Explore our grantees and awardees

Grant category: Research Grants in open competition

Year: 2025

Geography: United Kingdom

Skin innervation is our sensory interface with the ever-changing environment undergoing fluctuations in temperature and humidity. Sensation needs to account for these fluctuations to regulate sense of touch, pain, movement, learning and memory, sexual and social conduct. More than 100 million bacteria that reside on the human skin are the first line of response to environmental perturbations. Variable humidity, salinity, temperature, and oxygen affect bacteria metabolism and diversity. I therefore hypothesise that bacteria are required for sensory function affecting complex behaviours in response to perturbations in temperature and humidity. This bears implications for human physiology, health and resilience on earth.

Grant category: Research Grants in open competition

Year: 2024

Geography: United Kingdom

Clare Bennett’s project explores the skin’s sensory nerves. These protect us from harm, such as heat or toxins, yet little is known about how they are sustained. Psoriasis is a common disfiguring skin condition, where pain suffered by patients and its impact on mental health and quality of life are frequently overlooked. Understanding how sensory nerves are protected in healthy skin could reveal why this process fails in psoriasis, leading to pain. Langerhans cells (LCs), immune cells in the skin’s epidermis, are known for detecting infections. However, emerging evidence suggests that LCs may also perform non-immune roles that have not been thoroughly studied. This project aims to investigate how psoriasis changes the way LCs interact with the nerves in the skin. Clare Bennett and her team hypothesize that changes in psoriatic skin disrupt protective function, leading to uncontrolled nerve growth. Clare Bennett and her team combine expertise in immunology, neuroscience, and dermatology. They will use advanced microscopy, genetic models, and gene expression analysis in well-established lab models to study LC-nerve interactions and aim to validate their findings using psoriasis patient skin samples. The results of Clare Bennett’s project could fill critical gaps in our understanding of sensory nerve regulation. Ultimately, the hope is to uncover new strategies to reduce pain and improve quality of life for psoriasis patients and potentially those with other skin diseases.

Grant category: Research Grants in open competition

Year: 2024

Geography: United Kingdom

This project concerns establishing a consortium for research in the genetics of skin diseases, which are the 4th leading cause of disability globally. Lavinia Paternoster and the group behind the Skin Genetic Consortium (SGC) will use population-scale genomic datasets from across the globe to conduct well-powered human genetic studies to discover disease mechanisms, identify and prioritize drug targets, and improve the accuracy and utility of skin disease diagnoses for epidemiological research. Recent years have seen a dramatic increase in the number and diversity of population biobanks across the globe. The SGC will leverage these resources to undertake genome-wide association studies for an extensive set of skin conditions. Sample sizes in excess of 4 million will increase power for gene discovery in many previously understudied skin conditions. Furthermore, cross-disease analyses will be performed to identify shared disease mechanisms, potentially revealing drug re-purposing opportunities. The SGC brings together experts in genetic epidemiology, clinical dermatology and cohort custodians. This first phase of the SGC will uncover key biological insights and drug target evidence for an initial set of common skin conditions.

The project aims to generate a platform for uploading and harmonizing data, performing streamlined genetic analysis and open distribution of results. With further funding the SGC will expand to increase participant diversity, extend analyses to rare variants and generate additional molecular functional genomics data for experimental validation and clinical translation of results.

Grant category: Research Grants in open competition

Year: 2024

Geography: United Kingdom

Maria Alcolea’s project explores how the plasticity of skin cells is affected by aging. Maria Alcolea and her team will study the molecular pathways that modulate changes in cell behaviour throughout life. The ultimate aim is to identify new targets to improve tissue regeneration and delay the regenerative decline associated with human skin ageing.

The ability of epithelial cells to rewire their program of cell fate in response to tissue perturbations has emerged as a new paradigm in stem cell biology. This plasticity improves the efficiency of tissue repair by enabling differentiated/lineage committed cells to reacquire stem cell-like behavior in response to damage. However, despite obvious implications for skin regeneration, virtually nothing is known about how the plastic capacity of skin cells is affected by ageing, and whether this contributes to changes in the normal physiology of the epidermis at later stages in life.

