Grant Details and Eligibility Criteria

Get funding for your eczema research! Learn more about each type of grant the National Eczema Association offers on an annual basis.

The National Eczema Association (NEA) offers five types of grants every year: NEA Engagement Grant, NEA Catalyst Grant, NEA Spotlight Grant, NEA Champion Grant and the Childhood Eczema Challenge Grant. Each grant type has its own eligibility criteria, including the goal of the research as well as who can apply for funding. You can find details for each grant type below.

NEA Engagement Grant

Purpose

This award is intended to fuel early-stage ideas by supporting emerging investigators in testing new concepts, piloting experiments or exploring novel data analyses.

Engagement Grants provide small amounts of funding to undertake self-contained research projects that may yield interesting insights and potentially lead to a new line of research. Data from Engagement awards can then be used as the premise to support a larger proposal in the future from NEA or other funding institutions.

Proposals should address at least one of the following research priorities:

Cutting edge basic and translational science
Eczema heterogeneity: Novel insights
Innovations in clinical practice and care
Understanding and alleviating disease burden
Eczema prevention

Number of awards

This is a one-year non-renewable grant. Awards are contingent on the receipt of sufficiently meritorious applications. Number of awards annually is at NEA’s discretion.

Eligibility

Assistant professors (or equivalent) without current or previous NIH R funding as a Senior or Co-PI, post-doctoral fellows, medical residents or fellows, research associates, nurse practitioners/physician assistants, medical and pre-doctoral students/fellows are eligible to apply.

Previous recipients of NEA research grants still meeting these eligibility criteria may apply. The applicant must be personally and actively responsible for the conduct of the proposed research. The applicant does not need to be a United States citizen, and the research does not need to take place in the United States.

Budget

Applicants may request up to $5,000 (USD; direct costs only). Indirect costs are not allowed on NEA research awards. Grant funds may not be used for salary, training experiences, equipment over $1,000 (including computer hardware or software) or travel/conference-related expenses.

NEA Catalyst Grant

Purpose

This award is intended to accelerate the careers of early-career scientists through hypothesis-driven research that lays the foundation for future breakthroughs, as they seek to become an independent research investigator with a commitment to this field.

Catalyst Grants provide promising early investigators with seed grants to help establish a novel and promising line of eczema research, and gather a preliminary, yet meaningful body of data to carry this area of study forward. Data from Catalyst awards can then be used to seek additional, larger-scale funding from the National Institutes of Health (NIH) or other funding entities to conduct additional investigations.

Proposals should address at least one of the following research priorities:

Cutting edge basic and translational science
Eczema heterogeneity: Novel insights
Innovations in clinical practice and care
Understanding and alleviating disease burden
Eczema prevention

Number of awards

This is a one-year non-renewable grant. Awards are contingent on the receipt of sufficiently meritorious applications. Number of awards annually is at NEA’s discretion.

Eligibility

Budget

Applicants may request up to $50,000 (USD; direct costs only). Indirect costs are not allowed on NEA research awards.

Salary/fringe benefit support for assistant professors (or equivalent) should be commensurate with the percent effort dedicated to the project, using the current allowable NIH salary cap. For all other applicants, a maximal 50% effort with associated salary/fringe is allowable for the PI role. Additional research staff support should also be commensurate with project percent effort.

NEA Spotlight Grant

Purpose

This award is intended to promote research in topic areas of special interest that relate to NEA’s advancement of our overall research priorities for eczema. The availability of this grant category will be determined on an annual basis; topics of special interest may vary. For 2025, specific areas of research interest include: patient-centered outcomes research.

Patient-centered outcomes research (PCOR) is crucial for eczema research because it focuses on the experiences, needs and preferences of patients living with the condition. PCOR helps identify which treatments work best for diverse patient populations in real-world settings, improves shared decision-making and drives innovation.

By prioritizing patient voices, PCOR leads to more effective, meaningful and equitable eczema treatments, ultimately improving the lives of those affected by the condition. Applicants for the 2025 Spotlight Grant should include in their application details about how they will engage patients and caregivers in the research process.

Number of awards

This is a one-year non-renewable grant. Awards are contingent on the receipt of sufficiently meritorious applications. Number of awards annually is at NEA’s discretion.

Eligibility

Assistant professors (or equivalent) and above, post-doctoral fellows, medical residents or fellows, research associates and nurse practitioners are eligible to apply.

