Infection-sensitive nanofibers powered by thermotropic liquid crystals for skin wound therapy
Grantee: Mariia Nesterkina, Helmholtz Institute for Pharmaceutical Research Saarland
Amount: DKK 876,551
Grant category: LEO Foundation Visiting Researchers
Year: 2025
Geography: Germany
Chronic and infected wounds remain a major challenge, often leading to delayed healing and extensive antibiotic use. The purpose of this project is to develop smart wound dressings made of nanofibers that mimic the skin’s natural extracellular matrix and contain thermotropic liquid crystals. When the wound temperature rises due to infection, these materials respond by changing color and releasing antibiotics. During a six-month research stay at the University of Copenhagen’s LEO Foundation Center for Cutaneous Drug Delivery, Dr. Mariia Nesterkina will combine expertise in liquid crystals and nanofiber technology to design, fabricate and test these infection-sensitive scaffolds. The expected output is a proof-of-concept wound dressing that both promotes healing and visibly indicates infection, offering a patient-friendly approach to reduce unnecessary antibiotic use and improve wound care.
Eczema and Psoriasis Research Incubator: Cross-Disciplinary Innovation Forum
Grantee: Professor Peter van de Kerkhof, Chief Medical Officer, on behalf of the International Psoriasis Council
Amount: DKK 393,617
Grant category: Research Networking
Year: 2025
Geography: Germany
The Eczema and Psoriasis Research Incubator will be held on September 16, 2026, adjacent to the ESDR annual meeting in Heidelberg, Germany. This workshop is designed to accelerate progress in the understanding and treatment of psoriasis and eczema by fostering cross-disease and cross-disciplinary collaboration with patients, doctors, and researchers. Through interactive small-group challenge labs, participants will co-develop innovative research ideas with the potential to inform future multicenter studies, biomarker discovery, and precision medicine approaches. Dedicated opportunities for early-career researchers to showcase their work and facilitate their involvement in collaborations will ensure equitable participation and strengthen the global research pipeline. Open to international attendees, this incubator is intended as a launchpad for collaborative science, generating new ideas, networks, and frameworks to advance patient-centered skin research.
The LEO Foundation Award – Region EMEA 2025
Grantee: Dr. Thierry Nordmann, Dr. med., Dr. phil. nat., Max Planck Institute of Biochemistry, Germany
Amount: USD 100,000
Grant category: LEO Foundation Awards
Year: 2025
Geography: Germany
Dr. Thierry Nordmann is a Senior Physician at the University Hospital of Ludwig Maximilian, Munich, and Group Leader at the Max Planck Institute of Biochemistry in Martinsried.
He received the LEO Foundation Award 2025 in Region EMEA during the ESDR annual meeting in Antwerp. Dr. Thierry Nordmann is recognized for his excellent research and innovative vision, aiming to transform the future understanding, diagnosis and treatment of inflammatory skin diseases.
The LEO Foundation Award – worth USD 100,000 – recognizes outstanding young researchers and scientists from around the world whose work represents an extraordinary contribution to skin research and has the potential to pave the way for new and improved treatments for skin diseases.
Systematic Profiling of Cytokine Responses for Targeted Treatment of Inflammatory Skin Diseases
Grantee: Thierry Nordmann, Dr. med. Dr. phil. nat. (MD/PhD), Max Planck Institute of Biochemistry, Germany
Amount: DKK 3,962,323
Grant category: Research Grants
Year: 2025
Geography: Germany
Chronic inflammatory skin diseases affect a quarter of the world’s population, but accurately diagnosing and effectively treating these conditions remains a challenge. This is largely because we do not fully understand how skin cells respond at the protein level to the numerous inflammatory signals. In Thierry Nordmann’s project, he and his team will create such a molecular dictionary using “omic technologies”, characterizing how skin cells react to a wide range of inflammatory signals (cytokines). Just as a language dictionary allows us to interpret the meaning of words, their molecular dictionary will enable us to understand the complex language of inflammation in diagnostic biopsies of the skin. In combination with artificial intelligence, they will use this dictionary to select the optimal therapy for the individual patient suffering from an inflammatory skin disease. This has the potential to improve patient outcomes while reducing side-effects and costs of ineffective therapies.