Explore our grantees and awardees

Grant category: Standalone grants

Year: 2024

Geography: Denmark

Gregor Jemec is Professor of Dermatology and Head of Research at Zealand University Hospital.

He receives the LEO Foundation 40th Anniversary Prize for his extraordinary contribution to skin research – especially for his pioneering and persistent work with the chronic skin disease hidradenitis suppurativa (HS).

Gregor Jemec has been researching the skin and its diseases for the past 30 years and is one of Denmark’s most cited skin researchers. He is the author of over 800 publications and one of the world’s leading experts on HS, a skin condition that causes painful boils. Research estimates that one to four percent of the world’s population suffers from HS.

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Grant category: LEO Foundation Awards

Year: 2024

Geography: United Kingdom

Dr. Claire Higgins, is a Reader in the Department of Bioengineering at Imperial College London in the UK,

She receives the award in support of her impressive academic achievements and her remarkable leadership within her research group and to future generations of skin scientists. Her research aims to achieve scarless wound healing in human skin by studying the human hair follicle and understanding how it can be used as a model for skin healing.

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Grant category: Standalone grants

Year: 2024

Geography: Denmark

Center for Pharmaceutical Data Science Education is funded by the LEO Foundation, the Novo Nordisk Foundation and the Lundbeck Foundation with a total of DKK 123 million over a six-year period.

The new center merges two fields of study – the pharmaceutical sciences and data science – and will ensure the students’ qualifications in data science by upgrading relevant compulsory bachelor’s and master’s courses. Artificial intelligence, machine learning and the use of big data open a huge area of knowledge, new data sources and methods, which should be integrated in the best possible way in the pharmaceutical sciences education.

Grant category: Standalone grants

Year: 2024

Geography: USA

This interdisciplinary event will convene leading experts in the field of science of science and innovation, aiming to provide a multi-channel platform that brings together both producers (scientists from industry and academia) and consumers (policymakers, publishers, funders, administrators, etc.) of the field.

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Grant category: Research Networking

Year: 2024

Geography: USA

The goal of the 71st Annual Montagna Symposium, Skin of Color Dermatology: The Interaction of Science & Society, is to promote practicing clinicians, residents, trainees, basic and translational researchers who are underrepresented in science and medicine, assembling leading scientists and clinicians engaged in research and treatment of diseases that disproportionately affect skin of color to share knowledge and foster collaborations.

The event will take place on 17-21 October 2024 in Washington, USA and aim to enable interaction between new and established scientists and dermatologists who work collectively to advance the field of skin research. The format will include short talks organized in sessions by topic, with time for questions and discussion. Young investigators get the opportunity to interact with experienced researchers and clinicians in their fields both formally and informally throughout the meeting, and the meeting provides participants with a springboard for new research activities or clinical practices.

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Grant category: Research Networking

Year: 2024

Geography: Netherlands

The Symposium on Epidermal Differentiation Disorders (EDD) aims to expand the network of experts within EDD by involving and stimulating the future generations of researchers, clinicians, patient organizations, and industry. Organized by leading EDD experts, the event will bring together these stakeholders from diverse backgrounds to brainstorm, promote collaborative research, and design new trials.

EDD are a group of rare hereditary skin conditions characterized by skin thickening, scaling, and redness caused by pathogenic variants in the involved genes. EDD, which include ichthyosis and palmoplantar keratoderma, may affect only skin and related structures (hair, nails) or also other tissues in syndromic subtypes (for example, the brain, heart, hair or eyes). No cure is available, and treatments are limited and not effective enough. Because EDD can severely affect quality of life, the unmet need is high, and an improved understanding of its basis will make it easier to develop treatments that target the causes of disease.

The two-day symposium – currently scheduled for 15-16 September 2025 near Paris, France – will review updates on classification of EDD, clinical and genetic discoveries, novel targeted treatments, patient perspectives, and research. In addition to scientific sessions, the symposium emphasizes collaboration and networking opportunities. Panel discussions and a dedicated session for young researchers will encourage knowledge exchange and exploration of innovative approaches.

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Grant category: Research Grants in open competition

Year: 2024

Geography: Denmark

Ole Pedersen’s project aims to determine the genetic basis of rosacea and the causal connection between rosacea and its comorbidities.

Rosacea is a common chronic inflammatory skin disease of the face, which may manifest as a bulbous nose, central erythema, flushing, inflammatory papules/pustules, or broken vessels in addition to diverse eye involvement. Severe rosacea has a large impact on the patients’ quality of life, social and psychological well-being and has been linked to many systemic comorbidities including cardiovascular, psychiatric, neurological, and cancer diseases.

