitters, which, so this whole Psycho dermatology aspect.

Um, we're now starting to study the impacts of stress, um, the impacts of these neurotransmitters, for example, on acne flareups, eczema flareups, psoriasis flareups, and then obviously, um, a test that's usable for the dermatologist on the gut microbiome. And then we're also educating dermatologists on parasitics.

Um, h pori I think is far more common than we'd like to admit, and things like candida, Clostridium. E. coli. Um, it's just good to have that screen. And especially if people travel to exotic locations on vacation or South America, Mexico, [00:05:00] Northern Africa, you know, it's not that our environment may not necessarily be clean.

It's people don't sometimes realize or when they garden. You know, in garden that there may be parasites that they're bringing into their body, and that can exacerbate existing skin conditions or cause, you know, again, rashes and redness, which are really hard to diagnose. So, um, parasitics, pathogen detection are all the kinds of things we're bringing onto the platform as well as pathogens on the skin microbiome.

Dr. Kay: I love that. I think people don't realize, you know, the gut and the skin being interconnected, deriving from the same embryologic neuroectodermal tissues are very, very connected. Like it's almost your outer skin is almost a reflection of what you have going on inside you. And, um, I do do some microbiome testing as part of your workup of.

You know, eczema, contact dermatitis, all these acne patients that come to see you.

Dr. Paldus (3): Absolutely. The gut microbiome is incredibly important. And for [00:06:00] example, you know, we're, we're going to be, we're now starting a clinical trial to actually look at the effects of certain probiotics. And, uh, prebiotics on the gut microbiome of people with eczema.

But, uh, the vast majority, especially younger eczema patients appear to be, and I don't mean deficient in the sense that the levels are low. I mean that they're absent, like it's a zero on the test of standard lactobacillus And that to me is something that is absolutely fascinating. We still don't understand why, but it seems to be a commonality among the, among, uh, especially like 3 through 12.

Dr. Kay: I think that's fascinating. Do you believe in that concept of applying topical, um, pre and probiotic products to the skin to give back what the skin's missing with the good bacteria?

Dr. Paldus (3): So I believe in, uh, therapies to remove pathogens for the skin. But otherwise, um, I think our so our skin microbiome is by [00:07:00] far not as rich as our gut microbiome from the number of species and the diversity of species on our skin.

Um, essentially, it's an open environment, right? It's exposed to pollution to the UV, um, and it's not as rich as the gut. Um, in the sense that those bacteria rely on our sebum production, um, and basically what can pass through our skin and compared to the digestive tract where there's nutrients passing through on a continuous basis, um, you don't get that, you know, the, the, the thousands and thousands and thousands of different bacteria and fungi.

Um, so I think with the skin, it's really not disturbing the microbiome and healthy skin and in skin that's compromised, understanding what the pathogen is and eliminating that pathogen. So that. The skin microbiome can restore itself. Although we do have one live, um, lactobacillus plantarum serum now that we, uh, that we're launching for acne, um, through the dermatological community.

And [00:08:00] what's interesting about that live serum that you, you reconstituted it's lifelize, lactobacillus plantarum, you reconstitute it with water and it actually reduces your inflammatory cytokines. And so, uh, what we've been able to show in models, because it's kind of really, really hard to do that in, um, in, how should I put it, in live human skin, although we've been able to show there's a surface change in the actual microbiome, um, where we can in fact shift it away from the C.

acnes bacteria, but we were able to down regulate IL 1 alpha by about 94%, IL 6 by 93%, and IL 8 by 94%, and those are the primary, um, cytokines and acne. So we're very excited. They're also primary cytokines and rosacea. So there's more studies to be done on this for, um, because acne and rosacea do have a lot of similarities.

Um, and so we're actually very excited about looking at reducing skin inflammation by modulating the skin [00:09:00] microbiome.

Dr. Kay: I think that's so fascinating. What is your approach to looking at DNA? Because I know you have a philosophy of going from DNA to dermis. So can you explain and break that down? What does that look like?

How do you do the DNA testing? How do you really personalize the skin care plan?

Dr. Paldus (3): So the DNA testing we do, um, is twofold. There are 2 different tests. Um, the 1st is actually vitamin. So we look at, you know, vitamins A, B, C, D, E, um, with the 3 vitamin B's, um, and we look at actually the body's ability to absorb, transform, and transport those vitamins.

