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Newly discovered immune cell could improve treatment for autoimmune diseases

Associate Professor Søren Egedal Degn from Aarhus University has received DKK 2.8 million from the LEO Foundation to study the relationship between inflammation of the skin, a specific type of immune cell, and autoimmune disease. Among other things, the research could improve treatment of psoriasis and atopic eczema.

Søren Egedal Degn is an associate professor at the Department of Biomedicine and the vice-chair of the inflammation network at Aarhus University, Health.

Many people with autoimmune diseases experience irritating skin disorders. With a grant from the LEO Foundation, Associate Professor Søren Egedal Degn from the Department of Biomedicine can now launch a research project to examine how immune effects in the skin can contribute to the development of autoimmunity in humans. Søren Egedal Degn will study how a newly discovered type of immune cell, the so-called T follicular regulatory cell, can help control unwanted immune reactions in the skin.

A better understanding of the potential of the newly discovered immune cell could contribute to new therapeutic strategies to treat inflammatory skin diseases such as psoriasis, atopic eczema and vitiligo, and perhaps also systemic autoimmune diseases such as lupus and rheumatoid arthritis.

The grant from the LEO Foundation is DKK 2,795,064.

Contact

Associate Professor Søren Egedal Degn, PhD
Aarhus University, Department of Biomedicine
Mobile phone: (+45) 22141703
Email: sdegn@biomed.au.dk