Explore our grantees and awardees

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 Grants

Year: 2026

Geography: USA

Bullous pemphigoid (BP) is a serious blistering skin disease usually treated with long courses of steroids, which can cause major side effects. Despite advances in treatment, therapy for acute disease still relies heavily on prolonged high-dose oral corticosteroids. We found that a molecule called VEGF-A—known for driving inflammation—is much higher in the blood, and skin of people with BP. VEGF-A also rises alongside many other inflammatory signals. Early experiments in mice show that blocking VEGF-A can make the disease noticeably less severe. This project will test whether targeting VEGF-A can quickly reduce skin involvement in relevant models of pemphigoid. We will also study whether VEGF-A made specifically by skin cells is a key trigger of inflammation, and whether blocking VEGF-A in the skin (including with topical treatments) can help. The goal is to determine if VEGF-A could be a new, fast-acting, steroid-sparing treatment for BP.

Grant category: Research Grants

Year: 2026

Geography: USA

Atopic dermatitis (AD) is a chronic condition characterized by a weakened skin barrier, inflammation, and itch. Existing treatments mainly focus on relieving inflammation without directly addressing the skin barrier’s impairment. Our goal is to develop a topical treatment for AD that strengthens the skin barrier while reducing inflammation, an approach not previously explored. We recently discovered that a protein named RET is hyperactivated in AD, and inhibiting RET topically has shown promising results in enhancing the skin barrier and reducing inflammation. We hypothesize that topical RET inhibitors could effectively prevent and/or treat AD. Our proposal seeks to investigate how RET modulates skin barrier function and demonstrate the therapeutic effectiveness of topical RET inhibition using an established animal model that mimics human AD. This research is essential to fully explore RET as a therapeutic target in AD and advance the development of RET inhibitors for this condition.

Grant category: Research Grants

Year: 2026

Geography: USA

Behçet’s disease is a chronic inflammatory condition that can affects the skin, mucous membranes, and multiple organs, and can be difficult to diagnose and treat. The immune mechanisms driving this disease are not well understood. Our research shows that a specific group of immune cells, called monocytes, are abnormally activated in Behçet’s disease, largely due to the action of interferon-gamma. This activation changes with treatment and differs across disease types, such as eye or blood vessel involvement. In this study, we will identify the signals that cause and sustain this abnormal immune response, develop blood-based markers to track disease activity and remission, and test whether blocking key inflammatory pathways can restore normal immune cell function. This work aims to improve disease monitoring and support the development of more targeted and effective treatments for patients with Behçet’s disease.

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 Grants

Year: 2025

Geography: USA

Psoriasis is a prevalent chronic autoimmune skin disease considered a major global health issue, driven by overactive immune signals, especially those from interleukins IL-17 and IL-23 pathways. Current therapies, mainly injectable antibody drugs, can be highly effective but are costly, requiring medical administration, and remain in patients for weeks, causing long-term safety concerns. Our project aims to create a new class of smaller molecules that work like antibodies but act rapidly and will ultimately be taken orally. Using discoveries from our lab on CDR-H3-mimicking small molecules—structures inspired by the critical binding loops of antibodies—we can precisely block interactions that trigger IL-17 and IL-23 activity. This innovative technology could deliver powerful anti-psoriasis molecules that are easier to dose, more affordable, and potentially safer for long-term care. Success will open the door to a new generation of small-molecule therapies for autoimmune diseases.

Grant category: Research Grants

Year: 2025

Geography: USA

Pyoderma gangrenosum (PG) is a rare and very painful skin disease that causes rapidly enlarging ulcers which can destroy tissue and severely impair quality of life. It is often misdiagnosed because there are no specific tests and its ulcers resemble other chronic wounds, leading to delays, wrong treatments, and prolonged suffering. PG is frequently linked to other serious conditions such as inflammatory bowel disease or arthritis. Current therapies mainly suppress the immune system but are often ineffective, and no approved targeted treatment exists. Our project will apply cutting-edge technologies to study genes, proteins, and single cells in PG skin samples and compare them with other types of ulcers. By defining unique “molecular fingerprints” of PG, we aim to develop the first reliable diagnostic test, uncover disease subtypes, and identify new drug targets. This will allow earlier diagnosis, guide personalized therapy choices, and ultimately transform patient care.

Grant category: Research Grants

Year: 2025

Geography: USA

Darier Disease (DD) is an incurable skin disease caused by pathogenic variants in one copy of a calcium pump called SERCA2, sometimes accompanied by neuropsychiatric symptoms and seizures. The disorder typically appears in teenagers and comes and goes in response to various forms of stress, resulting in painful lesions due to loss of epidermal tissue integrity, vulnerability to infection, and loss of self-esteem. Even though the underlying genetic basis of DD was discovered >25 years ago, treatments are still limited to non-specific drugs with distressing side effects, antibiotics, and behavior modification. We identified a unique vulnerability of DD cells caused by their failure to turn on a metabolic pathway that protects normal cells against stress. We aim to revive this protective pathway to restore normal metabolism in DD cells, and in so doing, enhance tissue integrity and the ability to repair DNA and prevent damage to the remaining good calcium pump.