Galderma Skin Pact Awards: from Vision to Reality

Following a substantial number of votes cast by supporters in the dermatology field, one of the much-awaited events at the 2015 World Congress of Dermatology was the announcement of this year’s winners for theGalderma SKIN PACT Awards. Launched in autumn 2014, in partnership with the International League of Dermatological Societies (ILDS), the Awards recognize original dermatology projects which could have a positive impact in advancing sustainable innovation through Community Leadership and Continuing Education.

In addition to the winners selected by the community voting, the Expert Panel agreed a further project from each category: Community Leadership and Excellence in Education. At a special ceremony, the four winning projects, selected from over 100 applications across 26 different countries, were awarded US$15,000 to realise their projects.

I am very pleased to share with you the details of these winning projects, which represent another significant step towards improving dermatology communities and patient quality of life.

In the Community Leadership Award category, the winning project selected by the community comes from Taiwan and consists of a unique mobile app, designed by staff at the National Cheng Kung University Hospital, to facilitate better interaction between patients with epidermolysis bullosa and physicians.

The other award in this category, selected by the Expert Panel, comes from Germany. Under the auspices of the European Society of Cutaneous Lupus Erythematosus this project aims to investigate the role of sunscreens in the prevention of lupus erythematosus flares and disease activity via a pan-European observational study.

In the Excellence in Education Award category, the community voted for a project from the Aurora Skin Cancer Centre in Colombia, designed to encourage healthy sun protection behaviours in Latin children by evaluating the impact of a new children’s book, ‘A Sun Protection Tale’, on school children.

In this category the Expert Panel also awarded a project from Italy to establish a pilot “Bed-to-Bench and Back” research training programme for dermatology residents. This programme, in the form of online lectures and practical sessions, teaches basic laboratory techniques and their applications to dermatology research, and also aims to improve understanding of the cellular and molecular basis of skin disorders.

I know that the quality of all the submissions was extremely high and that it was difficult for the community and the Experts to make their choice. It is extremely encouraging to realise just how many talented and committed members of the dermatology community the world over are motivated to make a difference to the daily lives of people affected by skin diseases and of those who work with them.

Galderma is very proud to have launched the SKIN PACT programme and we are all looking forward to seeing these inspired visions become a reality as we are kept updated on their progress over the coming months.

My warmest congratulations to all the winners!