Um, because we're looking at now correlations between various skin conditions, um, such as acne, uh, propensity or the severity of acne, and for example, vitamin D deficiency. And that can be then correlated back to the genetics of the individual. And so It's fascinating to see, you know, whether, for example, is there really a [00:10:00] correlation between vitamin D and eczema?

Is there really a correlation between vitamin B and, you know, skin barrier inflammation? So, um, we're studying that, but it's really good to screen because oftentimes people, for example, they may have a lot of vitamin, a specific vitamin in their diet, like vitamin E, and yet their ability to absorb it. is not very good, and so we also don't want people overdosing on vitamins, um, the ones that are stored in your fat.

So, um, we certainly don't want anybody to overdose on vitamin D. Um, there was a death in the UK recently on that. Really? Wow. Yeah, an older gentleman just went, like, crazy and killed himself by, yeah, overdosing on vitamin D, uh, supplements. So you would never imagine that. Um, and so on the skin, we look at skin barrier genes, for example, like filaggrin.

Um, we also look at things like metalloproteinases. We look at, um, the melanin associated genes for sun sensitivity and [00:11:00] hyperpigmentation. Um, and then we also look at, you know, how. Your body, um, addresses certain cytokines like IL 12, IL 23, uh, for inflammatory skin conditions or IL 6 and IL 8 and IL 4 for acne or, um, for example, IL 4 for eczema.

So we look at basically that response. Um, I think it's also important. We're going to be adding allergy testing because that's also really important to understand if people truly do have allergies and do they manifest through IGA through IGE. Um, And that can also often lead to, um, understanding if there's a parasite as well, kind of a backdoor to parasitics.

Dr. Kay: That's, that's very comprehensive. I don't think, and I've heard of any dermatologist doing all that testing for any patient at that high, high level. So it's fascinating to know that that's available and you can, you can ask for that. So why, why do you think that up to 93 percent of dermatologists have never ordered a genetic test for skin [00:12:00] issues?

Dr. Paldus (3): I think because the tests to date have not been particularly focused on dermatology. I think the tests have been focused on ancestry, um, or they've been focused on cancer, um, or the efficacy of certain drug therapeutics for various types of diseases, but I don't think there really have been any tests that have been focused purely on the things that affect skin.

Dr. Kay: Yeah. I think that, um, that, that is the case, but looking at the whole organism is what affects the skin the most, I suppose, right?

Dr. Paldus (3): That's exactly right.

Dr. Kay: Yeah, can you share an example, like of a patient who's transformed their skin health using these kind of genetic insights?

Dr. Paldus (3): So, for example, we have patients who, um, have inadequacies in filaggrin, um, so filaggrin being the structural protein in the skin barrier.

Um, and similarly, they often have also involucran and lauracran deficiencies. So. It basically makes [00:13:00] for a leaky skin barrier, so they tend to suffer from allergic reactions, skin sensitivity. And what we do there is we supplement them. We have a supplement that has L histidine. Uh, so 4 grams per day is a clinical dose of that.

Um, as well as we have an antioxidant made from 3 Patagonian plants, which is a complex anthocyanin, flavanol flavonoid antioxidant for reducing overall, um. Inflammation. Um, and we've seen a restructuring of the skin barrier for better hydration and, uh, far less allergic reactions. Um, it's also a great supplement when somebody suffering from hives, it's actually also a great supplement within 3 to 5 days, um, because you start, um, sealing up the skin barrier between so.

We have a new eczema lotion coming out, which is also anti itch. It's an OTC. So between the lotion and the supplement, you can really start reducing their, their allergic reaction and the redness and the itching. And obviously you want to stop them from [00:14:00] itching as quickly as possible because they then scratch and that can lead to either scarring or open wounds, and then those can get infected.

So that becomes a very negative feedback loop.

Dr. Kay: That's so fascinating. I think eczema is very, um, underdiagnosed, very widespread. And so often, you know, it's so difficult for young children, infants, it starts at such a young age, why do you suppose that is, is that you're inheriting the wrong microbiome from your mother as you come through the vaginal canal, or you're on the wrong diet, you're surrounded by You know, the peer group that's giving you their microbiome, their microbiome, what do you think?