Ole Pedersen’s project aims to identify the genetic pathways of rosacea and determine the causal connection and modifiable risk factors to previously reported systemic comorbidities. He has recently developed a rosacea classification tool and applied it to a deep phenotyped cohort of ~55,000 Danes allowing for detailed analysis of association between rosacea, risk factors and co-morbidities. In addition, Ole Pedersen has facilitated genotyping of 500,000 Danes that can be used for genome wide association study meta-analysis with other genetic cohorts from Iceland, Finland, UK and USA to perform the so far largest genetic study on rosacea. Based on this analysis, his project will determine the genetic correlations and perform Mendelian randomization analysis of the causation between rosacea and comorbidities.

Ole Pedersen’s project may provide new understanding of disease pathogenesis and the link to systemic comorbidities, paving the way for developing new treatments and early targeted interventions.

Grant category: Research Grants in open competition

Year: 2024

Geography: USA

Xiaoyang Wu’s project aims to engineer self-amplifying RNA vector as a platform for gene therapy of recessive X-linked ichthyosis, with potential for treatment of other skin diseases.

Skin ichthyoses are a group of heterogeneous genetic diseases that are characterized by hyperkeratosis, localized or generalized scaling, and often associated with xerosis, hypohidrosis, erythroderma, and recurrent infections. So far, mutations in more than 50 genes have been shown to cause ichthyosis, which affect a variety of different cellular processes, ranging from DNA repair, lipid biosynthesis, cell adhesion, and skin differentiation. Recessive X-linked ichthyosis (RXLI) is the second most common form of inherited ichthyosis. RXLI is caused by mutations in the STS gene on the X chromosome, which encodes microsomal steroid sulfatase. The skin abnormalities of RXLI are caused by the impact of excess cholesterol sulfate, which affects lipid synthesis, organization of the lamellar lipids that provides the skin permeability barrier, corneodesmosome proteolysis, and epidermal differentiation.

As a genetic disorder, RXLI is a life-long condition that can significantly affect domestic life and cause psychological problems for the patients. More effective treatment beyond current symptomatic management is urgently needed. Xiaoyang Wu’s project will explore the possibility that engineered self-amplifying RNA vector can serve as a novel platform for gene therapy of RXLI.

Xiaoyang Wu’s project may serve as proof-of-concept for a novel paradigm for the treatment of patients with genetic skin disorders.

Grant category: Research Grants in open competition

Year: 2024

Geography: France

Rebecca Deprez-Poulain’s project aims to investigate the therapeutic potential of ERAP1 and ERAP2 inhibitors for the treatment of psoriasis.

Psoriasis is caused by the erroneous recognition by T-cells of the immune system of self-peptides called antigens presented at the cell surface by the HLA-C receptor. This results in destruction cells and subsequent chronic inflammation. ERAP enzymes, which are the main actors of antigen preparation within cells, influence the immune response, and genetic studies show that several ERAP variants predispose to psoriasis. Rebecca Deprez-Poulain has identified selective inhibitors of ERAP1 and ERAP2 which decrease antigen presentation and T-cell activation and show preliminary positive results in vivo. Her project will combine structural biology, medicinal chemistry, biochemistry, and cellular biology to optimize current compounds into potent and selective inhibitors targeting ERAP. It will assess their therapeutic potential in purposely designed transgenic mouse models containing human ERAP, as well as in patient cells.

Rebecca Deprez-Poulain’s project may define the optimal profile of an ERAP inhibitor as a pharmacological tool, providing a foundation for the exploration of ERAP roles and eventually an ERAP-based oral treatment for psoriasis.

Grant category: Research Grants in open competition

Year: 2024

Geography: Switzerland

Christoph Schlapbach’s project aims to elucidate the role of interleukin (IL-)18 in atopic dermatitis (AD), a prevalent, chronic skin disease with significant burden and unmet therapeutic needs.

IL-18 is linked to AD pathogenesis by multiple lines of evidence: IL-18 receptor (IL-18R) gene variants associate with AD susceptibility, IL-18 levels correlate with disease severity, and animal models of AD suggest a pro-inflammatory function of IL-18 in type 2 skin inflammation. Yet, the functional link between IL-18, considered a Th1-promoting cytokine, and AD, a Th2-driven disease, remains obscure. Christoph Schlapbach’s preliminary data now indicate that (i) there is a functional link between AD-associated IL18R gene variants and heightened Th2-cell responses, (ii) IL-18 can promote secretion of pathogenic cytokines in Th2 cells of AD patients, and (iii) skin explants from lesional AD skin can be used to model the effects of IL-18 in the complex environment of human skin.

Christoph Sclapbach’s project will leverage genotype-phenotype-function studies in a translational approach to dissect the mechanisms by which IL-18 influences Th2 cell-mediated inflammation in AD. Utilizing state-of-the-art methodology and functional validation experiments, the study aims to clarify IL-18’s role in AD pathogenesis to answer this long-standing conundrum in the fields of dermatology and immunology.

The results of Christoph Schlapbach’s project may provide a new understanding of IL-18’s role in AD, potentially enabling improved treatment.