Big Bang – support for Denmark’s largest science conference
Grantee: Astra, the national Centre for Learning in Science, Technology and Health in Denmark, Copenhagen
Amount: DKK 2,000,000
Grant category: Education and Awareness Grants
Year: 2016
Geography: Denmark
Denmark’s largest science conference, the Big Bang Conference, has received two million Danish kroner over the next three years from the LEO Foundation.
Big Bang is the largest Danish science conference and exhibition targeted all who teaches, facilitates or researches in the science and science fields – in primary and secondary schools and higher education.
The conference, held once a year, gathers more than 1,000 people for two involving and inspiring days with relevant keynote speakers, a humming exhibition atmosphere, involving workshops and novel ideas for the continued renewal of science education.
The conference is held next on 23 and 24th March 2017 in Odense Congress Center, Denmark.
Melanocyte stress response pathways and their role in the onset of vitiligo
Grantee: Prashiela Manga, PhD , Associate Professor Dermatology and Cell Biology, New York University School of Medicine
Amount: DKK 5,037,192
Grant category: Research Grants in open competition
Year: 2016
Geography: USA
Vitiligo, an acquired skin disease in which pigment cells, melanocytes, are destroyed, affects 1-2% of people worldwide. The disease deprives the skin of photoprotection leaving it more susceptible to solar damage and compromised cutaneous immunity – and the disease impacts physical and mental health.
Vitiligo is thought to occur in genetically susceptible individuals after being exposed to environmental triggers. Some individuals develop contact vitiligo after direct exposure to certain chemicals. As disease progression in vitiligo is independent from initiating factors, this subset of individuals makes it possible to study vitiligo at large.
The hypothesis in this project is that melanocytes from healthy individuals can withstand exposure to triggers by initiating a stress response regimen that allows the cell to return to homeostasis. These pathways may be disrupted in individuals who develop vitiligo, leaving melanocytes stressed following challenge, causing them to be targeted for removal by the immune system.
In order to investigate this hypothesis, the project will investigate survival pathways in melanocytes cultured from biopsies taken from pigmented skin from individuals who have developed vitiligo.
Development and validation of scoring systems for outcome measures of vitiligo: an international cooperative initiative
Grantee: Professor, Dr Nanja van Geel, Department of Dermatology, Ghent University Hospital, Ghent
Amount: DKK 735,000
Grant category: Research Grants in open competition
Year: 2016
Geography: Belgium
Clinical trials for vitiligo – a skin disease that causes loss of skin color in blotches – lack uniformity in reported outcomes and the measurements hereof. This lack of uniformity hampers development of general treatment guidelines, as it limits appropriate interpretation and comparison of results. In particular, since vitiligo is without biomarkers, clinical measurement tools are crucial to assess disease extent.
A recently introduced scoring instrument, Vitiligo Extent Score (VES), will play a central role in this international project. The project team comprises researchers from Belgium, Netherlands, France, Italy, and the UK, and their aim is to create a worldwide consensus on measuring disease severity.
The VES was designed to be intuitive, fast and accurate, and the team has successfully performed an initial validation for estimating global disease extent. The aim of this project is to further develop and validate reliable and feasible instruments to assess vitiligo status in order to improve evidence-based therapeutic decisions and develop novel treatments.
Hereafter, the tool will be used for the development of other scoring methods including a patient-reported outcome measure, a physician global assessment, a vitiligo disease activity score, and a digital image analysis system for target lesions.
International Eczema Council
Grantee: Amy Paller, MS, MD, IEC President, Professor of Dermatology and Professor of Pediatrics, Northwestern University’s Feinberg School of Medicine, Chicago, and Emma Guttman-Yassky, MD, PhD, IEC President-Elect, Associate Professor of Dermatology & Immunology, Department of Dermatology, Icahn School of Medicine, Mount Sinai, New York
Amount: DKK 340,000
Grant category: Research Grants in open competition
Year: 2016
Geography: USA
The IEC is convening a meeting at the ESDR in September 2015 to write a position paper on Atopic Dermatitis as a systemic disease.
In March 2016, the IEC will hold a session at the Annual AAD in Washington, D.C. focusing on AD phenotyping – starting to use biomarkers to assess subgroups of AD, which may be relevant to the understanding of disease and treatment decision-making.