So some of it,

Dr. Paldus (3): so definitely if you're born by C section, you actually don't inherit your mother's microbiome, um, from the birth canal. So that certainly can be, uh, you know, a limitation there. Um, I think some of it is genetic. I think because it's underdiagnosed, as you said, um, the parents may not know.

And then you end up with a child with that genetic [00:15:00] profile. Now, um, because it's an allergic disease, um, you know, the, the shift in the research from, is it genetic? Is it filaggrin has now shifted away saying, no, it's basically a cytokine mediated allergic disease. But I think there's definitely, if you look at, for example, the correlation of children with eczema and ADHD, um, children with eczema have a 50 percent higher risk.

And as you said originally, um, basically the brain barrier cells, the skin barrier cells and the gut barrier cells, um, are all from that original embryonic cell. And so you get leaky gut, leaky skin, leaky brain. And so it just makes me wonder, um, and then it's really a question of what triggers, what starts that atopic march.

Right. And what starts that first inflammatory, it could be that the child has a dairy allergy. And so it's allergic to its own mother's milk. It could be that the child has a gluten allergy and it gets [00:16:00] it in baby food. It could be that the child has a dandruff allergy to the pet at home, um, or there's dust mites.

Um, you know, in Japan they have the problem that their houses are too clean. So the children don't develop an immune system, you know, or we may be sterilizing our houses too much. You know, um, you wonder, you know, what What kind of chemical could be triggering it? You know, could it be, you know, I've wondered for a long time, for example, you know, what really are the long term effects of phenoxyethanol and all these cosmetic products that we use?

We don't know. Um, you know, and safety profiles of things change, right? There are certain preservative systems that were considered perfectly safe 30 years ago that are now banned in the EU. So, um. There's something usually that triggers off that atopic march. So I would say it just depends on the child and depending on whether the gut is more leaky or the skin is more leaky.

Um, it's exposure to pollution. It's exposure to the home environment. It's exposure to what foods it's being fed. And once you trigger it, [00:17:00] it's really hard to slow down and stop.

Dr. Kay: That's very, I think that's very true. I, we, we use too much hand sanitizer, too much soap. We wash our bodies too much. I mean, honestly, like I think my mom used to tell me like, don't put soap on so much everywhere, just so that, you know, the privates and like the areas that really get grimy, but the rest of your body just needs a water rinse and like encouraging kids to go out and play in the dirt.

We don't do that anymore. They're all in devices indoors and there's on their sofas, right? Like I used to. Go out and ride her bike and play in the dirt, make mud pies, all that. But I don't see kids doing as much of that in nature, getting that sunlight, you know?

Dr. Paldus (3): Absolutely. Like they don't produce their own vitamin D.

And I, I agree with you too much screen time and not enough movement. You know, is there also a correlation between the exercise? And also I think our diets have changed. in the last 30 years significantly in the amount of processed food, you know, is it also ultra processed food? And also there's ultra processed [00:18:00] baby food.

And now, right? I mean, the other thing now what I'm watching with, you know, kind of horror is that the FDA is putting various heavy metal levels on baby food.

Dr. Kay: That's scary. And also microplastics. I'm I worry about like, What are we going to even do about microplastics? We can't all get plasmapheresis and ozone to rid our bodies of it, although, and is that even, you know, effective or recommended?

But, but I do think like the microplastics is building up, creating a reason for our immune systems to flare up and become like so cytokine driven. So I think, you know, like the good old sunshine and dirt grounding and walking and barefoot in the grass and those kinds of things are really going to be the way to help these kids.

Dr. Paldus (3): I agree. There's a lot to be said for that. And on the microplastics, I mean, they now have measured them in the human brain. They've measured them in embryos. They've measured them in newborn babies. I mean, as you said, that is something that's [00:19:00] still a huge, huge, huge unknown and what its impact is, but I just can't imagine that there's no impact on the immune system.

Dr. Kay: That's crazy. And then we put our babies in plastic diapers, and then we put, give them a plastic bottle and a plastic pacifier. And the healthiest formula is transmitting through plastic, even breast milk gets pumped through plastic, right? So like, I really don't even, that's such a helpless situation.

What do we even do? Um, but it's, it's fascinating to talk to someone who's looking at it at that organic level. And for eczema sufferers, you have a new product that's coming out. Can you talk a little bit about what's innovative about the new product?

