50 NEW Wild Scientific Experiments (50 NYE vilde videnskabelige forsøg)
Grantee: Kristoffer Frøkjær, Science Media Company
Amount: DKK 127,000
Grant category: Education and Awareness Grants
Year: 2025
Geography: Denmark
The children’s book ’50 NYE vilde videnskabelige forsøg’ (Eng.: 50 NEW Wild Scientific Experiments) is a follow-up to the book ‘Manden der fik skåret sin hjerne i skiver og 49 andre vilde videnskabelige forsøg’. This publication will present exciting scientific discoveries and experiments, aiming to increase curiosity about science among the target group of 9-14-years-olds. The book will be published by Gads Forlag and will be accompanied by a related podcast series featuring some of the stories and content from its pages.
Scientific Studies – Didactic, Student Motivation and Everyday Realism (Naturvidenskabelige undersøgelser – didaktik, elevmotivation og hverdagsrealisme)
Grantee: Kristoffer Brink Ladefoged, Danmarks Naturfagslærerforening
Amount: DKK 900,000
Grant category: Education and Awareness Grants
Year: 2025
Geography: Denmark
Danmarks Naturfagslærerforening (Eng.: The Danish Association of Science Teachers) is publishing an anthology on didactic models and methods facilitating an experimental and investigative approach to natural science teaching in Danish schools – with a main focus on motivating students and offering solutions suited for direct implementation in the everyday teaching effort. The book called ‘Naturvidenskabelige undersøgelser – didaktik, elevmotivation og hverdagsrealisme’ (Eng.: Scientific Studies – Didactic, Student Motivation and Everyday Realism) will be distributed by the teachers’ association to its members and will be available for ordering or downloading for others, for free.
Reprogramming a common cutaneous bacterium to increase skin hydration
Grantee: Nastassia Knödlseder, Postdoc, Pompeu Fabra University
Amount: DKK 1,985,000
Grant category: LEO Foundation Visiting Researchers
Year: 2025
Geography: Spain
Hyaluronic acid (HA) is a naturally abundant molecule in the human body, with approximately half of its total amount found in the skin, where it plays a critical role in maintaining hydration and viscoelasticity. Cutibacterium acnes, a common skin bacterium predominantly found on the upper body, is generally beneficial to the skin. However, certain strains of C. acnes are capable of inducing inflammation and are linked to acne vulgaris. These strains exhibit HA-degrading activity via the enzyme hylA, which leads to the production of proinflammatory HA fragments.
The proposal hypothesizes that reprogramming C. acnes from a HA-degrading bacterium to a HA-synthesizing one could not only reduce its virulence but also enhance its skin-beneficial functions. To test this, the applicant and the collaborators at AU will create a hylA knock-out strain of C. acnes, replacing the hylA gene with a highly active HA synthase, that has been successfully utilized as a recombinant enzyme for HA synthesis in mice.
The repurposed C. acnes strain will be evaluated in vitro for its (anti-)inflammatory effects on skin cells and in vivo on mouse skin for its engraftment potential and its impact on skin barrier function.
The outcomes of this project may form the basis for exploring the potential of engineered probiotic strains with enhanced host-beneficial properties, ultimately contributing to improved health span.
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.