Epithelial Differentiation and Keratinization Gordon Research Conference (GRC) and Gordon Research Seminar (GRS)
Grantee: Prof. Catharina (Carien) Maria Niessen, Department of Dermatology, University of Cologne, Germany; and Brenda Figueroa, Gordon Research Conferences, West Kingston, Rhode Island, USA
Amount: DKK 149,099
Grant category: Research Grants in open competition
Year: 2016
Geography: Germany, USA
The 2017 Gordon Research Conference on Epithelial Differentiation and Keratinization (GRC-EDK), to be held May 6-12 in Italy, is the premier international meeting in epithelial biology.
It has been held biennially since 1979 with attendance from leading epithelial biology researchers, leaders from other fields, and early career scientists with innovative and exciting research programs to present and promote the latest conceptual, translational and technological advances in epithelial biology.
Today, the meetings take on stem cell biology, regenerative medicine, inflammatory skin diseases, skin cancer, epigenetics, and global genomics, and the program moreover explores developments in gene therapy, genome organisation, cell competition, stress responses as well as cutting edge advances in intravital imaging.
A third of the speakers are from outside the area in order to fuel new concepts and promote discussion of novel ideas, and more than a third of the oral presentations come from submitted abstracts to accommodate late breaking exciting stories and ensure speaking opportunities for young investigators.
To promote collaboration between academic medicine and industry the meeting also invites speakers from biotech and other academic scientists with strong industrial ties. Finally, the meeting will continue the commitment to trainee mentorship, including a career mentoring panel discussion with special emphases on careers in academia versus industry, and the importance of diversity within science.
Full thickness skin models from human pluripotent stem cells for identification and testing effectiveness of personalised therapies in atopic dermatitis
Grantee: Dr Dusko Ilic, MD, PhD, Reader in Stem Cell Sciences, Kings College London, Dr Reiko Tanaka, Lecturer, Department of Bioengineering, Imperial College, London, Dr Patrick Harrison, Senior Lecturer, Department of Physiology, University College Cork, Ireland, and Professor Theodora Mauro, MD, Professor of Dermatology, San Francisco Veterans Affairs Medical Center, USA
Amount: DKK 9,980,000
Grant category: Research Grants in open competition
Year: 2016
Geography: Ireland, United Kingdom, USA
This is an exciting project that, with the international group’s extensive research and know-how in mind, has the potential to create an intriguing base for novel personalised treatments for atopic dermatitis (AD). The project moreover holds an innovation potential that may make it stand out in the emerging global bio-economy.
The prevalence of AD, an inflammatory skin disease resulting in itchy, red, swollen and cracked skin, is constantly increasing. Today, it affects 15-30 percent children and 2-10 percent adults worldwide, presenting a significant economic burden to healthcare systems.
There is no cure for AD, only soothing of the symptoms. In the majority of AD patients, the disease is a consequence of a blend of genetic defects of the skin barrier defects and abnormal immune responses influenced by environmental factors.
Until now, the models used to assess the interplay are not particularly predictive. The group behind this project aims to change this by using the latest advances in stem cell science, gene editing and tissue engineering to develop and validate innovative 3D in vitro models of skin – making the models similar to skin in AD patients by emulating full thickness skin of varying barrier integrity; faulty, partially repaired or intact, and immune response composition.
As part of the project, the group will also develop mathematical computer models to accurately address the predictive, prognostic and therapeutic outcome of personalised AD therapy – in order to address co-dependence of the quantitative and qualitative changes in skin barrier and activation of immune cells.
The 3D models will also be made available to test various novel therapeutic approaches for AD treatment in a patient specific manner.
Big Bang – support for Denmark’s largest science conference
Grantee: Astra, the national Centre for Learning in Science, Technology and Health in Denmark, Copenhagen
Amount: DKK 2,000,000
Grant category: Education and Awareness Grants
Year: 2016
Geography: Denmark
Denmark’s largest science conference, the Big Bang Conference, has received two million Danish kroner over the next three years from the LEO Foundation.
Big Bang is the largest Danish science conference and exhibition targeted all who teaches, facilitates or researches in the science and science fields – in primary and secondary schools and higher education.
The conference, held once a year, gathers more than 1,000 people for two involving and inspiring days with relevant keynote speakers, a humming exhibition atmosphere, involving workshops and novel ideas for the continued renewal of science education.