Dr. Paldus (3): Absolutely, so I'm super, super excited that the eczema product actually combines 2 of our kind of core.

You can call them complexes. Um, the 1st is obviously our preservative system, which we developed back in 2018, 2019. And as an alternative to your standard phenoxyethanol, we now have actually five years of shelf [00:20:00] life. So, um, we know that basically it's a very, very effective, um, preservative system. And so essentially it's a, um, biotech ferment from lactobacillus.

So, which is essentially a broad spectrum antimicrobial. Um, it has coconut oil and a ferment of coconut oil for antifungal and antiviral. Um, and what's interesting is that the medium chain triglycerides and coconut oil actually help mitigate for staph aureus. So for eczema, that's actually perfect. Um, and then it has a very low levels of potassium, sorbate and sodium benzoate for, um, essentially yeast and molds, which we always want to keep away.

And the adjuvant in this is. Similar to what is used in, um, in, uh, vaccines and so that's propane dial in this case, a biotech plant based version of it. And so, um, what's great about propane dial, um, from renewable corn fermentation is that, um, not only does it enhance the effectiveness of the other preservative [00:21:00] ingredients, but it's also very well tolerated.

Um, it's not sensitizing and it functions. It doubles up as an humectant for already dry skin. And so our Bia complex, which is really the heart of this lotion, um, is, um, plant stem cell extracts that are actually made in Europe. So I think we're all familiar with calendula. Um, so this is actually a special stem cell.

Um, and then there's Haberlea, which, um, in Bulgaria and Bulgaria is called the Dracula plant because it's a, it's a resurrection plant. Um, and then comfrey. Uh, which has been used in, um, Irish traditional medicines, sophitum aficionale, and then to those three plant stem cells, we've added, um, your standard hyaluronic acid, your ceramides, as well as, uh, pedina pavonica, which is a marine algae, which is great at reducing itch, you know, obviously it's an OTC, so it contains 1 percent colloidal oatmeal, but what's really interesting is we get, um, a lot of minerals.

Antioxidants from the [00:22:00] calendula. So everything from flavonoids to phenolic acids and carotenoids, triterpenoid alcohols, et cetera, um, and calendula, um, has been well studied for anti inflammation wound healing and it's antioxidants, um, and then in the comfrey, what's really interesting comfrey is high in allantoin.

And we all know that Atlanta 1 is also an anti itch and it has rosmarinic acid. So it's excellent for, you know, that dry rough scaliness of XMF and, but it also helps proliferation of healthy tissue. And so we've done again, we've done a lot of the genetic testing on human keratinocytes. And so, um, we know that it has a role in tissue formation and differentiation, especially the development of granulation tissue and epithelialization.

And then rosmarinic acid is great as basically, um, improving skin barrier because it decreases the pH. It slightly decreases the skin surface CH and it also can improve ceramide formation and lowering skin barrier, um, [00:23:00] transepidermal. Um, evaporation, and it also inhibits staff. So you can see a lot of these plants are amazing because they're multifunctional.

And then the Haber Lea, um, it's actually a tertiary relic plant from the Balkans and it's rich in myconocytes. And so, um, to those who may not be as familiar with myconocide, it, um, basically increases mRNA synthesis of collagen 6 and collagen 16, um, and elastin and peroxide stress fibroblasts. So we basically again, study that and this is there to stimulate the extracellular matrix synthesis.

To really, I mean, our goal here is a lotion that improves skin barrier, cohesion, improved skin, elasticity, and then the padina, um, basically it's a brown algae from the Mediterranean. Um, it has your polyphenols polysaccharides, um, but it's very rich and laminar and some food, quaint and some alginic acid.

So basically the, those algae components that moisturize prevent dryness and cracking, but [00:24:00] also protect some mitochondrial function and it. essentially all of it helps reduce the itch and it's done in sunflower oil. So again, non allergenic oil, not like almond oil because sunflower oil has a very high concentration of linoleic acid, typically 60%, which again is great for the skin barrier and as an emollient and tool reduction.