Development and validation of a physiologically-based pharmacokinetic model for dermal absorption
Grantee: Dr. Richard H. Guy, Professor of Pharmaceutical Sciences & Dr. M. Begona Delgado-Charro, Associate Professor of Pharmaceutics, University of Bath
Amount: DKK 3,564,000
Grant category: Research Grants in open competition
Year: 2016
Geography: United Kingdom
The project aims to develop a physiologically based pharmacokinetic model to predict the dermal absorption and disposition of drugs included in complex topical products.
A distinctive feature of the research is the integration of formulation-dependent information derived experimentally, and a deliberate strategy to facilitate the practical implementation of the model for a wide range of drugs.
The long-term goal is to develop a model, which will predict drug absorption and disposition from dermal products thereby facilitating their optimisation and, ultimately, the development of high-performance medicines.
The LEO Foundation Award 2015 – Silver Award
Grantee: Dr. Kilian Eyerich
Amount: DKK 500,000
Grant category: LEO Foundation Awards
Year: 2015
Geography: Germany
Presented to Dr. Kilian Eyerich, Assistant Professor, Experimental Dermato-Immunology, School of Medicine, Technische Universität München, Germany.
Early in his career, Dr. Eyerich studied the cross-talk between keratinocytes and T cells usingco-cultures.His work on the role of Th17 and Th22 cells in the skin has significantly enhanced molecular understanding of atopic dermatitis and psoriasis. Dr. Eyerich has identified a unique group of patients with co-existing inflammatory skin diseases and demonstrated the mutual antagonism of T cells causing atopic dermatitis and psoriasis.
The LEO Foundation Award 2015 – Gold Award
Grantee: Dr. Nicola Segata
Amount: DKK 1,000,000
Grant category: LEO Foundation Awards
Year: 2015
Geography: Italy
Presented to Dr. Nicola Segata, Assistant Professor and Principal Investigator, Laboratory of Computational Metagenomics, Centre for Integrative Biology, University of Trento, Italy.
Dr. Segata has pioneered novel advanced techniques for the characterisation of the microorganisms colonising the human body (the microbiome). His discoveries have proven to be crucial in studying microbial communities and unravelling the structure of the human skin microbiome. The characterisation of the microbiome is a fast-growing research field because it plays an important role in many pathological conditions, including skin diseases such as atopic dermatitis, acne, psoriasis and rosacea.
The natural history of skin cancer formation: from normal skin to cancer
Grantee: Associate Professor Kiarash Khosrotehrani, University of Queensland
Amount: AUD 268,239
Grant category: Research Grants in open competition
Year: 2015
Geography: Australia
Associate Professor Kiarash Khosrotehrani from The University of Queensland leads a team that has hypothesized that upon UV irradiation and acquisitions of mutations, only epidermal cells that can rapidly proliferate are likely to give rise to pre-cancerous and cancerous lesions.
This hypothesis will be tested using multicolour lineage tracing to follow simultaneously multiple epidermal clones that will further be microdissected to establish their mutational profile. This study has the potential to fundamentally change our understanding of field cancerisation, cell of origin of squamous cell cancer establishing potentially new therapeutic targets.
Preventing Basal Cell Carcinoma formation by targeting the tumor environment
Grantee: Associate Professor Kiarash Khosrotehrani, University of Queensland
Amount: AUD 415,386
Grant category: Research Grants in open competition
Year: 2015
Geography: Australia
In this study, Associate Professor Kiarash Khosrotehrani of The University of Queensland in Australia proposes to better characterise the molecular nature of the factors provided by fibroblasts to support basal cell carcinoma (BCC) growth in vivo in order to find new targets for therapies that would prevent BCC development. He and his team will also show proof of principle demonstrating that targeting this process can actually prevent BCC development.
These findings have the potential to translate in effective prevention strategies, allowing field therapy of normal looking skin to avoid the development of new BCCs. Such finding will have strong health benefits in terms of morbidity associated with multiple surgeries, years of healthy life enjoyed by individuals and finally in terms of economic cost.
Young Scientists
Grantee: Mikkel Bohm, Young Scientists (Astra)
Amount: DKK 3,000,000
Grant category: Research Grants in open competition
Year: 2015
Geography: Denmark
The talent competition, Young Scientists, is developing talents in both kids and young people in science.
It is believed that science is a powerful tool to understand and change the world for the better. The competition’s aim is to contribute to society in a meaningful way by inspiring a new generation and giving them engaging experiences with science.
The LEO Foundation has found this work important and supports the competition over three years.