Maria Alcolea’s project will investigate the impact of aging in skin cell fate plasticity by making use of a novel in vivo model that enables tracing the fate of epidermal cells from the earliest stages of commitment towards differentiation. Newly developed tools offers a unique opportunity to identify the mechanisms dictating epithelial cell fate plasticity and determine whether aged-associated changes in this process hold the key to understand why the regenerative capacity of our skin declines over time. She will combine the lab’s expertise in in vivo quantitative lineage tracing, single-cell RNA sequencing approaches, and mathematical network analysis. Observations made in in vivo mouse models will be compared to human skin using a novel 3D organ culture.

Maria Alcolea’s project may contribute significantly to the emerging field of epidermal cell plasticity and provide a benchmark for identifying potential targets to partially reduce/reverse skin ageing.

Grant category: Research Grants in open competition

Year: 2023

Geography: United Kingdom

Sofia Ferreira Gonzalez’s project aims to characterize the regenerative capacity of the spiny mouse – the only mammal known to fully regenerate skin with minimal scarring – to optimize future wound treatment in humans.

Skin fibrosis is often a sequela of suboptimal wound healing following significant epidermal and/or dermal injury (burns, trauma, major surgeries). Fibrotic material replaces native skin with dense, non-functional connective tissue, ultimately leading to loss of function. In its mildest form, fibrosis is a minor aesthetic problem, but in the most severe cases it can lead to debilitating skin pathologies that result in limited movement, high morbidity, and prevention of patient reintegration into society.

Current treatments for fibrosis include physical therapy and surgery, but there are no therapies that directly target the underlying cellular and molecular mechanisms of skin fibrosis.

The spiny mouse (Acomys) is, to date, the only mammal capable of skin autotomy (i.e., self-amputation of the skin to elude a predator’s grasp). Fascinatingly, the spiny mouse completely regenerates the lost skin and regrows cartilage and appendages (nails, hair) with minimal fibrotic response.

A multimodal approach addressing the mechanisms driving spiny’s scarless regeneration may provide novel therapeutic opportunities to treat and prevent skin fibrosis.

In this project, Sofia Ferreira Gonzalez and her team investigate three questions: 1) is the spiny mouse’s scarless regeneration depending on specific cell populations, circulatory factors or a combination thereof, 2) which specific pathways are responsible for the scarless regeneration, and 3) how can the research findings be translated into novel therapeutics to improve skin wound healing in humans?

Grant category: Research Grants in open competition

Year: 2023

Geography: United Kingdom

Dr Peter Arkwright’s project aims to functionally characterize a group of recently discovered anti-inflammatory bacterial substances and investigate their potential therapeutic value in atopic dermatitis.

Staphylococcus aureus is unique in being the only bacterial species that consistently triggers flares in atopic dermatitis (AD). In previous work, also supported by the LEO Foundation, Dr Peter Arkwright, Dr Jo Pennock, and their team at the University of Manchester discovered “Sbi” as the unique factor produced by this bacterium that initiates AD in skin cells. Recently, they have identified factors produced by skin bacteria that completely block Staphylococcus aureus-induced AD, both in the lab and in an eczema mouse model. These factors are small, stable chemicals, made up of both fats and small proteins (lipopeptides).

In a collaboration with Professor Hiroshi Matsuda and Professor Akane Tanaka in Tokyo, Japan, they will apply lipopeptides derived from different bacteria to the skin of mice with AD to determine which are most effective at reducing the clinical dermatitis, itch, and skin damage. They will also explore how these factors work, using cell, protein, and lipid staining techniques. By purifying and characterizing these chemically stable immunosuppressive lipopeptides it is hoped that promising candidates identified here can be taken forward into clinical trials to develop novel therapies for AD.

Grant category: Research Grants in open competition

Year: 2022

Geography: United Kingdom

The aim of Michael Simpson’s project is to identify potential cellular or molecular targets for acne treatment, based on analysis of genetic variation found in a large pool of acne patients.

