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 Networking

Year: 2025

Geography: Switzerland

The EI Cure Project and EI Cure Project Research Alliance will host a 2-day symposium dedicated entirely to rare genetic skin disease Epidermolytic Ichthyosis. The symposium will be held at the Zurich Careum, Switzerland from March 19th to 20^th. The full-day presentations, for interested individuals and coming researchers, include the following themes:

• Patient and Parent Perspectives
• Clinical Classifications and Current Care
• Proteomics and Drug-Repurposing
• Gene-Editing Research Updates

Grant category: Research Networking

Year: 2025

Geography: USA

The 18th International Workshop of Langerhans Cells and Related Myeloid Cells in the Skin will take place on September 3–5, 2025, at Washington University in St. Louis. This global scientific meeting brings together researchers to explore the biology and interaction of immune cells in the skin – how they protect us, how they contribute to diseases like eczema, psoriasis, and skin cancer, and how they can be targeted for new treatments. The workshop fosters discovery, collaboration, and innovation in skin science, with talks by leading scientists, and early-career researchers, males and females from around the world. Read more information here.

Grant category: Research Networking

Year: 2025

Geography: USA

The 72nd Annual Montagna Symposium will be held October 16th-20th on the Oregon Coast. The symposium will focus on emerging paradigms in personalized medicine.

Population studies have raised questions about why individuals do not respond to established therapies. Patients are individuals with personalized social, behavioral, and genetic determinants, but knowledge gaps exist regarding how these determinants influence diagnosis and treatment of cutaneous diseases. The goal is to highlight emerging avenues of investigation and streamline their incorporation into clinical medicine.

This event is designed for senior and junior level leaders in the field: scientists, dermatology clinicians, clinical, translational and basic science researchers, and trainees. The format includes lectures, discussions, and many networking opportunities which enable interaction between new and established scientists and dermatologists. Visit the website for the program and registration.

Grant category: Research Grants in open competition

Year: 2025

Geography: Netherlands

Mycetoma is one of the world’s most neglected diseases – a slow growing skin infection that causes severe pain and deformities. It affects people in poor, rural areas across more than 20 countries, spanning five continents. The fungal form, eumycetoma, can lead to lifelong disability, and, in many cases, amputation. It is often accompanied by social stigma and mental health challenges, further isolating patients. Current treatments are toxic, unaffordable, and must be taken for up to a year – often with poor results. One major reason better treatments haven’t been developed is that there is no reliable way to test new drugs before trying them on humans. Wendy Laureijssen-van de Sande’s project will develop the first mouse model that closely mimics the human form of the disease. This will enable researchers to test new antifungal compounds more safely and effectively, laying the path for better, faster and more affordable treatments for patients who urgently need them.

Grant category: Research Grants in open competition

Year: 2025

Geography: Australia

Autoimmune bullous disease is a condition where the patient’s immune system attacks their skin, causing painful blistering. Some patients develop blisters in the mouth, leading to difficulty eating and malnutrition or inflammation in the eye, which can cause blindness. There is no cure. Treatment involves suppressing the immune system but can lead to side effects and increased infections. Joanne Reed’s research will use new technology to investigate patient blood and skin samples left over from biopsies performed for diagnosis. The technology enables patient samples to be evaluated at an unprecedented level of detail to identify and study the immune cells and genes responsible for disease. This information will be used to develop a test that can predict patients at risk of severe symptoms to enable early intervention before permanent organ damage occurs. The detailed analysis of the disease-causing cells will also inform the development of new drugs that can specifically target these cells.

Grant category: Research Grants in open competition

Year: 2025

Geography: USA

Pyoderma gangrenosum (PG) is a rare skin disease. Patients with PG have defects in their skin wound healing responses. Even minor injuries and cuts to the skin can form large chronic ulcers. PG ulcers are enriched with neutrophils, an immune cell type that plays a vital role in skin wound healing. Typically, neutrophils travel to the skin right after an injury, perform their tasks, and leave within a period of 3 days. Samreen Jatana wants to understand why PG neutrophils don’t perform their regular tasks and impair wound healing in skin. Samreen Jatana and her colleagues analyzed peripheral blood from patients with PG and identified a type of neutrophil in circulation with features of immature neutrophils that typically live in the bone marrow. They anticipate that this neutrophil subset cannot utilize energy properly and might be exhausted to perform its function. In this project, they will study this neutrophil subset to understand if it can be targeted therapeutically to treat PG.