Novel methods and technologies: Spatial transcriptomics, wildlings and 3D skin models
Grantee: University of Copenhagen
Amount: DKK 18,908,400
Grant category: Standalone grants
Year: 2025
Geography: Denmark
Through this grant the LEO Foundation Skin Immunology Research Center is expanding its scientific and technological capabilities by incorporating three new areas of expertise:
- Spatial transcriptomics (in collaboration with the Novo Nordisk Foundation Center for Basic Metabolic Research (CBMR))
- Establishment of an animal facility for “wildlings” – a special type of laboratory mice that contain a – controlled – level of microorganisms which make them more akin to real-world animals and provides a more natural model, in particular for interactions with and responses from the immune system.
- Establishment of advanced 3D skin models for experiments building on genetic manipulation of specific cell types from the skin.
Each area is carefully selected to strengthen the center’s focus on performing frontier research within barrier immunology.
The 2025 Gordon Research Conference on Barrier Function of Mammalian Skin
Grantee: Associate Professor Pankaj Karande, Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute, US on behalf of Gordon Research Conferences, US
Amount: DKK 495,729
Grant category: Research Networking
Year: 2024
Geography: USA
The skin barrier is the first defense against the external environment, and barrier disruption plays a key role in skin and systemic diseases that impact millions of people. The main purpose of the GRC Barrier Function of Mammalian Skin conference is to bring together young investigators and prominent leaders to present the latest developments in skin barrier research.
The 2025 conference, Technologies and platforms for understanding, modelling and intervening in skin barrier function and disorders, will bring together researchers, scientists, engineers, and clinicians involved in research related to skin health and disease. Diverse areas of science will be covered, including cell biology and pathology, microbiology, environmental sciences, bioengineering, biophysics, physical chemistry, and drug delivery.
The meeting will be held August 10-15, 2025.
The LEO Foundation has provided support for the previous Gordon Research Conferences.
The LEO Foundation Award 2024 – Region Asia-Pacific
Grantee: Satoru Yonekura, Postdoctoral Research Fellow at the Department of Dermatology, Kyoto University, Japan
Amount: USD 100,000
Grant category: LEO Foundation Awards
Year: 2024
Geography: Japan
Satoru Yonekora is a Postdoctoral Research Fellow at the Department of Dermatology at Kyoto University in Japan
He was awarded the prestigious LEO Foundation Award 2024 in Region Asia-Pacific during the 49th Annual Meeting of the Japanese Society for Investigative Dermatology. Satoru Yonekura’s research has contributed to new insights into how gut health influences melanoma and inflammatory skin diseases.
The 2025 Gordon Research Conference on Epithelial Differentiation and Keratinization (GRC-EDK)
Grantee: Associate Professor Maria Kasper, Karolinska Institutet, SE on behalf of Gordon Research Conferences, USA
Amount: DKK 319,712
Grant category: Research Networking
Year: 2024
Geography: USA
The Gordon Research Conference on Epithelial Differentiation and Keratinization (GRC-EDK) has been the premier international meeting in skin biology since 1979. The 2025 GRC-EDK meeting is called Epithelial Development, Aging, Disease and Regeneration Across Cells and System and brings together speakers at the forefront of areas including skin immunity, tissue sensing and crosstalk, genomics and epigenomics, aging, regeneration, and novel technologies to drive therapy. The meeting will foster intense interactions at the interphase of these different disciplines and promote discussion to discover synergies and novel therapeutic prospects to advance the field as a whole.
The event will take place May 31-June 1, 2025.
The LEO Foundation has provided support for the three previous Gordon Research Conferences.
The voices of STEM women (Stemmerne fra STEM-kvinder)
Grantee: Anéh Christina Hajdu, Foreningen Science City Lyngby
Amount: DKK 971,000
Grant category: Education and Awareness Grants
Year: 2024
Geography: Denmark
Science City Lyngby will produce 18 videos of female STEM role models to create awareness and interest among girls in STEM activities and education. The videos consist of three series, one focusing on personal stories of women working in STEM jobs, and another on interviews with well-known female science profiles of influence. The final series features girls attending Science Club, an after-school program offered by Science City Lyngby. The Science Club girls will also be actively involved together with a professional journalist in the planning and execution of the video series, creating identification and ensuring relevance for the main target group. The videos will be disseminated through 10 roadshows in other Danish municipalities, presentations at lower secondary schools, and a social media campaign also targeting parents and teachers.
PARK
Grantee: Joakim Quorp Matthiesen, Folkeuniversitetet in Aarhus
Amount: DKK 996,500
Grant category: Education and Awareness Grants
Year: 2024
Geography: Denmark
Folkeuniversitetet in Aarhus will establish a free annual science festival, PARK, for the public to take place at Aarhus University Park. Leading scientists will give talks about the latest research results, with the aim of promoting curiosity and contributing actively to democracy. The program will also feature events within music, literature, and art.
