Explore our grantees and awardees

Grant category: Research Grants

Year: 2025

Geography: USA

Human skin pigmentation is highly variable among world populations and determines skin sensitivity to ultraviolet radiation, susceptibility to skin cancer, vitamin D production, and other outcomes. Much of this variability is determined by genetics. Using genetic analyses among diverse native Africans, we and our collaborators linked skin pigment variation with levels of expression of a gene called TMEM138. Inactivating mutations in TMEM138 or about 200 other genes cause developmental disorders called ciliopathies in which the primary cilium – a cell structure not known to impact pigmentation – fails to form properly. This proposal seeks to use cultured skin pigment cells called melanocytes and reconstituted human skin to better understand the molecular mechanisms by which TMEM138 specifically, and the primary cilium more generally, regulates pigment formation. Our study will provide new insights into skin pigment physiology and diseases and into how ciliopathy classes differ.

Grant category: Research Grants

Year: 2025

Geography: Australia

Skin diseases affect millions worldwide, yet research and treatment often rely on animal models that do not fully capture human biology. In this project, we will use patient-derived stem cells to grow miniature 3D models of human skin, called organoids. These living models mimic how skin develops, functions, and responds to disease, allowing us to study rare genetic conditions directly in the lab. By comparing patient organoids with genetically corrected “healthy” controls, we will uncover the biological mistakes that cause disease and identify new treatment targets. We will also test whether these organoids can predict how patients respond to therapies, offering a path toward safer and more effective medicines. This research aims to set a new standard for dermatology by reducing reliance on animal experiments, accelerating drug discovery, and improving care for people living with severe skin disorders.

Grant category: Research Grants

Year: 2025

Geography: USA

Immunotherapy has transformed cancer treatment, helping the body’s immune system attack tumors. Unfortunately, these powerful drugs often cause side effects when the immune system also attacks healthy tissues. The skin is one of the most commonly affected organs, leading to rashes and other painful conditions that can force patients to stop life-saving therapy. Our project aims to understand why this happens. We recently discovered that certain immune cells, called CD8 T cells, are activated by bacteria living on the skin and then attack healthy skin cells during treatment. We will study how these bacteria and immune cells interact and test new ways to prevent this process. By uncovering how microbes trigger skin damage, our research could pave the way for safer cancer immunotherapies, helping patients stay on treatment longer while avoiding harmful side effects.

Grant category: Research Grants

Year: 2025

Geography: Switzerland

Chronic wounds or hypertrophic scars affect a large percentage of the population world-wide, but the therapeutic options are still limited. The development of innovative wound therapeutics requires a thorough understanding of the mechanisms underlying normal and impaired healing. This project will study a new regulatory mechanism in wound healing – the transfer of metabolically highly active cell organelles (mitochondria) between different cell types and the functional consequences for wound healing. We will use state-of-the art cell culture and mouse models to determine if mitochondrial transfer has beneficial effects on recipient cells and if this promotes the wound healing process. Through collaboration with clinical partners, we will determine the importance of our findings for normal and impaired healing in humans. The results will pave the way for the development of new wound therapeutics that target mitochondrial transfer or proteins regulated by this process.

Grant category: LEO Foundation Dr Abildgaard Fellowships

Year: 2025

Geography: Denmark

Project: Leveraging Real-World Data for Dermato-Epidemiological Research of Bullous Pemphigoid and Lichen Planus in Denmark

Bullous pemphigoid and lichen planus are inflammatory diseases of the skin and mucosa causing significant discomfort and reduced quality of life. Still, their causes, treatments, and long-term effects are poorly understood. The project will use Denmark’s unique health registries to explore how common these diseases are, what triggers them, how they are managed, and their broader health impact. Findings will support data-driven healthcare, ensuring better resource allocation and equitable access to specialized care. Improved understanding of the diseases and their complications will also highlight gaps in care, improve disease awareness, and empower shared decision-making for patients and doctors. The project will be conducted within ARISE (the Aarhus University Research group for Investigating Skin disease Epidemiology), a new research initiative aimed at establishing a lasting foundation for this novel type of skin disease research and better patient care.

