Explore our grantees and awardees

Grant category: Research Grants in open competition

Year: 2024

Geography: Israel

Eran Elinav’s project explores the role of circadian rhythm in regulating host-microbiome interactions in the skin, and the impact of abnormal circadian rhythm on the microbiota of the gut, with a potential link to skin inflammation, psoriasis in particular.

While the exact cause of psoriasis remains elusive, it is believed to stem from a combination of genetic and environmental factors, including dietary and biological clock-related influences. The mechanism by which these factors impact psoriasis is closely tied to the circadian rhythm, as evidenced by the abnormal circadian rhythms observed in psoriasis patients. In recent years, the pivotal role of the microbiota – the trillions of indigenous microorganisms inhabiting the human body – has come to the forefront. Eran Elinav’s group has recently uncovered that circadian disruption can exacerbate inflammatory diseases by disrupting the diurnal oscillations of the gut microbiota. His project explores how the circadian clock may also orchestrate fluctuations in the dermal microbiome, which could be crucial in understanding skin diseases such as psoriasis.

Eran Elinav’s project aims to identify novel host-microbiome interactions in the skin and generate a novel framework for microbiome-based interventions for psoriasis.

Grant category: Research Grants in open competition

Year: 2024

Geography: Switzerland

Lukas Sommer’s project explores the mechanisms mediating the role of repair glia in skin wound healing by means of genetically engineered mouse models and an organotypic 3D culture system of human skin wounds.

Inefficient skin wound healing can cause severe medical problems, including chronic wounds and ulcers. Innervation is a critical player in tissue regeneration and repair. While most studies have linked this effect to signaling from axons, there is increasing evidence for peripheral glia contributing to successful wound healing. Lukas Sommer’s laboratory has recently shown that peripheral glia following skin injury to become repair glia, which promote the wound healing process by paracrine signaling. In his project, single cell RNA sequencing on the cellular microenvironment in presence or absence of repair glia at defined timepoints after skin injury will be performed and complemented with spatial omics approaches to characterize the gene expression profile of repair glia and to identify their mode of intercellular communications with other skin cell types. Multiplex optical imaging approaches on biopsies of murine and human skin lesions will allow the investigation of the relevance of our findings in human skin diseases. Finally, functional validation of key candidate factors in mice and in 3D reconstituted human skin wounds will determine how repair glia promote the wound healing process and which signaling pathways could potentially represent targets for treatment.

Lukas Sommer’s project therefore aims to enhance our understanding of wound healing mechanisms with potential broad applications in medicine.

Grant category: Research Grants in open competition

Year: 2024

Geography: USA

Wei Tao’s project explores the biological mechanisms to improve wound healing in adults by mimicking the scarless fetal wound healing process. This project aims to engineer a system that replicates the fetal extracellular matrix and immune responses, using mRNA techniques to produce specific proteins and inhibit biological processes leading to scar formation. This system employs lipid nanoparticles for mRNA delivery and hydrogel for controlled release, enabling spatiotemporal control of key components like collagen type III and interleukin-10, thereby reconstituting fetal-like extracellular matrix organization and modulating over-activated immune responses.

The project’s goals include establishing a foundation for future scarless wound healing studies, developing a hybrid mRNA therapeutic platform for skin defects and diseases, and correlating extracellular matrix and immune modulation with subsequent biological processes and outcomes. This research has promising potential for clinical applications in wound care and other dermatological diseases.

Grant category: Education and Awareness Grants

Year: 2024

Geography: Denmark

The ‘Max og Meta’ children’s book series targets 4-12-year-olds with a cartoon-like format presenting stories revolving around natural science phenomena. The series is created by an experienced duo, author Troels Gollander and illustrator Lars-Ole Nejstgaard. The project covers two new books in the series, focused on the sensory system and the body, a website targeting primary schools with free educational material related to the two new books, and a podcast exploring the topics of the book series.

The books aim to stimulate STEM interest in children and pre-teens with an educational format that is both ‘family-friendly’ and relevant for lower secondary school.

