{"id":6549,"date":"2022-10-12T13:00:00","date_gmt":"2022-10-12T11:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/leo-foundation.org\/en\/?p=6549"},"modified":"2022-10-12T13:53:52","modified_gmt":"2022-10-12T11:53:52","slug":"dkk-30-million-to-8-researchers-setting-new-focuses-on-the-skin-and-skin-diseases","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/leo-foundation.org\/en\/2022\/10\/12\/dkk-30-million-to-8-researchers-setting-new-focuses-on-the-skin-and-skin-diseases\/","title":{"rendered":"DKK 30 million to 8 researchers setting new focuses on the skin and skin diseases"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
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12 October 2022<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

New insights into treatment of acne, improved wound healing to minimize the risk of chronic wounds, and investigations on how plant cell walls could help us treat psoriasis in patients. With 8 new research projects, results hope to contribute with new knowledge and understanding of skin diseases and their care.<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

8 researchers receive a total of DKK 30 million (EUR 4 million) towards advancement of our understanding of the skin and skin diseases in the LEO Foundation\u2019s latest round of the research grants in open competition.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The grantees propose an exciting range of research focuses \u2013 from psoriasis to insights into the skin barrier function<\/em> \u2013 and hail from an international spread of research institutions \u2013 from the University of Zurich in Switzerland to Monash University in Australia<\/em>. The scientists together propose an excellence of research, and each receive between DKK 2.8- 4.2 million for their individual project.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Michael Simpson from King\u2019s College London in the UK is one such grantee, proposing research with insights into the stigmatizing skin disease acne vulgaris. Through Michael\u2019s studies, the genetic data of over 60,000 individuals suffering from acne is to be analyzed, hoping to help identify one or more treatment targets for the disease. Through their studies, Michael and his team aim to be able to provide better care for those battling acne\u2019s daily turmoil.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Two other grantees, hailing from Karolinska Institutet in Sweden, also represent intriguing research projects. Ning Xu Land\u00e9n – previous winner of the LEO Foundation Award 2020 in Region EMEA<\/a> – aims to research wound healing, exploring whether improvement and acceleration can be made to wound healing processes – minimizing the risk of development of chronic wounds. With the proposed research, Ning and her team hope to pave the way for a novel approach to wound healing, which may also eventually reduce subsequent scarring.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Rikard Holmdahl, on the other hand, has discovered that mannan, a large natural sugar molecule found in plant cell walls, can induce a psoriasis-like condition in mice which strongly resembles human disease in terms of both genetics and clinical presentation. Through this animal model, Rikard intends to investigate its potential to better treatment of both psoriasis and psoriatic arthritis, also hoping to improve upon early diagnosis of the diseases.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

A grant also travels all the way to Australia in this round, as Asolina Braun from Monash University attempts to discover new treatment targets for psoriasis. She aims to achieve this by identifying and characterizing the key self-antigens presented to autoreactive T-cells in psoriasis (PsO) patients.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cWith an aim to support the advancement of our understanding of the skin and skin diseases, we feel confident that the latest round of research grants in open competition with grant recipients from all over the world, will boost the efforts of the best dermatology research projects worldwide,\u201d says Anne-Marie Engel, Chief Scientific Officer at the LEO Foundation.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Full description of all 8 research projects and their impact upon the global scene of dermatology can be found below.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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