Grant category: Research Networking

Grant category: Research Networking

Year: 2026

Geography: USA

The 18th International Symposium on Dendritic Cells (DC2026) will take place on October 11-14, 2026, in San Diego, USA. This international meeting brings together scientists and clinicians studying dendritic cells: immune cells that help the body decide when to fight infection or limit unnecessary inflammation. In the skin, dendritic cells play a particularly important role. The skin is the body’s largest immune organ and is constantly exposed to microbes, allergens, and environmental stress. When dendritic cell function is disturbed, it can lead to skin diseases such as psoriasis, dermatitis, infection, and skin cancer. With support from the LEO Foundation, DC2026 will include a dedicated skin-focused program with a plenary session, poster presentations, and networking activities. Funding will also support early-career researchers, helping them share new discoveries and build collaborations that advance skin health. More information: https://www.dc2026sandiego.com/

Grant category: Research Networking

Year: 2026

Geography: USA

The Resident and Post Doc Retreat is a conference hosted by the Society for Investigative Dermatology (SID) each year since 2001. The program format provides a protected space in which residents can interact with senior faculty and established investigators for the purpose of fostering attendees’ interest in academic research careers. The program is a combination of formal lectures and presentations, informal discussions, brainstorming sessions and social activities. The retreat is held at the time of the SID annual meeting, which allows attendees to establish connections with each other, and to other meeting attendees. These social networks foster collegiality, collaborations, and appreciation for the creative, multidisciplinary nature of science and other productive interactions.

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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.

Grant category: Research Networking

Year: 2025

Geography: USA

The Vulvar Dermatology Research Consortium (VDRC) will host a special two-hour Young Investigators Symposium as part of its Annual Meeting on Thursday, March 26th, 2026, in Denver, Colorado. This event is designed for medical students, residents, dermatologists, and other physicians, patients, industry partners, and scientists interested in vulvar skin problems. Participants will share research, gain insights from vulvar skin experts, and connect with others in the field. Ultimately, this event will facilitate collaboration on vulvar skin health research, to promote improved outcomes for people living with vulvar skin conditions.

Grant category: Research Networking

Year: 2025

Geography: USA

The 2026 Epithelial Stem Cells and Niches Gordon Research Conference and Seminar will be held August 22–28, 2026, in Spain. It will bring skin researchers together with leading stem cell biologists working on other organ systems to cross-pollinate ideas and technologies. Interactions and collaborations that emerge from this conference will accelerate discovery in the skin and support the development of new cures for skin diseases. The meeting includes a dedicated session for trainees and will support early-career researchers through travel grants, mentoring, and short talk opportunities.

Grant category: Research Networking

Year: 2025

Geography: Switzerland

The SKINTEGRITY 2027 conference will take place from January 28-30, 2027, in Davos, Switzerland, to celebrate the 10-year anniversary of the collaborative research consortium SKINTEGRITY.CH. It brings together basic scientists, clinicians and engineers from academia or industry, whose work helps to understand, diagnose and treat poorly healing wounds, inflammatory skin diseases and skin cancer. It will feature presentations from world leaders in these fields as well as shorter presentations, which will mainly be given by early career researchers. Additional research highlights will be presented in the form of a poster. This international and interdisciplinary conference will promote collaborations across disciplines, educate the next generation of skin researchers and clinical dermatologists, rheumatologists and surgeons, and will help to turn new scientific discoveries into better diagnostic approaches and treatments for patients.

Grant category: Research Networking

Year: 2025

Geography: United Kingdom

Body-focused repetitive behaviours (BFRBs), such as hair-pulling, skin-picking and nail-biting are common. Around 5% of people experience repeated urges that can cause serious physical and emotional distress. Despite this, BFRBs are poorly understood, often dismissed, and rarely recognised in healthcare, leaving many without support. New research shows that BFRBs may be driven by interactions between the skin, brain and immune system, linking them to conditions like chronic itch. To address this gap, we will hold an international conference in 2026, bringing together scientists, clinicians and people with lived experience. The event will explore why these behaviours develop, how they are best managed, and how policy and practice can be improved. Alongside the scientific programme, a community day run by BFRB UK & Ireland will provide education and safe spaces for sharing experiences. The conference will raise awareness, spark collaborations and strengthen support for those affected.

Grant category: Research Networking

Year: 2025

Geography: United Kingdom

The skin is our largest organ, and it is susceptible to a wide range of diseases. While we know that our genes play a crucial role in determining our risk for these diseases, we still have much to learn about which specific genes are involved and how they contribute to disease development. In recent years, there have been groundbreaking developments in skin research that have expanded the possibilities to investigate skin cells and changes in genes and proteins. This event will bring together the world’s leading experts in skin genetics with scientists who are experts in understanding how genes work in the skin by pioneering new technologies.

The goal of this meeting, to be held in conjunction with the ESDR 2026 conference, is to spark new collaborations and share knowledge of datasets and methodologies, which will help us translate genetic discoveries into a better understanding of skin diseases and, ultimately, into new and more effective treatments.

Grant category: Research Networking

Year: 2025

Geography: Japan

In connection with the 50^th annual meeting of the Japanese Society for Investigative Dermatology (JSID) a symposium, presentations and social gatherings for young scientists are being organized.

Grant category: Research Networking

Year: 2025

Geography: Denmark

Contact Dermatitis (CD) are common skin diseases caused by exposure of the skin to chemicals. While widely studied in Europe, CD is often overlooked in Sub-Saharan African countries. To improve prevention and treatment globally, we need better understanding of how CD appears in different skin types and regions. The European Society of Contact Dermatitis (ESCD) will host its 2026 congress in Copenhagen from June 24–27. A pre-symposium titled “Novel Understanding of Skin Allergies” will highlight recent advances in skin immunology and increase the focus on the immune responses that leads to CD worldwide. Moreover, the main program at the ESCD congress will include the workshop ‘Patch Tests on Skin of Color’ and a focus session on ’Eczema in Sub-Saharan Africa’. The Research Networking Grant will cover expenses to the pre-symposium and 10 travel grants to researchers from Sub-Saharan African countries. For more details, visit the event website.