Explore our grantees and awardees

Grant category: Education and Awareness Grants

Year: 2025

Geography: Denmark

The Nobel Laureates is an ambitious podcast series in 125 episodes that tells the story of modern science through the most groundbreaking discoveries and the people behind them.

The series takes the listener on a journey through 125 years of Nobel Prize winners and culminates in the anniversary in December 2026, leading up to the award ceremony in December 2027. Each episode portrays one Nobel Prize laureate in chemistry, physics, or medicine and conveys not only the scientific breakthrough but also the personal story and the societal impact the individual has had.

With its captivating format and engaging content, the series builds on the success of the podcast Periodisk and combines fascinating storytelling with academic precision. To make the world’s greatest scientists and their discoveries accessible, understandable, and inspiring for a broad audience of knowledge-interested Danes, they employ techniques such as scenic storytelling, rich sound design, and narrative dramaturgy.

Grant category: LEO Foundation Visiting Researchers

Year: 2025

Geography: Denmark

Patients with skin and joint disease often do not respond well to therapy, particularly if they suffer from calcium stones associated with conditions like scleroderma and psoriatic arthritis. Associate Professor Mette Mogensen will go on a three-month research stay at Leeds Institute of Rheumatic and Musculoskeletal Medicine, UK, famous for its valuable research in medical imaging. Subsequently, she will travel to Lund University’s Clinical Center for Spectral and Acoustic Imaging, well-known for exceptional molecular imaging of blood vessels. During these stays, she will gain unique clinical experience in dermato-rheumatology and novel experimental imaging technologies. Through advanced scans of skin and joints, it is possible to observe how severe inflammation leads to formation of new blood vessels and development of hard, painful calcium stones in skin and joints. According to our on-going research, the key to understanding these disease mechanisms lies in mastering innovative scanning methods.

Grant category: LEO Foundation Visiting Researchers

Year: 2025

Geography: Denmark

Hidradenitis suppurativa (HS) is a painful, long-lasting skin condition that is hard to diagnose and treat. Patients experience a cycle of blocked hair follicles that eventually burst, leading to repeated inflammation and damage. This ongoing injury alters the skin’s structure, creating large permanent scars in intimate areas. Max Sauerland’s research project studies proteins in skin and blood from over 150 HS patients using an innovative biochemical method that extracts data on thousands of proteins from very small samples. By analyzing how these proteins break down, Max and his colleagues aim to find unique markers that help doctors diagnose HS quickly and choose the best treatment. Computer algorithms will sort patients by their protein “fingerprints,” paving the way for personalized care. Ultimately, their work could lead to a fast, simple test not only for HS but also for other similar or rare skin conditions.

The research visit takes place at Universitätsklinikum Freiburg, Germany.

Grant category: Research Networking

Year: 2025

Geography: Denmark

Contact Dermatitis (CD) are common skin diseases caused by exposure of the skin to chemicals. While widely studied in Europe, CD is often overlooked in Sub-Saharan African countries. To improve prevention and treatment globally, we need better understanding of how CD appears in different skin types and regions. The European Society of Contact Dermatitis (ESCD) will host its 2026 congress in Copenhagen from June 24–27. A pre-symposium titled “Novel Understanding of Skin Allergies” will highlight recent advances in skin immunology and increase the focus on the immune responses that leads to CD worldwide. Moreover, the main program at the ESCD congress will include the workshop ‘Patch Tests on Skin of Color’ and a focus session on ’Eczema in Sub-Saharan Africa’. The Research Networking Grant will cover expenses to the pre-symposium and 10 travel grants to researchers from Sub-Saharan African countries. For more details, visit the event website.

Grant category: Research Grants in open competition

Year: 2025

Geography: Denmark

Chronic skin wounds and burns are major healthcare challenges, often healing slowly and leading to infections, pain, and high medical costs. Sine Hadrup’s project focuses on an enzyme that may worsen inflammation and delay healing of the injured skin. Sine Hardrup and her team will use artificial intelligence-driven protein design to create a small protein inhibitor (miBd) that blocks the enzyme, preventing its harmful effects. First, they will test whether miBds can bind and stop enzyme activity. Then, they will evaluate their impact on wound healing using human cell culture. Finally, they will test them in a pig skin model, as pig skin closely resembles human skin. Burns are introduced on the pig skin and treated topically with or without the miBds. If successful, this research could lead to new treatment options for wound healing and inflammatory skin diseases like psoriasis, offering better patient outcomes and faster recovery times.

Grant category: Research Grants in open competition

Year: 2025

Geography: Denmark

Multiple common skin diseases, like psoriasis, are characterized by excessive inflammation of the affected skin. This causes itching and pain and makes wound healing difficult. Thus, skin inflammation is of general discomfort for the affected patients. Anti-inflammatory drugs, for example inhibitors of the TNF signaling pathway, are highly successful in the clinic for some but not all types of skin inflammation. Rune Hartmann’s project aims at a better understanding of the underlying causes of skin inflammation and how to develop better drugs in the future. Furthermore, Rune Hartmann and his team are investigating how the same signaling pathway can drive skin inflammation and thus cause pathology, while being a critical part of healthy skin development. This is critical to understand how to target future drugs specifically towards the pathological inflammation and avoid unwanted side effects.

Grant category: Standalone grants

Year: 2025

Geography: Denmark

The goal of DREAM (Dermatology Research Across Multiple Disciplines) is to unravel the complex mechanisms linking chronic inflammatory and autoimmune skin diseases to systemic complications. By identifying key factors that predict disease progression and multi-organ involvement, the aim is to enhance our ability to forecast individual disease trajectories.

The overall vision of DREAM is to uncover and solve leading research questions in dermatological and associated diseases using a systems medicine approach.

Grant category: Research Grants in open competition

Year: 2025

Geography: Denmark

Elastin is a structural protein essential for human life. It provides the elasticity needed for organs like skin, lungs, and blood vessels, allowing your skin to stretch, your lungs to expand for breathing and your blood to flow smoothly. As we age, factors like oxidative stress can make elastin stiffer, reducing the skin’s elasticity and accelerating the aging process. This can lead to skin conditions, such as thickening and furrowing or increased fragility. Andrea Heinz’ project uses advanced analytical techniques to investigate how oxidative damage affect elastin’s structure and stability, starting with its building block, tropoelastin, and extending to skin elastin. The goal is to understand how these alterations contribute to elastic fiber breakdown and tissue dysfunction. Ultimately, this knowledge will help them understand how elastin damage drives disease and tissue degeneration, which could lead to better treatments that protect tissue elasticity and improve overall health.

Grant category: Research Grants in open competition

Year: 2025

Geography: Denmark

Millions of people suffer from infected wounds each year, which can lead to serious complications or even death if untreated. Current methods for diagnosing wound infections are slow and require specialized laboratories. Gohar Soufi’s project aims to create a simple, portable device that uses advanced materials to detect infections quickly and accurately right at the patient’s bedside. This technology could revolutionize how infections are diagnosed, helping doctors start treatments sooner and improving patient outcomes.

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.

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