Grants Awarded from National Rosacea Society

The National Rosacea Society (NRS) awarded funding to five new studies as part of its research grants program to increase knowledge and understanding of rosacea. Dr. Anna Di Nardo, associate professor of medicine at the University of California-San Diego, received $25,000 to study the role of mast cells as a possible link between an overabundance of the antimicrobial peptides called cathelicidins in individuals with rosacea and the inflammation that appears on rosacea skin. Drs. Meg Gerstenblith and Daniel Popkin, assistant professors of dermatology at Case Western Reserve University, were awarded $10,000 to study the incidence of rosacea in fraternal and identical twins, recruited at the annual Twins Day festival in Ohio. Drs. Ulf Meyer-Hoffert and Thomas Schwartz of the Department of Dermatology, University Clinic Schleswig-Holstein, received $20,000 to study whether and how kallikreins, enzymes that contribute to inflammation in rosacea, can activate cytokines, which might contribute to the disease activity. Dr. Barbara Summerer, postdoctoral research fellow in dermatology at Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, was awarded $25,000 to use sophisticated analytical technology to evaluate specific microbes in rosacea patients. Dr. Yoshikazu Uchida, associate research dermatologist, and Dr. Peter Elias, professor of dermatology, at the University of California-San Francisco, received $20,000 to study whether and how enhancing the production of human β-defensin 2 and conversely suppressing the production of cathelicidin antimicrobial peptide, part of the body's innate immune system, may help suppress the overabundance of inflammation-causing peptides found in rosacea skin. The NRS is also continuing to fund studies by Dr. Richard Granstein at Cornell University on the potential role of Th17 cells in rosacea and Dr. Edward Wladis at Albany Medical College on identifying cytokines involved in ocular rosacea. Researchers interested in applying for grants may obtain forms and instructions through the research grants section of the NRS website, rosacea.org, or by contacting the National Rosacea Society, 196 James Street, Barrington, Illinois 60010, telephone 1-888-662-5874, e-mail rosaceas@aol.com. The deadline for submitting proposals to receive a research grant in 2013 is May 1, 2013.