The L’Oréal group, the World’s leader in beauty products, has announced  the launch of the 2020 edition of its African Hair & Skin Research Grant. The winner, who will be chosen by a panel of nine African and international scientific jury, will be awarded the grand prize of 10,000 Euros to support their one-year research project. Research applications will be received on www.africaderm.com through  28th August 2020. 

Established in 2013, L’Oréal’s African Hair & Skin Research Grant aims at promoting African scientific excellence, through encouraging clinical and basic research, conducted by scientists from the Continent, on African skin and hair – a field that remains largely unexplored. In its 7 years of existence, the grant scheme has received over 40 research proposal submissions from 17 Sub-Saharan African countries. 

Last year, 3 scientists from Kenya, Senegal and Nigeria, focusing on pollution, post-inflammatory hyperpigmentation and traction alopecia, respectively, were each awarded a research grant at a prestigious ceremony held in Dakar, Senegal on 7 October 2019. 

The Grant also opens the door to African scientists to gain advice from a network of worldwide experts, and offers them greater visibility. Last year, renowned South African dermatologist and previous grant winner, Professor Ncoza Dlova, published her research findings in the prestigious high impact international journal New England Journal of Medicine.

In parallel to the Grant’s 2020 Edition launch, L’Oréal has also unveiled AfricaDerm.com, the first dermatological website dedicated to African skin and hair concerns. The website aims at providing a centralised channel for the exchange of scientific information for all hair and skin experts in Sub-Saharan Africa. 

As such, the website features a directory of African hair & skin experts in Africa, national dermatologist’s societies in the continent, and free education materials for patients. It will be constantly updated with congress information, grant announcements and public outreach programs happening in the continent.  

Dr. Michele Verschoore, Medical Director, L’Oréal Research & Innovation, France, commented: “For more than three decades, L’Oréal has built scientific programs for increasing knowledge on African Hair & Skin. Our collaboration with the medical and scientific communities across Africa have allowed for over 50 scientific publications by African teams in international dermatology journals, 5 Winners of the L’Oréal African Hair & Skin Research grant, and the creation of the first and only dermatology professional association for the whole African continent, the African Society of Dermatology and Venereology (ASDV)”.