So It's uh, it was basically the product was geared very much towards that damaged, dry, um, losing water type of skin and eczema, which is also itchy, and I'm excited to tell you, Dr. K, our clinical data shows that, a 99 percent reduction of scorad, um, in eight weeks for mild atopic dermatitis and a 93 percent reduction in scorad and in mild, uh, in moderate atopic dermatitis and a 95 plus percent reduction in itch.

So we're super excited. So we can't wait for those manuscripts to publish.

Dr. Kay: That's amazing. Yeah. When is that going to be [00:25:00] published? And also for the audience, what is SCORAD? It's the, an index that you're using too.

Dr. Paldus (3): Exactly. There, there are different scores for, um, for eczema, but essentially the definition, this, this is an older, um, score, um, and it basically stands for, um, The, um, there's a B and C, which is kind of the extent, the intensity and the subject.

Um, and so, um, our moderate is kind of considered 25 to 50. Um, anything greater than 50, um, is considered severe eczema and it was developed. in 1993 by the European Task Force. And so AD stands for atopic dermatitis and SCORE stands for SCORE. So it's basically a clinical evaluation tool for atopic dermatitis.

There's other scores like the Global, um, Assessment Score Index, um, and then there's also EASI, which is a more local score. So we just pick SCORE out because it's been around for a long time.

Dr. Kay: Okay, so 99 percent reduction [00:26:00] and that was at six weeks, he said eight weeks, eight weeks. Wow. That's incredible. So this is an over the counter product does not require a prescription that people can pick up for their eczema child or family member and have really amazing results.

Dr. Paldus (3): Absolutely.

Dr. Kay: Absolutely. It's transformative, I think, instead of, like, currently, if you have severe eczema, you rely on steroids, you rely on emollient creams and things, and then you rely on biologic therapies, which are, you know, prescription products, extremely expensive, they could be a shot or a topical.

What's the efficacy of those kind of products if you're comparing the prescription products?

Dr. Paldus (3): So, um, there are non, um, steroid topicals that came out, um, last year and this year that have been approved by the FDA. They run about a thousand dollars for a tube, um, and I would say, you know, they're comparable in efficacy, um, but you can see there's a massive price difference.

Um, obviously for severe eczema, it's [00:27:00] a completely different, um, You know, it's a completely different issue. And so I think the biologics absolutely have a very important role to play. But we think that at least for mild and moderate atopic dermatitis, we want to provide definitely an alternative to corticosteroids because one of my biggest fears with my son was, um, I know it's still not recognized as a disease, but topical steroid withdrawal syndrome.

Um, I have a lot of, um, friends in the community and what these folks go through is just unimaginable. I mean, the pain and the suffering that they go through. So, um, if we can minimize, I mean, again, steroids were developed for a very specific use, um, a very specific short term, let's knock the inflammation down use.

Um, but if you look at how they've been used over the last 20, 30 years with people being on corticosteroids for 20, 30 years to treat eczema, um, I'm not sure that that was the original intended, even FDA approval for those, um, medications. And so it's just [00:28:00] interesting how usage has evolved, um, over time.

And some of the original guidelines from the seventies are not always necessarily followed in terms of the maximum dosage and then time breaks, et cetera. So, um, I think it would be great to have a new tool in the overall toolbox for treating eczema.

Dr. Kay: Fascinating. I think, um, the price point will be really affordable and accessible.

So 40, 45 versus 1, 000. That's crazy. At least something you can start with before you, you know, see if you need anything stronger. What's the name of the product and where will we be able to buy it?

Dr. Paldus (3): So you'll be able to buy it on our website. Initially. Um, we're launching that, um, at the end of this month, uh, end of January.

It's called eczema relief lotion. Um, and it'll be part of our eczema collection. We also have a soap that was part of the clinical study. Um, and it's actually, we, we went to Ireland. We manufacture it in Ireland. It's a 400 year old process. [00:29:00] Um, it's a cold process. Um, we had to transfer. it from, they used to use bone.

We wanted the soap to be vegan, so we had to transfer it to shea butters and cocoa butters and olive oil type. Um, and the unscented soap that goes with the lotion, um, it actually is one of the first non microbiome stripping soap. So as we talked earlier about, you know, not affecting that skin microbiome.

not stripping it so that pathogens can colonize the skin. Um, we were able to do a soap, which has a very, very high glycerin content, which kind of goes again against the grain of all the cleansing bars that are now on the market, um, that where people strip the glycerin out or triple milled soaps and other types of soaps that don't have a high glycerin content.

