Professor Gregor Jemec receives the LEO Foundation Anniversary Prize

Photo: Sara Galbiati

5 September 2024

To mark its 40^th anniversary, the LEO Foundation is awarding Professor, Medical Doctor and DMSc Gregor Jemec with the Foundation’s Anniversary Prize for his extraordinary contribution to skin research. The prize worth DKK 5 million (EUR 670,500) is to be used for research and to hold an international symposium.

Today, the LEO Foundation honors Professor of Dermatology and Head of Research at Zealand University Hospital, Gregor Jemec. He receives the honorary award for his extraordinary contribution to skin research – especially for his pioneering and persistent work with the chronic skin disease hidradenitis suppurativa (HS).

Gregor Jemec has been researching the skin and its diseases for the past 30 years and is one of Denmark’s most cited skin researchers. He is the author of over 800 publications and one of the world’s leading experts on HS, a skin condition that causes painful boils. Research estimates that one to four percent of the world’s population suffers from HS.

“Gregor Jemec is awarded with the LEO Foundation Anniversary Prize for his visionary and substantial research in the skin and its diseases. Gregor Jemec is not only an excellent, committed and internationally respected scientist. He is also among the 10 most cited dermatologists in the world as well as the most cited within HS. His persistence and merits are extraordinary, which is why we are proud to award Gregor Jemec with this honorary prize,” says Professor Peter Schwarz, member of the LEO Foundation Board of Trustees and Chairman of the Foundation’s Grant Committee.

“Gregor Jemec has dedicated his academic life to the largely unknown but not uncommon disease HS. His research has had a great impact on the understanding of the disease to the benefit of both practitioners and the many people who live with HS globally,” says Peter Schwarz.

Leading international research
Gregor Jemec was trained as a Medical Doctor at the University of Copenhagen in 1984 and a Specialist in Dermatovenereology in 1992. His doctoral thesis from 1998 was about HS, which at the time was a skin condition that did not receive attention among dermatologists. A large part of Gregor Jemec’s early research revolved around describing, defining and presenting the disease. His research has been published in, among others, the New England Journal of Medicine, The Lancet and the British Journal of Dermatology.

Most recently, Gregor Jemec led a research group that submitted a report on HS to the WHO in June 2024. The report is the third of its kind in the skin area, but the first from a Danish research institution. The previous reports deal with psoriasis and eczema diseases and were led by academic institution in Great Britain.

“It is an immense honor and great joy to receive this Anniversary Prize from the LEO Foundation. To be appreciated makes you feel happy. The award is not only a recognition of my work, but also a tribute to the patients and colleagues I have met in my career. I look forward to continuing the work to improve the lives of those living with HS,” says Gregor Jemec.