Explore our grantees and awardees

Grant category: Research Grants

Year: 2026

Geography: France

Skin color and protection from sunlight rely on the proper transfer of melanin from melanocytes to epidermal keratinocytes. In inflammatory skin conditions, this process is disrupted, causing abnormal pigment accumulation in dermal immune macrophage cells and leading to long-lasting dark spots known as post-inflammatory hyperpigmentation (PIH). The mechanism driving these alterations is poorly understood, which limits therapeutic options. Our work reveals that melanin particles are coated with biological messengers named extracellular vesicles (EVs). This project will investigate whether melanin-associated EVs actively control the fate of released pigments and pigmented cells under normal and inflammatory conditions. By combining molecular analyses with human skin models, MELCOM aims to clarify how inflammation disrupts pigment and immune-epithelial cell behavior. The result will provide new insights into inflammatory pigmentary disorders and identify potential therapeutic targets.

Grant category: Research Grants

Year: 2026

Geography: USA

Atopic dermatitis (AD) is a chronic condition characterized by a weakened skin barrier, inflammation, and itch. Existing treatments mainly focus on relieving inflammation without directly addressing the skin barrier’s impairment. Our goal is to develop a topical treatment for AD that strengthens the skin barrier while reducing inflammation, an approach not previously explored. We recently discovered that a protein named RET is hyperactivated in AD, and inhibiting RET topically has shown promising results in enhancing the skin barrier and reducing inflammation. We hypothesize that topical RET inhibitors could effectively prevent and/or treat AD. Our proposal seeks to investigate how RET modulates skin barrier function and demonstrate the therapeutic effectiveness of topical RET inhibition using an established animal model that mimics human AD. This research is essential to fully explore RET as a therapeutic target in AD and advance the development of RET inhibitors for this condition.

Grant category: Research Grants

Year: 2026

Geography: Australia

Stevens-Johnson syndrome/toxic epidermal necrolysis (SJS/TEN) is a life-threatening skin reaction to certain drugs, driven by immune cells called CD8+ T cells. Our research aims to uncover why only some people are at risk by studying how specific immune receptors (TCRs) and genetic markers (HLA) interact with drugs to activate CD8+ T-cells in the skin. We have found that certain HLA markers linked to SJS/TEN share structural features and that drug-reactive TCRs come from pre-existing immune cells in the skin from past viral infections. This suggests drug reactions may involve crosstalk between drug and viral signals. We will now model these interactions in (i) patients to predict dangerous drug-HLA combinations for safer drug treatment and (ii) naïve immune cells from healthy donors to model early immune reactions and predict ‘high-risk’ drugs for safer drug development. This work could lead to new clinical and preclinical strategies to prevent SJS/TEN and reduce its global impact.

Grant category: Research Grants

Year: 2026

Geography: USA

Behçet’s disease is a chronic inflammatory condition that can affects the skin, mucous membranes, and multiple organs, and can be difficult to diagnose and treat. The immune mechanisms driving this disease are not well understood. Our research shows that a specific group of immune cells, called monocytes, are abnormally activated in Behçet’s disease, largely due to the action of interferon-gamma. This activation changes with treatment and differs across disease types, such as eye or blood vessel involvement. In this study, we will identify the signals that cause and sustain this abnormal immune response, develop blood-based markers to track disease activity and remission, and test whether blocking key inflammatory pathways can restore normal immune cell function. This work aims to improve disease monitoring and support the development of more targeted and effective treatments for patients with Behçet’s disease.

Grant category: Standalone grants

Year: 2026

Geography: Denmark

Astra is Denmark’s national STEM education center. The grant supports continuation and new developments for three core activities:

• Unge Forskere (“Young Scientists”): An annual science talent competition in which students of all age groups can pursue a project, often as an integrated part of their STEM classes.
• Science Talenter (“Science Talents”): Camps, classes, and conferences within STEM topics, anchored at Astra’s facilities in Sorø and aimed at talented pupils from Danish schools.
• Big Bang: An annual conference for STEM education professionals to gain new ideas and meet inspiring colleagues.

Grant category: Standalone grants

Year: 2025

Geography: Denmark

This grant will support BIOSKIN 2.0, enabling the continuation of BIOSKIN (The Copenhagen Translational Skin Immunology Biobank and Research Program) at the Department of Dermatology and Allergy, Herlev and Gentofte Hospital. The program focuses on translational research by expanding analysis of longitudinal patient data and patient samples, integrating advanced skin immunology and omics technologies and including the establishment of a comprehensive data biobank. The overall aim is to identify new prognostic biomarkers and targets for improved treatment of some of the most common inflammatory skin diseases.

Grant category: Standalone grants

Year: 2026

Geography: Denmark

This grant will enable the LEO Foundation Skin Immunology Research Center to initiate long-term relations with universities and research institutions in Tanzania and South Africa through five complementary collaborative research projects:

• Allergic Contact Dermatitis in Tanzania
• Hand Dermatitis and Quality of Life in South Africa
• Immune Profiling and Allergen Sensitivity in Tanzanian Populations
• Clinical and Immunological Insights into Pityriasis Versicolor
• Cutaneous T-Cell Lymphoma (CTCL) and Skin Microbiome in Tanzania

The grant and the projects will further support the center’s mission to be an international center of excellence for barrier tissue immunology research.

Grant category: Education and Awareness Grants

Year: 2026

Geography: Denmark

A box of eight illustrated children’s books on the life and research of well-known Danish scientists is distributed to Danish kindergartens. The goal is to spark early scientific curiosity among the 4-6-year-olds and provide pedagogues with age-appropriate tools that are aligned with the STEM curriculum for kindergartens. The researchers are selected to balance concrete and abstract science, historic and modern-day scientists, and diversity in gender and ethnicity. The books are supplemented with educational material introducing preschoolers to hands-on experiments and playful activities related to the presented research fields. More than 3000 Danish kindergartens have already committed to receiving a box, and the municipality of Roskilde serves as a development and test partner.

Grant category: Education and Awareness Grants

Year: 2026

Geography: Denmark

The university museum Medicinsk Museion will create a new major exhibition exploring precision health through science, culture, and history, including a focus on skin as a visible and personal organ and barrier. The goal is to enhance public understanding of personalized medicine and its ethical, social, and scientific perspectives. Target groups include the general public, students, and health professionals with an expected 500,000 visitors over the exhibition lifetime of ten years.

Grant category: Standalone grants

Year: 2025

Geography: Denmark

Innovation District Copenhagen (IDC) is a newly established association aimed at building a strong international innovation environment in Copenhagen. The initiative brings together research, education, and industry with a shared focus on translating knowledge into solutions that create societal value.