So a lot of people, when they first use the soap say, Oh my God, this is kind of slimy. It doesn't have, you know, all that foam production that I'm using. to from the commercial soaps, but it cleans incredibly well. We know that it can remove 98 percent of pollution from tests where we've [00:30:00] done, um, iron particles, 10 micron iron particles on skin, and then we wash it with the soap.

So we know it's a very effective cleaning agent compared to even a cleansing bar, but the most important thing is it does not strip moisture. So we've done clinical. Um, and I wanted this to be accessible because there's so many families out there, you know, especially single moms, um, or communities that are, you know, underserved, um, that can't afford or don't have medical coverage.

And a lot of these newer products, not every medical coverage either covers it, even if you're working and you have a corporate medical care. And so I wanted something that pretty much everybody could afford, because I know a lot of people here in California, um, I work with certain communities and, you know, they're single moms.

They get a baby, the baby has eczema and it [00:31:00] just completely, you know, destroys the mother's life. Like she's trying to care for this child. She's trying to keep her apartment. She's trying to feed everybody. And so to me, this is kind of a mission of, of love.

Dr. Kay: Amazing. How, what is the Irish connection? Is that a part of your background or just like there's amazing nature and heritage and culture there?

Dr. Paldus (3): So that's actually a really funny story. So I mentioned my son had eczema and since I was working in biotech, I was traveling a lot and Pfizer has a plant near Cork in Ireland, which is one of our customers for making cancer therapeutics. And I used to go through the airport and because my son had eczema, I was constantly searching, um, every single duty free, every single local store.

Oh, do you have a ball? Oh, do you have something, you know, that's preservative free? That's oil based. Oh, do you have some herb for eczema? Oh, do you have something? And I found actually a set of products in Ireland at the Cork Airport of all places, not Dublin. [00:32:00] Um, and when I sold my company, I ended up buying this little company because it was going to go under.

And I needed that cream for my son, and that's how we met. the ethnobotanists and the naturopathic doctors that worked with this company and Rosary Kingston. She's an herbalist and a naturopathic doctor in Ireland. She's in her seventies. She's written several books on Irish flora and Irish natural medicine.

And she is an encyclopedia. She's just an amazing woman and an encyclopedia of Irish plants. And that's where we discovered this comfrey and the calendula that are in the current formulation. Um, so Ireland's been essentially our skin barrier plant, um, library. for five years.

Dr. Kay: That's amazing. I love that background story.

The ingredients that you've selected, um, they all sound like, you know, they, they actually have a lot of molecular biologic cues and activity and messaging that they send to the cells. [00:33:00] So although, although this is all nature driven, it's really working at the molecular biologic level. You know, queuing up anti inflammation.

So I think that's so fascinating. How did you narrow it down just based with Rosemary's advice as well as your

Dr. Paldus (3): advice and a lot of screening, like a lot of genetic screening of what does this do to human keratinocytes? What does that do to human keratinocytes? What does this cell extract do? What does that cell do?

So we started with the plants and then we narrowed it down to specific cells. And we're very fortunate to be working with the biotech that can now. manufactured those that specific plant stem cell that activates those specific genes reproducibly highly sustainably, but also with very high potency. And so that's why we're, we're really not, you know, I don't want to be a farmer.

I don't want to be dependent on the weather. Um, during COVID, nobody was. Picking the plants from the field. So I much rather make it a having come from biotech. I'd much rather make it in a bioreactor and then [00:34:00] it's, we know it's pure. We know there's no heavy metal contamination. We're not worried about pesticides or pollution being transmitted with the wind and we know exactly the reproducibility and potency.

So we, we see this as next generation plant biotech and it's really plant, plant pharma in a way.

Dr. Kay: How do you feel that, um, products derived from plant cells communicate biologically with human cells? I mean, our cells are very different. We don't have cell walls. We are, you know, mammalian cells. So are there evolutionary cues that are ancient enough that they will still talk to human cells?

Dr. Paldus (3): So I think because we have co evolved with plants, if you look at humans, we've been eating plants. We've been using plants to treat ourselves. Um, we're actually not the only species that uses plants. We now know that, um, you know, various other orangutan or gorilla species use plants. plants for treating wounds.

