PeDRA Announces Recipients of 2026 Research Fellowships and Spring EIRGs
June 18, 2026 – 13 new mentored research projects have been awarded funding through the 2026 PeDRA Research Fellowships and April Emerging Investigator Research Grants Programs.
Eight trainees have been awarded 2026 PeDRA Research Fellowships to conduct one year of mentored research under the guidance of a senior investigator in the field of pediatric dermatology. PeDRA continues to increase its annual investment in this growing and competitive program, with a total investment of $200,000 across the eight projects in 2026.
An additional five individuals have been awarded a combined total of $12,500 through the first cycle of the 2026 Emerging Investigator Research Grants (EIRG) Program. This program provides opportunities for a broad group of medical students and pediatric residents to conduct short-term mentored research experiences in the field of pediatric dermatology. The second round of applications for the 2026 EIRG Program are due on October 22, 2026.
Click through the links below to learn more about each of these awardees and the funded projects.
2026 PeDRA Research Fellowships
- Nadean Alnajjar will conduct a project titled “Efficacy Outcomes of Scalp Cooling in Pediatric Solid Tumor Malignancies: A Prospective Case Controlled Study” under the mentorship of Jennifer Huang, MD at Harvard Medical School.
- Anna Ujvary will conduct a project titled “Clinical and Immunologic Characterization of Very Early-Onset Alopecia Areata: Identifying Underlying Inborn Errors of Immunity” under the mentorship of Leslie Castelo-Soccio, MD, PhD at Children’s National Hospital.
- Mitra Mani will conduct a project titled “From Gene Discovery to Therapy: Integrating Genomics and Functional Modeling in Epidermal Nevi” under the mentorship of Keith Choate, MD, PhD at Yale School of Medicine.
- Rachel Greene, MD will conduct a project titled “COMPASS: A PeDRA-Piloted Multicenter Registry of Compounded Off-label Molecular Pathway Agents for Skin Syndromes” under the mentorship of Maria Buethe, MD, PhD at the University of California, Irvine.
- Nicolle Guiot will conduct a project titled “Impacts of laser hair removal on adolescents with hidradenitis suppurativa: a mixed retrospective and prospective observational cohort study” under the mentorship of Rebecca Levy, MD at the Hospital for Sick Children.
- Anahi Ibarra will conduct a project titled “Clinical and Molecular Insights into Pediatric Guttate Psoriasis and its Management” under the mentorship of Wynnis Tom, MD at the University of California, San Diego.
- Dorothy Peng will conduct a project titled “Dupilumab Hesitancy in Pediatric Atopic Dermatitis: Characterizing Caregiver Decision-Making” under the mentorship of Marcia Hogeling, MD at the University of California, Los Angeles.
- Amy Villanueva will conduct a project titled “Acne Scarring and Hyperpigmentation in Diverse Pediatric Populations: A Quality of Life and Epidemiology Survey” under the mentorship of Amy Paller, MD at Northwestern University.
Special thanks to AbbVie, Janssen, Leo Pharma, Novartis, & Sanofi and Regeneron Pharmaceuticals for their support of 2026 PeDRA Research Fellowships. We also extend our gratitude to individual donors and the PeDRA Board of Directors for their support in funding an additional 2026 Research Fellowship through a successful end-of-year fundraising campaign in 2025.
2026 EIRGs (First Cycle / April Awardees)
- Sanaz Lordfard will conduct a project titled “Puberty and pregnancy outcomes following systemic JAK inhibitor exposure in pediatric patients” under the mentorship of Cathryn Sibbald, MD at the University of Toronto.
- Riddhi Patel will conduct a project titled “Toward Consensus in Pediatric Androgenetic Alopecia: A Delphi Study” under the mentorship of Ilka Netravali, MD, PhD at Stanford University.
- Hayden Schandua will conduct a project titled “Camp Navigator: A Pilot Implementation Study to Improve Access to Camp Discovery” under the mentorship of Moise Levy, MD at the University of Texas at Austin.
- David Perez will conduct a project titled “Evaluating the Impact of Statewide Indoor Tanning Bans on Pediatric Melanoma Incidence in the United States from 2002 to 2023” under the mentorship of Elena Hawryluk, MD, PhD and Rebecca Hartman, MD, MPH, FAAD at Harvard Medical School.
- Courtney Smith will conduct a project titled “Expanding Pediatric Acne Epidemiologic Research: Validation of Automated Feature Extraction from Clinical Notes” under the mentorship of Marcia Hogeling, MD at the University of California, Los Angeles.
Looking for funding for your research project? PeDRA is currently accepting applications for several open funding opportunities. To learn more, visit PeDRA’s Grants & Fellowships Page or send us an email.
Interested in supporting research projects focused on childhood skin diseases through the PeDRA Grants and Fellowships Program? Click here to donate now or email us to discuss named grants opportunities.
If you aren’t already a PeDRA member, join us to be eligible to mentor a recipient of a future PeDRA Research Fellowship or EIRG.
Registration and abstract submission are now open for the 14th PeDRA Annual Conference, taking place October 15-17, 2026, in Alexandria, VA. Early Registration ends and applications for the NextGen Research Forum and Travel Scholarships are due July 2, 2026.
