30 October 2025
The LEO Foundation launches its Grant Strategy 2030 setting the course for its philanthropic efforts through the end of the decade. With five strategic tracks, the Foundation aims to significantly strengthen global skin research and accelerate progress towards curing skin diseases.
With Grant Strategy 2030, the LEO Foundation will expand its ways of supporting research beyond classical excellence criteria to support transformative skin research worldwide. By raising its annual philanthropic funding from around DKK 300 million (EUR 40 million) in recent years to more than DKK 500 million (EUR 67 million) by 2030, the Foundation marks a new chapter in advancing skin research and helping pave the way for curing skin diseases.
”Breakthroughs in skin research continue to transform our understanding of both healthy and diseased skin, paving the way for better diagnostics and new treatments. But despite significant progress, there is still much to be done – advancing knowledge is essential to help tackle the personal and global consequences of skin diseases,” says Anne-Marie Engel, Chief Scientific Officer at the LEO Foundation.
Grant Strategy 2030 continues the LEO Foundation’s philanthropic approach, rooted in a commitment to supporting independent, excellent skin research and the ecosystem around it. It represents a broader approach to how the Foundation can fulfill its ambition of eventually paving the way for curing skin diseases.
Introducing five strategic tracks
Building on the solid groundwork from the Foundation’s existing funding instruments, Grant Strategy 2030 introduces five strategic tracks – Excellence, Nurture, Collaboration, Pioneering and Innovation – designed to support a thriving global skin research ecosystem and drive major scientific advancements.
“We continue to fund excellent research – and with a broader scope, we will also focus on supporting research in areas with unmet needs, strengthening emerging talent, encouraging bold new thinking, and helping new knowledge progress from discovery to impact – with an ultimate aim to improve how we prevent, diagnose and treat skin diseases,” says Anne-Marie Engel.
The implementation of Grant Strategy 2030 will begin in 2026. Towards 2030, the Foundation’s existing grant instruments will gradually be supplemented with new funding instruments, covering the five strategic tracks.
“We are looking forward to announcing new funding programs over the next five years. With the new grant strategy, we introduce an adaptive framework that will allow us to continuously test new approaches to funding. This enables us to follow global developments and ensure that our support creates the greatest possible value for research and patients alike,” says Anne-Marie Engel, Chief Scientific Officer at the LEO Foundation.
More information will be provided as the strategy develops.
Click and flip through Grant Strategy 2030 in short:
