Run in partnership with HS Connect and the HS Foundation.

Overview

Hidradenitis suppurativa (HS) is a devastating chronic inflammatory disease that manifests as recurrent painful nodules under the skin in the intertriginous areas of the body. It is associated with significant impacts on quality of life, psychosocial well-being, and long-term health outcomes of patients as well as consequences for families and caregivers. HS is prevalent, affecting between 1 and 4% of the population beginning in adolescence and persisting into adulthood. Despite the impact of HS, it remains underdiagnosed, undertreated, and understudied particularly in the pediatric and adolescent populations. Contributing to this dynamic are unknowns related to a complex disease etiology, stigma associated with HS symptoms (e.g., sweating, itching, and scarring commonly in the genital region), and limited treatment options to date with even fewer available for children under the age of 12.

To address the needs of children and adolescents living with HS, the Pediatric Dermatology Research Alliance (PeDRA), HS Connect, and the HS Foundation are offering the 2026 Pediatric HS Challenge Grant to support an early-to-mid career investigator for a one-year project focused on a high-priority, patient-centric research topic.

Focus

Proposals should address one or more of the following high-priority research topics:

• Predicting treatment effectiveness and risk utilizing real world evidence and/or experience
• Early disease and factors involved in severe disease development
• Optimizing surgical and procedural approaches to minimize pain, shorten healing time, and reduce recurrence
• Improving recruitment of diverse and representative populations for clinical studies, trials and advanced therapeutics

Proposals may be submitted by a single principal investigator or team of investigators, as they seek to build and sustain a larger scale research program within this critical field of study. Projects may be conducted in the areas of basic science, translational research, clinical research, epidemiology, or technology. Priority consideration will be given to projects led by early-to-mid career principal investigators who are part of multidisciplinary teams including researchers, clinicians, and patient stakeholders. Additional priority will be given to applications that support PeDRA, HS Connect, and HS Foundation’s shared commitments to advancing equity, diversity, and inclusion and those that demonstrate a plan to leverage outcomes to form the basis for larger scale future projects.

Important Details

• Up to $50,000 to support one year of research
• One award anticipated for this funding cycle
• Earliest project start date: January 1, 2027
• Application deadline: Thursday, July 30, 2026