Visit Meta Publisher’s website

Grant category: Education and Awareness Grants

Year: 2024

Geography: Denmark

Biotech Academy Camp is an annual recurring event where 30 high school students from all over Denmark attend a week-long science camp. The purpose of the camp is to introduce potential students to theory and laboratory work and to spur young people’s interest in STEM in an engaging and practical way.

This year the theme is microbiology, and it is free for high school students to participate. Biotech Academy Camp is run by students at the Technical University of Denmark – DTU and the University of Copenhagen.

Visit Biotech Academy Camp’s website

Grant category: Education and Awareness Grants

Year: 2024

Geography: Denmark

My Beautiful Skin (Min smukke hud) is the name of a photo project that aims to address the stigma of skin diseases and promote a more inclusive and natural beauty ideal. The recognized photographer Marie Hald has been commissioned to take a series of art photos, depicting 20 patients with different skin disease.

The photos will be exhibited at Department of Dermatology and Allergy – Herlev and Gentofte Hospital, accompanied by evidence-based information about the relevant skin disease. The photo exhibition is driven by clinical researchers in collaboration with the hospital’s communication team.

Grant category: LEO Foundation Awards

Year: 2024

Geography: USA

Dr. Shruti Naik is Associate Professor at the Ronald O Perelman Department of Dermatology, NYU Langone Health, in the US.

She receives the award in recognition of her exceptional scientific achievements, clear long-term career objectives, and innovative vision for skin research – which delves into the complex interactions between immune cells, surrounding skin cells, and skin-dwelling microbes to understand the origins and progression of skin diseases.

Read more

Grant category: Research Networking

Year: 2024

Geography: Switzerland

The 2024 ESDR Academy for Future Leaders in Dermatology entitled “Translational innovation in dermatology” will be held 10-12 October 2024 in Uppsala, Sweden. The goal of this initiative is to foster excellence in academic dermatology and encourage gifted young dermatologists to further pursue their careers through guidance and mentoring. The program is primarily open to European residents currently engaged in skin-related research (MD, PhD, Post-Doc). The selected applicants will give oral presentation of their work and current research. The program will be completed by talks from selected senior scientists, from Future Leaders alumni serving as mentors and from guest speakers. Besides scientific sessions there is a strong emphasis on encouraging young people to network and to exchange ideas.

More information: https://esdrmeeting.org/

Grant category: Research Networking

Year: 2024

Geography: USA

The Future Leaders Retreat (previously known as Resident and Post Doc Retreat) is a conference hosted by the Society for Investigative Dermatology (SID) each year since 2001. The program format provides a protected space in which residents can interact with senior faculty and established investigators for the purpose of fostering attendee’s interest in academic research careers. The program is a combination of formal lectures and presentation, informal discussions, brainstorming sessions and social activities. The Retreat is held at the time of the SID annual meeting, which allows attendees to establish connections with each other, and to other meeting attendees. These social networks foster collegiality, collaborations, an appreciation for the creative, multidisciplinary nature of science and other productive interactions. Sustained exposure to the entire spectrum of dermatologic research will influence the trainees as they make their career decision, as well as build their enthusiasm for this area of science.

More information: https://www.sidannualmeeting.org/

Grant category: Education and Awareness Grants

Year: 2024

Geography: Denmark

The Natural History Museum of Denmark, University of Copenhagen will establish a free online platform for high schools to support the education of ‘data literate’ citizens with hands-on skills in answering interdisciplinary questions through scientific methodology. The platform will provide free access for Danish high schools to data obtained in the Next Generation Lab initiative, an ongoing citizen science initiative in which students analyze archaeological findings at the museum’s lab using scientific methods, thereby generating large amounts of raw research data. The portal will enable students from all over Denmark to work directly with this data, guided by new educational material that supports its relevance within or across topics such as biology, biotechnology, chemistry, history, Danish language and literature, physics, and social studies.

Visit the Natural History Museum of Denmark’s webpage