National Rosacea Society awards 2021 research grants
The National Rosacea Society has awarded research grants to two new studies, in addition to continuing support for two ongoing studies, according to a press release.
The society’s research grant program endorses studies that increase knowledge and understanding of rosacea and may lead to advancements in its treatment, prevention or potential cure.
The grants were awarded to Sezen Karakus, MD, Emmanuel Contassot, PhD, Michelle Trautwein, PhD, and Tissa Hata, MD.
Karakus, assistant professor of ophthalmology at the Johns Hopkins Wilmer Eye Institute in Baltimore, Maryland, was awarded $15,000 to research the role of ocular surface microbiome in the pathogenesis of rosacea.
A study, conducted by Contassot, project leader in the dermatology department at the University Hospital of Basel in Switzerland, was awarded $5,000 to investigate whether intracellular signals, found to be elevated in rosacea lesions, may be responsible for its skin inflammation, as well as one of the root causes of the disorder.
In ongoing studies, Trautwein, assistant curator and research scientist at the California Academy of Sciences’ Institute for Biodiversity Science and Sustainability in San Francisco, is sequencing the genome of Demodex mites and will be the first study to map the complete their genetic makeup. Trautwein is also conducting research to identify the bacteria that may play a role in rosacea.
Hata, clinical professor of dermatology at the University of California, San Diego, is continuing research on the normalization of the microbiome in rosacea patients, identifying the bacteria associated with the disorder and how it may be associated with healthy skin after successful treatment.
“NRS-supported investigations have eased the lives of more sufferers than ever of this widespread and troubling disorder,” Mark Mannis, MD, chairman of ophthalmology at the University of California, Davis, and a member of the National Rosacea Society Medical Advisory Board, said in the release. “Continually advancing knowledge has led to many new therapies targeted to the wide variety of rosacea’s signs and symptoms.”