Acne vulgaris is a very common skin disease which is characterized by clogging and inflammation of the pilosebaceous unit, which consists of a sweat gland and a hair follicle including the hair itself. While various potential causes leading to the disease have been investigated over the years, the underlying disease mechanisms have not yet been sufficiently elucidated. One common approach to learning more about cellular and molecular causes for development of disease in some people is to investigate changes in the genes that influence the behavior and communication paths of cells – the signaling cascades known to be involved in the disease. Michael and his team have previously identified several areas (loci) in the human genome which are associated with acne.

They now want to study these areas in further detail to better understand the causal molecular and cellular events that lead to acne and hopefully identify targets for treatment. They will use a three-step approach. Firstly, by identifying the genetic variants linked to the disease by analyzing genetic data from more than 60,000 individuals with acne. Secondly, they will cross-link these variations to create a map of the signaling pathways and associated cells responsible. Finally, based on this mapping, they expect to be able to identify targets for future treatments of the disease. If successful, the results may provide the first steps towards a better and more targeted treatment for this very common and socially stigmatizing skin disease.

Grant category: Research Grants in open competition

Year: 2022

Geography: United Kingdom

This project, led by Francesca Capon, investigates the molecular and cellular mechanisms of dupilumab-associated conjunctivitis (inflammation of the eye), a comorbidity seen in one in three AD patients treated with the drug.

These mechanisms are poorly understood, and Francesca’s team wants to elucidate them by comparing immune profiles in blood samples from affected and non-affected patients. In addition, they will identify inflammatory molecules released by cultured immune cells treated with dupilumab to further understand the key signaling pathways.

The findings will enhance the understanding of dupilumab-induced conjunctivitis and eventually help improve treatment of patients with this condition.

Grant category: Research Grants in open competition

Year: 2021

Geography: United Kingdom

This project, led by Edel O’Toole, aims to give new insights into the rare genetic skin disease, steatocystoma multiplex (SM) that may contribute to the development of a new treatment for affected individuals.

SM is a debilitating and embarrassing disorder, which presents as multiple smooth, yellow skin lumps or cysts distributed on the arms, trunk, neck, and underarm area. The lesions usually appear in the teenage years and for the severely affected patients with 100s to 1000s of cysts, these are a major burden causing disability and pain with frequent inflammation often mimicking infection.

The most common genetic defect is found in the gene coding for Keratin 17, a protein expressed in nails, hair follicles, skin on the palms and soles, and in sebaceous glands. The cysts in SM are believed to arise from the lining of these glands. The team will use single cell RNA sequencing and look at gene expression in individual cells lining the cyst and from the surrounding tissue, to understand the genetic differences.  In parallel, the O’Toole group will engineer cells from the sebaceous gland with and without the defect in the Keratin 17 gene. These cells will be used to form 3D skin models and cysts that mimic SM. Finally, drugs that target pathways of interest identified from the RNA sequencing will be used to ‘treat’ the 3D model, thereby adding to the many insights around SM expected from this project.

Grant category: Research Grants in open competition

Year: 2021

Geography: United Kingdom

Claire Higgins’ project aims to develop an early-stage diagnostic tool for scleroderma, a disease caused by an overproduction of collagen in both the skin and connective tissues, leading to a scarring of the skin and internal organs.

Among the early symptoms of scleroderma are poor blood circulation in fingers and toes, and an increased sensitivity to cold, which in many aspects is comparable to the much more common Raynaud’s phenomenon, and hence, scleroderma is often undiagnosed.

Utilizing the fact that certain molecules change expression level during disease (‘biomarker’ molecules), Claire Higgins aims to identify scleroderma-specific biomarkers in the liquid between individual skin cells, i.e., in the skin interstitial fluid. The identified biomarkers will be used to develop a non-invasive and painless test for general practitioners (GPs), enabling fast diagnosis – within minutes – and thereby differentiation between patients suffering from scleroderma and Raynaud’s phenomenon. Thus, patients will be able to get the most relevant intervention as early as possible. The actual diagnostic test will be developed along with the biomarker identification.