Um, so I would say, um, because we've co evolved with plants and there's so much traditional medicine, there's Ayurveda, [00:35:00] there's Chinese traditional medicine, there's European traditional medicine. Um, I don't think we can disassociate ourselves from plants as humans. So I think that synergistic effect has been there for, you know, tens of thousands, if not hundreds of thousands of years.

And so it's now a matter of using the new tools that we have, right, the genetic screening, looking at what genes are activated or deactivated by specific plant cells with specific human type cells. Like, for example, for acne, we study sebocytes as opposed to keratinocytes, um, and then under Standing, you know, can we affect the cytokines?

You know, we know certain plants cause allergies, we know other plants can calm allergies. So there's definitely, we know that the effects are there, and I think now understanding the science and the root causes behind it is the fascinating part. And that's the part of the journey for the next, you know, set of decades as we refine, you know, our ability to do genetic experimentation, genetic screening, as we refine our tissue models, our cell models.

[00:36:00] Um, we also study penetration. We also do a lot of spectroscopic studies of how our products penetrate through the skin barrier. How far do they go? Can they make it to the dermis? You know, um, we were studying, for example, how can we rebuild collagen, et cetera? How can we reduce inflammation? Um, how can we rehydrate, you know, at the various epidermal and dermal levels?

And so, um, I'd say. The science is now, the, the analytics that we have is now reaching a level where we can hopefully start understanding. And then as, as you said, then there's the whole other, you know, there's the gut and then there's the biker biome and then there's the brain, the kind of psychodermatological aspects.

And then how do you wrap all that together? And hopefully with the advent of more computational power and AI, um, we'll be able to start sorting through that data over the next decade, but we're just scratching the surface.

Dr. Kay: It's so fascinating. Um, I'm a huge fan of collagen stimulators and improving, you know, the skin barrier, the water content of the skin.

Um, [00:37:00] do you have any longevity hacks that you're doing yourself or what are you putting on for your daily anti aging type skin care?

Dr. Paldus (3): So I love the collection that we have. I kind of developed that for myself. Um, I was kind of in my late forties at that point. Um, and it has the, um, complex of these 3 Patagonian plants that we discovered, um, again, purely by chance, um, through the ethnobotany world.

Um, and it's, uh, they're, we call it M3 because the three plants start with the letter M in Spanish. Um, and they're from Chile actually. Um, and they are plants that have been used by the Mapuche, um, for many, many, many hundreds of years. So there's metico, um, maqui, and huerta. And these are basically, um, very flavonoid anthocyanin.

Um, and everything again, triterpenoids, um, et cetera, um, antioxidants, um, because they're [00:38:00] complex, they're actually far more stable. So we don't have to worry about, for example, the formulation of ascorbic acid, vitamin C, or as the xanthan, which is incredibly reactive. So we see, um, excellent, excellent, excellent stability, but.

What's more interesting is that the Mapuche eat them. So I actually, I love our M3 supplement. Um, we're going to be doing a half dose for people who want to use it for longevity rather than for treating things like eczema or psoriasis. And we compared it, um, to some of the other antioxidants that we known other than, you know, vitamin C, obviously, but also black tea, green tea, turmeric, curcumin, um, and what was interesting is that it's.

Overall antioxidant capacity in this ratio of the three plants that the may put a have optimized over hundreds of years, um, beat pretty much. It's like the overall MVP player of these antioxidants. So we measured, for example, molecular diffusion through the cell membrane. We measured total antioxidant [00:39:00] capacity for or for prox radicals.

We looked at DP pH for radical scavenging ability, and it was basically. in the top two for every single one. And so you have certain some of these antioxidants that are really great, for example, for ORAC or great for DPPH, but they're not as great for the other four measures. And this one was significantly, um, it was basically, either number one or number two for every single measurement, um, consistently.

And so, um, for me, this is basically for reducing gut inflammation and systemic inflammation, which is longevity. And then it's also in our Ontu serum, which we know penetrates all the way to the dermis. And we have clinical data showing it re densifies skin by 30%. 28 percent actually in about eight weeks.

And so I use those two products. Those are my kind of two go to travel with live with can't, can't

Dr. Kay: leave out of my site. That's good. It's easy. It's best when you have a really simplistic routine, I've [00:40:00] found, then I can stick with it, especially when, when traveling and lecturing and stuff like that. Um, how about oral supplements?

