DEBRA UK wants to fund you to help create a world where no one suffers with Epidermolysis Bullosa (EB). This painful and life-limiting condition affects many major organs of the body, including skin, eyes, kidneys, gastrointestinal and urinary tracts, causing painful blistering, scarring and increased risk of skin cancer.

The research and dedication of those finding a cure for EB is the hope we, with EB, need. It allows us to think of a time where life could be easier; where our days are not dependent on how our skin is managing. This is what EB research means to me."

- Chloe Armour, DEBRA Member

Our four overarching EB research priorities are those we view most likely to deliver outputs for people living with EB:

• Drug re-purposing and drug discovery – can your work on EB, eczema, psoriasis, skin cancer or other skin conditions contribute to developing a treatment pipeline to slow, stop and/or reverse EB? We will fund work to identify and select candidate repurposed drugs for clinical trials.
• Patient-centred research themes – can your research on eye/dental health, podiatry, skin care, nutrition or other relevant areas be translated into interventions that benefit patients? We will fund multidisciplinary translational research.
• The causes and progression of EB – are you researching the drivers of EB, the relationship between genes and proteins, the role of the immune system and the progression of cancer within EB? We will fund work to understand the causes of EB.
• Raising a new generation of EB researchers – are you building a strong community of highly trained, innovative researchers into EB or moving from another field into EB research? We will fund PhD students and career development fellowships.

Together we #FightEB, together we will beat EB.

If you want more information on our research work, please read our research strategy.

Please take two minutes to leave your details so we can contact you with future funding opportunities.

 

 

What type of research project does DEBRA UK fund?

Our key criteria will be scientific and treatment potential in relation to EB. Applications must have clear aims and objectives to advance scientific understanding of EB and therapeutic interventions. Projects must be feasible and achievable in the stated time period as funding cannot be extended.

We offer six types of grant:

PhD studentships

PhD grant awards for 3-year projects to develop degree graduates into EB researchers. The criteria will be the same as for project grants with the addition of quality of research environment and training for students.

• DEBRA/MRC clinical research training fellowship: Sep 2022.
• Opens on 22 July 2022 with a deadline of 7 September 2022.

How to apply

Application is through the MRC Website, where you can also find guidance on the application process. If you wish to discuss your proposed research area in advance of submission, please contact Dr Sagair Hussain, our Director of Research.

Clinical research fellowships

Awards for registered healthcare professionals to establish themselves as independent investigators to run their own group and develop their own research interest in EB. The aim is to create future leaders in the EB field. In partnership with the Medical Research Council (MRC)

• DEBRA/MRC Clinician Scientist Fellowship: Sep 2022
• Opens on 22 July 2022 with a deadline of 7 September 2022

How to apply

Application is through the MRC Website, where you can also find guidance on the application process. If you wish to discuss your proposed research area in advance of submission, please contact Dr Sagair Hussain, our Director of Research: [email protected].

Non-clinical research fellowships

Awards to support post-doctoral researchers at early and intermediate stages of their career to establish themselves as independent investigators to run their own group and develop their own research interest in EB. The aim is to create future leaders in the EB field. In partnership with the Medical Research Council (MRC)

• DEBRA/MRC Career Development Awards: Sep 2022
• Opens on 5 August 2022 with a deadline of 14 September 2022

How to apply

Application is through the MRC Website, where you can also find guidance on the application process. If you wish to discuss your proposed research area in advance of submission, please contact Dr Sagair Hussain, our Director of Research: [email protected].

Small grants

Small grant awards support small pilot studies such as generation of preliminary data or feasibility studies which would not normally attract funding. The aim is to make novel ideas more competitive for larger follow up funding grants.

We have partnered with Fight for Sight to offer a small grant up to £15,000 to clinical or research scientists to support vision loss related research in Epidermolysis Bullosa and should be used to collect preliminary/pilot data to develop follow on applications. Researchers currently working in fields outside of vision research are welcome to apply.

• DEBRA/Fight for Sight Small Grant Awards: July 2022.
• Opens early April 2022 with a deadline of 28 July 2022 5pm.

How to apply

Application is through the Fight for Sight website, where you can also find guidance on the application process. If you wish to discuss your proposed research area in advance of submission, please contact Dr Sagair Hussain, our Director of Research: [email protected].

Project grants

Awards up to three years will be available to researchers through our research calls. Funding will be judged on relevance to EB, scientific merit and novelty. Applicants must demonstrate the potential benefit to EB patients in the research proposal.

Programme grants

Awards will be provided where collaboration between several groups is required such as clinical projects adopting a multicentre approach.

To receive application information and be kept informed of all future funding opportunities, please register your interest with [email protected].

We would encourage all interested applicants to register their contact details with us so we can keep you informed of funding opportunities. 

Summary applications that meet our criteria will be reviewed by our multi-disciplinary Care and Research (CAR) Committee which includes lay representation so that families who suffer with EB can be involved in our funding decisions.

Successful applicants will be requested to submit a full application for consideration by our Medical and Scientific Advisory Panel whose recommendations will be presented to the trustees of DEBRA UK for approval.

Feedback will be provided on unsuccessful applications.

Successful applicants for DEBRA UK funding will be paid quarterly in arrears on receipt of an appropriate invoice.

An annual progress report will include scientific, financial and lay reports on reaching aims laid out in the original application.

Copies of all published papers, submitted manuscripts, conference abstracts and posters should be sent to DEBRA throughout the grant period and thereafter when work funded by DEBRA UK is presented.

At the end of the grant period, a final report will be required, including a lay summary, along with a list of publications in peer-reviewed journals.

Funding cannot be extended so it is important to define viable outcomes for the period of the grant.