NEA Funded Grant Reports
NEA Funds 2012 Eczema Research
The National Eczema Association provides grants for patient-oriented eczema research. Since 2004, NEA has funded research on topics of primary importance to the eczema sufferer: itch, infection, skin barrier function, prevention and psycho-social aspects of the condition. Many research projects funded by NEA have resulted in multimillion dollar funding from the National Institutes of Health (NIH). This is a tremendous return on our members' investments in NEA's research program!
We are pleased to report three new research grant awards. Each of these grants focus on a different aspect of our research program: basic science, quality of life, and prevention. Thank you to our generous donors who make these research grants possible!
"Assessment of Autonomous Multisensory Intervention Device to Detect and Manage Nighttime Pruritus among Children with Atopic Dermatitis"
Cheryl Riley-Doucet PhD, RN & Hongwei Qu, PhD
Oakland University
Rochester Hills, MI
A multidisciplinary team of researchers from Oakland University will assess the potential of a previously developed monitoring device to be adapted to help manage the treatment of specific symptoms of eczema, specially nighttime itching among children. The project will study the capacity of the biomedical device to automatically detect the onset of anxiety and agitation among children with atopic dermatitis. The multisensory device will monitor levels of sweating, heart rate, motion and skin temperature during nighttime hours and will produce stimuli to prevent prolonged itching and alert parents when their child is agitated. The research will investigate the effectiveness of the device in detecting these physiological symptoms and the potential for it to be used as a treatment tool.
"Identifying Pathways that Enhance Epidermal Barrier Integrity as New Treatment Approaches for Atopic Dermatitis"
Anna De Benedetto, MD
University of Rochester Medical Center
Rochester, NY
This research will evaluate FDA-approved drugs that target specific biological pathways to see if they enhance the skin barrier. The research will utilize state-of-the-art barrier measures in two human skin model systems. There are very few effective treatments for atopic dermatitis that have focused on inhibiting inflammation. The notion that a defect in the skin barrier is in part responsible for the development of atopic dermatitis opens opportunities for therapeutic intervention or prevention by utilizing drugs that could repair the skin barrier. Researchers believe these studies will lead to new and much needed preventative or active treatments for eczema patients.
"A Randomized, Controlled, Evaluator-blinded Study to Evaluate the Efficacy of a Lay Community Health Worker (Promotoras de Salud) Program in Decreasing the Severity of Atopic Dermatitis (AD) in Spanish-speaking Latino Pediatric Patients"
Amit Pandya, MD & Arturo R. Dominguez, MD
University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center
Dallas, TX
The goal of this research is to determine if a Community Health Worker (CHW/Promotora) atopic dermatitis (AD) educational program, which includes home visits, telephone calls, and culturally competent educational handouts improves treatment compliance in Latino Spanish - speaking pediatric patients with atopic dermatitis. Additionally, researchers hope to show that disease severity will decrease and parents - knowledge regarding atopic dermatitis will improve compared to parents not receiving the home visits.
National Eczema Association
Research Grants Program
The National Eczema Association makes an impact by providing grants for key eczema research!
The National Eczema Association (NEA) research program offers grants to established and new investigators in the field. The research projects range from important studies on itch, to genome wide studies, and the objective severity assessment of atopic dermatitis/eczema. This research ultimately benefits patients with eczema by providing much needed basic research data to scientists, physicians and pharmaceutical companies.
Research funding expenditures are supported by the generous donations of our individual donors and corporate partners.
Investigators interested in applying for a National Eczema Association research grant are welcome to contact the NEA office.
NEA Funded Research Grants
All Final Reports in Adobe PDF Format
- Genome-wide Analysis of Atopic Dermatitis
- Patrick Brown, MD PhD and Annika Saaf, PhD
Beckman Center for Molecular and Genetic Medicine
Stanford University Medical Center
- Topical Calcineurin Inhibitors for Atopic Dermatitis: Balancing Clinical Benefit and Possible Risks
- Abrar A. Qureshi, MD, MPH and Michael A. Fisher, MD, MS
Brigham and Women's Hospital
Harvard Medical School
- Do Alopecia Areata and Atopic Dermatitis share HLA alleles and cytokine profiles?
- Nazila Barahmani, MD
Anderson Cancer Center
Houston, TX
- The Central Processing of Pruritus in Atopic Dermatitis using Arterial Spin Labeling Functional MRI
- Gil Yospovitch, MD and Robert Coghill, PhD
Department of Neurobiology and Anatomy
Wake Forest University
- The Effect of Visual Stimuli on Itch Perception Intensity in Healthy and Atopic Dermatitis Patients
- Gil Yospovitch, MD and Robert Coghill, PhD
Department of Neurobiology and Anatomy
Wake Forest University
Final Report: PENDING
- Why subjects with atopic dermatitis (AD), as compared to non-atopic, healthy controls, have a barrier defect in the skin that makes them more susceptible to skin infections.
- Anna De Benedetto, MD and, Lisa A. Beck MD
Department of Dermatology
University of Rochester (NY)
- Cathelicidin antimicrobial peptides influence mast cell granule composition and release: control of itch by the innate immune system.
- Anna Di Nardo, M.D., Ph.D.
Department of Dermatology
University of California, San Diego
- The Role of the Skin Barrier in the Development and Prevention of Atopic Dermatitis
- Eric Simpson, MD
Department of Dermatology
Oregon Health & Science University
