DEBRA UK is pleased to announce that it has agreed a new partnership with Action Medical Research for Children to support their research into finding effective treatments that could promote wound healing for children living with epidermolysis bullosa simplex (EBS).

EBS is the dominant type of EB, a rare, genetic skin blistering condition which causes the skin to become very fragile and tear or blister at the slightest touch. Currently there is no cure, however new therapies for modifying disease severity have the potential to provide major benefits and improve quality of life for children and families suffering from this rare disease.

The new partnership will see DEBRA contribute £99,876 to support Action Medical Research for Children with a three year research project specifically focused on epigenetic gene regulation in EBS.

This important new research study aims to build upon previous progress made by the researchers in recent laboratory studies, which have looked at the makeup of the skin’s DNA in children with EBS to understand if correcting mutations in the structure of the skin cells could lead to significant improvements in terms of wound healing and blister resolution.

The research will be led by Professor John Connelly, PhD and conducted by teams based at the Centre for Cell Biology and Cutaneous Research and the School of Engineering and Materials Science, Queen Mary University of London.    

Commenting on this important new research study, DEBRA CEO Tony Byrne said:

We were delighted to be approached by such an esteemed organisation as Action Medical Research for Children, who have an enviable track record of funding vital research to help sick and disabled babies, children, and young people. We look forward to working with them and the research teams at the Queen Mary University of London over the next 3 years to get a step closer to having treatments to alleviate some of the symptoms for children living with EBS.

Action Medical Research for Children Chief Executive Julie Buckler said:

Funding research into rare diseases such as epidermolysis bullosa simplex (EBS) is important and we are delighted to be partnering with DEBRA UK to work towards developing a new treatment to help improve the lives of children, and their families, living with EBS.

For more information about the study please visit the Action Medical Research website.