The conference is held next on 23 and 24th March 2017 in Odense Congress Center, Denmark.
Melanocyte stress response pathways and their role in the onset of vitiligo
Grantee: Prashiela Manga, PhD , Associate Professor Dermatology and Cell Biology, New York University School of Medicine
Amount: DKK 5,037,192
Grant category: Research Grants in open competition
Year: 2016
Geography: USA
Vitiligo, an acquired skin disease in which pigment cells, melanocytes, are destroyed, affects 1-2% of people worldwide. The disease deprives the skin of photoprotection leaving it more susceptible to solar damage and compromised cutaneous immunity – and the disease impacts physical and mental health.
Vitiligo is thought to occur in genetically susceptible individuals after being exposed to environmental triggers. Some individuals develop contact vitiligo after direct exposure to certain chemicals. As disease progression in vitiligo is independent from initiating factors, this subset of individuals makes it possible to study vitiligo at large.
The hypothesis in this project is that melanocytes from healthy individuals can withstand exposure to triggers by initiating a stress response regimen that allows the cell to return to homeostasis. These pathways may be disrupted in individuals who develop vitiligo, leaving melanocytes stressed following challenge, causing them to be targeted for removal by the immune system.
In order to investigate this hypothesis, the project will investigate survival pathways in melanocytes cultured from biopsies taken from pigmented skin from individuals who have developed vitiligo.
Development and validation of scoring systems for outcome measures of vitiligo: an international cooperative initiative
Grantee: Professor, Dr Nanja van Geel, Department of Dermatology, Ghent University Hospital, Ghent
Amount: DKK 735,000
Grant category: Research Grants in open competition
Year: 2016
Geography: Belgium
Clinical trials for vitiligo – a skin disease that causes loss of skin color in blotches – lack uniformity in reported outcomes and the measurements hereof. This lack of uniformity hampers development of general treatment guidelines, as it limits appropriate interpretation and comparison of results. In particular, since vitiligo is without biomarkers, clinical measurement tools are crucial to assess disease extent.
A recently introduced scoring instrument, Vitiligo Extent Score (VES), will play a central role in this international project. The project team comprises researchers from Belgium, Netherlands, France, Italy, and the UK, and their aim is to create a worldwide consensus on measuring disease severity.
The VES was designed to be intuitive, fast and accurate, and the team has successfully performed an initial validation for estimating global disease extent. The aim of this project is to further develop and validate reliable and feasible instruments to assess vitiligo status in order to improve evidence-based therapeutic decisions and develop novel treatments.
Hereafter, the tool will be used for the development of other scoring methods including a patient-reported outcome measure, a physician global assessment, a vitiligo disease activity score, and a digital image analysis system for target lesions.
International Eczema Council
Grantee: Amy Paller, MS, MD, IEC President, Professor of Dermatology and Professor of Pediatrics, Northwestern University’s Feinberg School of Medicine, Chicago, and Emma Guttman-Yassky, MD, PhD, IEC President-Elect, Associate Professor of Dermatology & Immunology, Department of Dermatology, Icahn School of Medicine, Mount Sinai, New York
Amount: DKK 340,000
Grant category: Research Grants in open competition
Year: 2016
Geography: USA
The IEC is convening a meeting at the ESDR in September 2015 to write a position paper on Atopic Dermatitis as a systemic disease.
In March 2016, the IEC will hold a session at the Annual AAD in Washington, D.C. focusing on AD phenotyping – starting to use biomarkers to assess subgroups of AD, which may be relevant to the understanding of disease and treatment decision-making.
Development and validation of a physiologically-based pharmacokinetic model for dermal absorption
Grantee: Dr. Richard H. Guy, Professor of Pharmaceutical Sciences & Dr. M. Begona Delgado-Charro, Associate Professor of Pharmaceutics, University of Bath
Amount: DKK 3,564,000
Grant category: Research Grants in open competition
Year: 2016
Geography: United Kingdom
The project aims to develop a physiologically based pharmacokinetic model to predict the dermal absorption and disposition of drugs included in complex topical products.
A distinctive feature of the research is the integration of formulation-dependent information derived experimentally, and a deliberate strategy to facilitate the practical implementation of the model for a wide range of drugs.
The long-term goal is to develop a model, which will predict drug absorption and disposition from dermal products thereby facilitating their optimisation and, ultimately, the development of high-performance medicines.