Search Results for The Science Olympiads

Grant category: Research Grants in open competition

Year: 2017

Geography: Canada

A number of chronic skin conditions have peeling of the skin as the dominant expression; akin to skin peeling following severe sunburns. In the chronic conditions, peeling is cyclical or continuous, often affecting hands, feet, or the body. Today, there is no effective treatment for these conditions, leaving patients subjected to trial and error with a variety of non-effective and often also expensive therapies.

A number of abnormal gene variants have been found to disrupt the normal maturation of the skin. Using a gene manipulation tool known as CRISPR, the team led by Dr Hull will build understanding of the role of four known genes causing skin peeling syndromes. This will be done by replicating the diseases in cell cultures grown into full thickness skin and studying the cellular and biochemical changes caused by the induced gene modifications.

Of particular interest is cathepsin B, an enzyme that has been found to play an important role in peeling associated with the skin disorder, keratolytic winter erythema.

The team’s hypothesis is that there is an important and dynamic interplay and balance between a number of enzymes in the outer layers of the skin and that if this balance favours the activity of cathepsin B, peeling results.

If this is shown, it may be clinically very relevant as there are a number of known compounds that inhibits cathepsin B and which then could be used to treat patients with chronic peeling as a consequence of their skin disorder.

Grant category: Research Grants in open competition

Year: 2016

Geography: Japan

Release of double-stranded (ds)DNA from keratinocytes has been linked to the initiation of psoriasis via induction of an immune response. Furthermore, vitamin D has been reported to interfere with this mechanism. Vitamin D analogues are widely used for treatment of psoriasis and have a well-known effect on keratinocyte proliferation and differentiation.

Dr Koichi Suzuki and his Japanese-Chinese team hypothesise that the release of dsDNA may more directly induce the characteristic hyper-proliferation and abnormal differentiation of keratinocytes seen in psoriasis by a TNFα-mediated inflammatory process in keratinocytes.

The team will investigate this hypothesis and the impact of vitamin D by the use of keratinocyte cultures and psoriasis skin samples from patients treated with a vitamin D analogue.

The project may further enhance our understanding of the complex molecular events underlying psoriasis and how vitamin D treatment may intervene in the pathogenic process, potentially revealing new aspects of the mode of action of vitamin D.

Grant category: Research Grants in open competition

Year: 2016

Geography: USA

Bridging the gap between early research and clinical development is a challenging endeavour. There is an inherent risk that early-stage programs will fail during development, no matter how promising the science is.

Such nascent programs are unlikely to attract interest from industry until they have reached significant milestones, and very little funding is available from the NIH, foundations, or private enterprise for this critical transition.

The LEO Foundation SPARK donations at Stanford will help incubate and accelerate dermatology projects. SPARK is a unique partnership between university and industry targeted advancement of Stanford research towards development of new breakthrough therapies. SPARK provides access to specialised knowledge and technical expertise regarding drug and diagnostic development, dedicated core laboratory facilities, and sources of funding to support translational efforts.

The donations will be awarded as a supplement to the existing suite of support and funding from Stanford and will ensure that as many as 15 Stanford dermatology projects will be progressed towards human proof of concept.

It is expected that the grant will foster a renewed and unique focus on dermatology at Stanford University and enable a larger number of orphan drug research projects to reach actual clinical development.

The grant from the LEO Foundation is paid out in three equal portions in 2016, 2017 and 2018.

Learn more about the SPARK Program at Stanford University here.

Grant category: Research Grants in open competition

Year: 2016

Geography: Ireland, United Kingdom, USA

This is an exciting project that, with the international group’s extensive research and know-how in mind, has the potential to create an intriguing base for novel personalised treatments for atopic dermatitis (AD). The project moreover holds an innovation potential that may make it stand out in the emerging global bio-economy.

The prevalence of AD, an inflammatory skin disease resulting in itchy, red, swollen and cracked skin, is constantly increasing. Today, it affects 15-30 percent children and 2-10 percent adults worldwide, presenting a significant economic burden to healthcare systems.

There is no cure for AD, only soothing of the symptoms. In the majority of AD patients, the disease is a consequence of a blend of genetic defects of the skin barrier defects and abnormal immune responses influenced by environmental factors.

Until now, the models used to assess the interplay are not particularly predictive. The group behind this project aims to change this by using the latest advances in stem cell science, gene editing and tissue engineering to develop and validate innovative 3D in vitro models of skin – making the models similar to skin in AD patients by emulating full thickness skin of varying barrier integrity; faulty, partially repaired or intact, and immune response composition.

As part of the project, the group will also develop mathematical computer models to accurately address the predictive, prognostic and therapeutic outcome of personalised AD therapy – in order to address co-dependence of the quantitative and qualitative changes in skin barrier and activation of immune cells.

The 3D models will also be made available to test various novel therapeutic approaches for AD treatment in a patient specific manner.

Grant category: Research Grants in open competition

Year: 2016

Geography: Germany, USA

The 2017 Gordon Research Conference on Epithelial Differentiation and Keratinization (GRC-EDK), to be held May 6-12 in Italy, is the premier international meeting in epithelial biology.

It has been held biennially since 1979 with attendance from leading epithelial biology researchers, leaders from other fields, and early career scientists with innovative and exciting research programs to present and promote the latest conceptual, translational and technological advances in epithelial biology.

Today, the meetings take on stem cell biology, regenerative medicine, inflammatory skin diseases, skin cancer, epigenetics, and global genomics, and the program moreover explores developments in gene therapy, genome organisation, cell competition, stress responses as well as cutting edge advances in intravital imaging.

A third of the speakers are from outside the area in order to fuel new concepts and promote discussion of novel ideas, and more than a third of the oral presentations come from submitted abstracts to accommodate late breaking exciting stories and ensure speaking opportunities for young investigators.

To promote collaboration between academic medicine and industry the meeting also invites speakers from biotech and other academic scientists with strong industrial ties. Finally, the meeting will continue the commitment to trainee mentorship, including a career mentoring panel discussion with special emphases on careers in academia versus industry, and the importance of diversity within science.

Link to the meeting homepage.