"Skin cancer is the most common cancer in humans, becoming a public health problem of growing concern. Its diagnosis is difficult in the beginning when the tumour is small and specific criteria are still missing.. Clinical examinations alone have a rather low specificity and sensitivity: many benign lesions are over-diagnosed leading to unnecessary surgery; while some malignant ones might remain undiagnosed or be diagnosed too late. The scientific target of the DERMA proposal is to propose both a multidisciplinary approach and new interpretative models of the complex phenomena underlying skin cancer evolution, possibly leading to technology proposals for early diagnosis in clinical dermatology. The intent of investigating the biomechanical bases of skin cancer evolution is perceived through multidisciplinary research activities, with the interwoven backgrounds of applied mathematics, biomedical engineering, biomechanics, and dermatology. The work is structured for further understanding of the paramount biomechanical characteristics governing the process of cancer invasion, with the following objectives: Obj. 1: developing a mathematical description of the phenomena underlying skin cancer evolution, to be used as an input for a growth theory of malignant lesion. Obj. 2: modelling the mechanical characteristics of benign and malignant lesions through the development of different methods referring to the skin cancer biomechanical investigation. Obj. 3: delivering a cost-effectiveness study for an integrated diagnostic instrument for predictive and personalised early detection of skin cancer. The integration of biomechanics, computer science, applied mathematics, and optics is an innovative concept in the design of clinical instrumentations. The DERMA proposal has the potential to drive the biomedical research towards the design of a novel diagnostic instrument for the predictive, personalised analysis of skin lesions with better sensitivity and specificity."