DALLAS, TX (May 17, 2023) – Mary Kay Inc., a global leader in skin care innovation, in partnership with the European Society for Dermatological Research, recently announced its inaugural Mary Kay Skin Health/Skin Disease Research Grant awardees at a special virtual event prior to the First International Societies for Investigative Dermatology conference in May. Grant recipients are researchers conducting groundbreaking, innovative studies in skin health and skin disease.
President-Elect of the ESDR and Chair of
the Scientific Program Committee of ESDR
“Mary Kay is dedicated to advancing skin and nutritional health research globally, and we know this cannot be done alone. Collaboration across industries, academic institutions, and clinicians is critical, which is why we are proud to partner with ESDR to furnish the first-ever Mary Kay-ESDR Skin Health/Skin Disease Research Grants. These grants bring this larger community together for new inspiration for the future, and Mary Kay is proud to be a part of this opportunity. We are excited to see how these recipients bring greater advancements to different aspects of skin health research.”
Dr. Lucy Gildea, Chief Innovation Officer, Product and Science at Mary Kay.
The Mary Kay Skin Health/Skin Disease Research Grants were announced at last year’s meeting in partnership with ESDR. The $20,000 grants were to be awarded to two researchers conducting incredible work in skin research to uncover new perspectives and invention strategies. In the months following the 2022 ESDR meeting, the company received applications from scientists across all of Europe.
The two grant awardees ultimately selected were:
- Dr. Michael Cangkrama, (Switzerland) Senior Scientist, Department of Biology, Institute of Molecular Health Sciences, ETH Zürich – Dr. Cangkrama is working on molecular and cellular mechanisms underlying the development and progression of epithelial skin cancers, the most common types of cancer in humans. His research projects will focus on investigating molecular mechanisms of squamous cancer development and the role of the tumor microenvironment using state-of-the-art approaches. He will utilize the grant to further develop his independent projects and continue to pursue positions as an independent group leader or Assistant Professor in Europe.
- Dr. Clarisse Ganier, (United Kingdom), Research Associate at the Center of Gene Therapy and Regenerative Medicine in King’s College London. Dr. Ganier is part of the Human Cell Atlas initiative – an international collaborative effort to map all cell types within the human body – to generate a comprehensive Skin Cell Atlas. As part of this work, they have created a multi-scale spatial atlas of healthy skin and basal cell carcinoma (BCC), incorporating single cell transcriptomics, in vivo optical coherence tomography, spatial global transcriptional profiling and in situ sequencing. Funding for this research will allow her to pursue her professional goals of starting her own laboratory focusing on skin cancer biology by combining multiomics data, both in vitro and ex vivo.
“Congratulations to each of our 2022 grant award recipients,” added Dr. Gildea. “These individuals were carefully chosen in collaboration with the European Society for Dermatological Research—and we are thrilled to support their research.”
“On behalf of the ESDR board, we would like to thank Mary Kay for its support of the ESDR and congratulate this year’s grant recipients for their tremendous contributions to their respective fields. A key objective of our Society is to promote innovative research in investigative dermatology and to support researchers’ activities in translational skin research.”
Eli Sprecher, Chair, Scientific Program Committee of ESDR
The sponsorship and grants, revealed leading up to the inaugural International Societies for Investigative Dermatology Conference in Tokyo, are just the latest efforts by Mary Kay to reinforce the company’s long-standing commitment to advancing skin health research and development. Mary Kay holds more than 1,600 patents for products, technologies and packaging designs in its global portfolio.
View the full Mary Kay-ESDR Skin Health/Skin Disease Research Grants Ceremony recording here.