Are you taking, um, That's my oral supplement. So the M3 supplement, so I

Dr. Paldus (3): put it on my skin and I take the supplement with the histidine just to keep my skin barrier, um, you know, intact and to keep the inflammation. But anything other

Dr. Kay: than that, are you taking, you know, resveratrol or NAD or other longevity type.

Dr. Paldus (3): Nope, actually, what I have started taking is we have a new prebiotic that again, I kind of developed not just for myself, but also for, um, anyone with, um, you know, gut issues, whether that's leaky gut to, um, just generic, just generic digestive issues. And that one is neat because, um, we actually, um, took a huge, um, gamble on resistant potato starch.

Um, which is actually now, um, by Health Canada, it's considered, it's been just designated a medical food because it [00:41:00] enhances the abundance of your beneficial gut flora, specifically acromantia that we're hearing a lot about and bifidobacterium. Um, so that's basically one of the key ingredients. Obviously a lot of prebiotics have chicory root.

But we also went to things like marshmallow root, um, from Irish medicine, because it's not just a soluble fiber and antioxidant, but it really protects the gut mucosa. So, in a way, we developed, how should I put it, a microbiome rebalancing gut mucosa restoring prebiotic, because a lot of people, they think about, you know, a lot of the oligosaccharides, but they don't really think about antioxidants and.

Really balancing the soluble and insoluble fibers and so we also have a ronia berry pomace in there. So that again, um, supports butyrate producing bacteria and the butyrate is essential for gut barrier integrity and then we included glutamine, which is really important for the tight junction. proteins for gut barrier integrity.

And then, you know, there's other [00:42:00] super foods like, you know, ginger for gastric emptying and pomegranate for urolithin A, you know, anti inflammatory urolithin A. So what we try to do is we try to create this like one overall rebiotic that supports the gut bacteria, can help synthesize urolithin A, um, kind of really restores your gut mucosa and improves the leakiness, basically fortifies your gut barrier because, um, if you're then taking probiotics, if, if your gut is not in good shape, there's no point.

It's basically throwing money out the door.

Dr. Kay: Well, this is fascinating. I feel like I could hang out with you for hours. I'm definitely interested. I'm a skincare nerd and longevity nerd, and I, I really admire, um, This really science driven product that you've created. So I can't wait for consumers to have this available to them.

And I can't wait to see what you come up with next. Really. I think you're thinking about skin as such a biologic [00:43:00] key level. And I love that all of your experiments are tested on keratinocytes. Like I think that. There are very few companies out there doing that level of science, so congrats. Thank you.

Where can people find you, Dr. Pauldis, if they want to reach out or, um, learn more about your upcoming launch of your eczema medicine?

Dr. Paldus (3): So, um, we launched during COVID, so I still have post COVID trauma, so we're still found on just our website. Um, I'm like, the retailers, I'm like traumatized by, you know, we, we, we launched in, in Australia to a retailer and they were shut down for 18 months, so we do everything, uh, we ship very quickly, so we're both on Amazon.

And, um, we're on codex labs, corp. com. Um, and I would say for more information, if people sign up for a newsletter, um, we send out, you know, two, three newsletters a month. We try to educate, obviously they can find out about new product launches on there. [00:44:00] Um, and we also. Have a separate, um, dermatology for any professionals.

We have a separate dermatology portal where dermatologists can prescribe some of our more microbiome modulating products that are not available to the general public. There are professional products, um, and there's a provider. If you go to our website, there's a little provider, um, tab in the, um, top menu.

And, uh, providers can, uh, sign up, um, to be part of our professional programs.

Dr. Kay: Wow, that's so fascinating. Okay, there you have it guys. I hope you all will go check this out. These ingredients are next level. The science is real and I believe that you're going to really make a huge impact on this community of eczema and psoriasis sufferers and really driving science to that level of like, making things accessible and affordable and like very evidence based.

So there you have it. Check out codex labs. That's it for now, guys. Don't forget to find me on my Instagram is beauty by Dr. K doing amazing [00:45:00] things with people's faces and biohacking, beauty, longevity, and wellness, all the things that you need to look and feel your best. That's it for now, guys. Stay beautiful.