Grant category: LEO Foundation Dr Abildgaard Fellowships

Year: 2025

Geography: Denmark

Project: The unraveling of the cutaneous microbiome in the pathogenesis of Hidradenitis Suppurativa: A potential treatment option

Millions of humans worldwide suffer from Hidradenitis Suppurativa (HS), a chronic, auto-inflammatory skin disease, causing recurrent and painful boils in sweaty places. The foul-smelling nodules are often infected by anaerobic bacteria, but it is not yet known what role bacteria play in the development and worsening of the disease. With the often-used antibiotic treatment comes antibiotic resistance, a serious threat to the individual and global health. This project aims to decipher the functionality of the skin bacteria in HS and reveal their dynamics during antibiotic treatment by using advanced molecular methods. The final goal is to develop and test a non-antibiotic treatment based on bacteria from healthy skin. The outcome is an insight into the interplay between the bacteria and human cells and a step towards a better treatment strategy in HS.

Grant category: LEO Foundation Dr Abildgaard Fellowships

Year: 2025

Geography: Denmark

Project title: Multiplexed Imaging-Powered Deep Visual Proteomics for Precision Dermatology

Skin diseases like mycosis fungoides (a type of skin cancer), psoriasis and eczema, are often hard to diagnose and treat, leading to years of suffering for patients. This project uses cutting-edge technology to map the proteins and immune cells in skin samples at a microscopic level. By combining this with artificial intelligence, the goal is to develop tools for earlier and more accurate diagnosis. The project also explores how the skin’s microbiome (the community of microbes living on the skin) influences these diseases, paving the way for new treatments. This research will enable faster personalized diagnoses, facilitate targeted treatments, and enhance patients’ quality of life.

Grant category: LEO Foundation Dr Abildgaard Fellowships

Year: 2025

Geography: Denmark

Project title: Unraveling the Gut-Skin-Epigenome Axis: A Multi-Omics Approach to Early-Life Atopic Dermatitis

This project aims to uncover how gut health, immune responses, and environmental factors contribute to the development of atopic dermatitis (AD) in early life. By integrating data from the microbiome, proteins, and epigenetic changes, we will investigate how gut bacteria and their metabolites influence skin inflammation and immune regulation. We will also study how environmental exposures, like diet, stress, and pollution, leave lasting molecular “imprints” that may increase AD risk. Using data from the extensive COPSAC2010 birth cohort, we will track children from infancy to uncover early signs of AD and explore new targets for prevention and treatment. This research could pave the way for personalized, microbiome-based therapies to stop AD before it starts — shifting from managing symptoms to preventing the disease altogether.

Grant category: LEO Foundation Awards

Year: 2025

Geography: Germany

Dr. Thierry Nordmann is a Senior Physician at the University Hospital of Ludwig Maximilian, Munich, and Group Leader at the Max Planck Institute of Biochemistry in Martinsried.

He received the LEO Foundation Award 2025 in Region EMEA during the ESDR annual meeting in Antwerp. Dr. Thierry Nordmann is recognized for his excellent research and innovative vision, aiming to transform the future understanding, diagnosis and treatment of inflammatory skin diseases.

The LEO Foundation Award – worth USD 100,000 – recognizes outstanding young researchers and scientists from around the world whose work represents an extraordinary contribution to skin research and has the potential to pave the way for new and improved treatments for skin diseases.

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Grant category: LEO Foundation Dr Abildgaard Fellowships

Year: 2025

Geography: Denmark

The LEO Foundation Dr Abildgaard Fellows received a two-year leadership coaching program as an add-on grant to their existing fellowship.

The LEO Foundation Fellows Leadership Coaching Program (LCP) will help identifying the fellow’s key strengths as well as their potential key leadership obstacles and situations they find most challenging within leadership – and how to handle these situations. During the coaching sessions they will identify and train new leadership skills going forward which can help them perform even better.

Potential themes for the leadership coaching sessions could be elements from the following sections:

• Learn more about your leadership style and get the best out of it
• Setting up – and leading the team
• Stakeholder Management
• Mentoring