Through the researchers’ eyes (Med forskernes øjne)
Grantee: Karsten Elmose Vad, University of Copenhagen, GLOBE Institute
Amount: DKK 993,090
Grant category: Education and Awareness Grants
Year: 2024
Geography: Denmark
The project Through the researchers’ eyes aims to improve natural science education in the lower secondary school by applying a teaching method known from the arts, Visual Thinking Strategies, which focuses on strengthening students’ skills within observation, description, and discussion – key elements also of the natural science disciplines – to stimulate students’ curiosity and active participation. The project is a collaboration between both education experts and university researchers from Copenhagen University, experts from VTSdanmark and chosen teachers.
Exploring Autoimmune Skin Diseases with Immune-Integrated 3D Skin Models
Grantee: Jonathan Brewer, Professor, University of Southern Denmark, Denmark
Amount: DKK 3,992,375
Grant category: Research Grants in open competition
Year: 2024
Geography: Denmark
Jonathan Brewer’s project, conducted in collaboration with Dr. Mike Barnkob, aims to advance skin biology by developing a much-needed human skin model with immune components, enabling detailed study of skin responses to stress and disease. By creating both normal and diseased skin models, with a focus on Cutaneous Lupus Erythematosus (CLE), Jonathan Brewer and his team will investigate the immune processes underlying CLE skin manifestations and provide a platform for developing targeted treatments. These models will also allow Jonathan and the team to study how skin and immune cells respond to UV radiation and mechanical forces, both of which play a significant role in CLE, where such stimuli can exacerbate skin lesions. A key innovation is the use of MERFISH technology, which maps gene activity within individual cells. This will reveal how specific genes are activated or suppressed in response to stimuli, providing insights into how skin adapts over time at the single-cell level. By comparing normal and CLE skin models, they will identify unique pathways involved in disease progression in CLE, offering potential targets for new therapeutic strategies.
The results of the project will be 3D skin models that mimic the structure and environment of human skin, enabling a wide range of experimental applications, including more rapid and ethical drug discovery. The project will also deliver the identification of pathways and molecular regulators involved in CLE and skin responses to UV and mechanical stimuli, supporting targeted treatment development and improved patient outcomes.
Wearable Sensor to Enhance Diagnostics and Health Equity in Allergic Contact Dermatitis
Grantee: Aydogan Ozcan, Professor, The Regents of the University of California, Los Angeles, USA
Amount: DKK 2,854,181
Grant category: Research Grants in open competition
Year: 2024
Geography: USA
Aydogan Ozcan’s project explores a potential alternative to the current diagnostic standard in allergic contact dermatitis (ACD) —patch testing —which has remained largely unchanged since its development over a century ago. It seeks to transform the diagnosis of ACD by developing a novel wearable sensor capable of remote monitoring and early detection. The sensor will be designed to measure changes in the skin’s optical properties, offering a more efficient, convenient, and comfortable alternative to the traditional method of patch testing. Aydogan Ozcan’s project includes the creation of skin phantom models’ representative of diverse skin tones to rigorously test the wearable sensor, followed by a phased human study.
The results of the project could enable more convenient, equitable, and cost-effective diagnosis in ACD, thereby improving patient outcomes. Additionally, this technology holds the potential to be adapted for the monitoring of other skin conditions, representing a significant advancement in the field of dermatology.
A new model for autoantibody formation in systemic sclerosis
Grantee: Rasmus Iversen, Postdoc, Oslo University Hospital, Norway
Amount: DKK 3,966,274
Grant category: Research Grants in open competition
Year: 2024
Geography: Norway
Rasmus Iversen’s project explores the hypothesis that complex formation between self- and non-self-antigen can drive pathogenic T cell-B cell interactions and autoantibody formation in autoimmune diseases like Systemic Sclerosis (SSc). Inspired by previous work on celiac disease, Rasmus Iversen and his team will use the function of the B-cell antigen as a starting point to decipher disease mechanisms. In SSc, the T-cell antigen(s) are unknown, but there is disease-specific production of autoantibodies to centromere proteins (CENPs) with CENP-B being a major B-cell antigen. To investigate autoantibody formation, Rasmus Iversen and the team will isolate CENP-B-specific B cells from blood of SSc patients. In the first step (WP1), they will characterize the cells’ phenotypes in detail. The cells will then be used for generation of recombinant CENP-B-specific monoclonal antibodies (mAbs) in WP2. These mAbs will be used for studying interactions between the immune system, CENP-B and target DNA. In WP3, they aim to identify DNA fragments of commensal bacteria that can form complexes with CENP-B and potentially drive T cell-B cell interactions.
The results of Rasmus Iversen’s project may provide Insight into disease mechanisms and can potentially lead to discovery of new therapeutic targets in e.g. systemic sclerosis (SSc), which is a serious autoimmune disease that affects the skin and internal organs.