The principal investigator must be personally and actively responsible for the conduct of the proposed research and eligible to apply for research grants under the guidelines of the applicant’s host institution. The principal investigator does not need to be a United States citizen, and the research does not need to take place in the United States.

Budget

Applicants may request up to $60,000 (USD; direct costs only). Indirect costs are not allowed on NEA research awards.

Salary/fringe benefit support for the principal investigator should be commensurate with the percent effort dedicated to the project, using the current allowable NIH salary cap. Additional research staff support should also be commensurate with project percent effort and is unrestricted, except for research fellows which is limited to 50% effort.

NEA Champion Grant

Purpose

This award provides funding support for experienced researchers with recognized productivity — either within or outside the eczema field — to conduct highly innovative, cutting-edge investigations related to eczema. Data from this award can then be used to seek additional, larger-scale funding from the National Institutes of Health (NIH) or other funding entities to build on these discoveries.

Champion Grants facilitate trail-blazing research by established investigators who have built a life-long career in eczema research, as well as thought leaders from other areas of study that can bring additional new perspectives to the research forefront.

This award also serves as a bridge for previous successful NEA research award recipients by providing a funding mechanism to stay in the eczema research field and strengthen their research program and commitment to advancing our understanding of this serious disease.

Proposals should address at least one of the following research priorities:

Cutting edge basic and translational science
Eczema heterogeneity: Novel insights
Innovations in clinical practice and care
Understanding and alleviating disease burden
Eczema prevention

Number of awards

This is a one-year grant with the option to undergo a competitive renewal for a second year of funding. Awards are contingent on the receipt of sufficiently meritorious applications. Number of awards annually is at NEA’s discretion.

Eligibility

Associate professors and above that have or have had national-level funding as a principal investigator (or Co-PI) within the past five years on an R01 grant or its equivalent (e.g. VA Merit Award, NSF grant, NIH program project or cooperative grant).

Previous recipients of NEA research grants are also eligible to apply provided the following criteria are met:

The NEA research grant has been completed, and final scientific and financial reports have been received by NEA.
At least one (1) peer-reviewed publication has been published or accepted for publication from the NEA-supported research.

Budget

Applicants may request up to $100,000 (USD; direct costs only). Indirect costs are not allowed on NEA research awards.

Salary/fringe benefit support should be commensurate with the percent effort dedicated to the project, using the current allowable NIH salary cap. Additional research staff support should also be commensurate with project percent effort and is unrestricted, with the exception of research fellows which is limited to 50% effort.

Childhood Eczema Challenge Grant

Purpose

Nearly 10 million U.S children under the age of 18 are affected by eczema, with one‐third affected by moderate‐to‐severe disease. Despite recent therapeutic advances, the burdens on these patients, and their families, can be significant and many important research questions remain unanswered.

To address this need, the National Eczema Association (NEA) and the Pediatric Dermatology Research Alliance (PeDRA) are collaborating to support targeted clinical research investigations focused on pediatric eczema with the Childhood Eczema Challenge Grant. Through this grant, NEA and PeDRA intend to accelerate research that improves the health and quality of life of pediatric eczema patients and their families.

The Childhood Eczema Challenge Grant is intended to stimulate early and mid-career scientists as they seek to build and sustain careers as research investigators and future thought leaders within this critical field of study.

Research proposals should address at least one of the following priorities related to pediatric eczema:

Cutting edge basic and translational science
Eczema heterogeneity: Novel insights
Innovations in clinical practice and care
Understanding and alleviating disease burden
Eczema prevention

Priority will be given to proposals that focus on clinical or translational research, are broadly applicable, and include a patient-centered or comparative effectiveness framework. Applications that support both NEA and PeDRA’s commitment to advancing equity, diversity and inclusion across all facets of their organizations and research are encouraged. Proposals that include basic research will be accepted, however, they should be combined with a significant clinical or translational component. Proposals related to the development or enhancement of mobile apps will not be accepted.

Number of awards

This is a one-year non-renewable grant. Awards are contingent on the receipt of sufficiently meritorious applications. Number of awards annually is at NEA and PeDRA’s discretion.

Eligibility

Early and mid‐career investigators (associate professor level or below and within 15 years of finishing training) are eligible to apply. Applicants need not be trained in pediatric dermatology but must hold the degree of MD and/or PhD (or equivalent) and be eligible to apply for grants under the guidelines of their host institution. Applications may be submitted by either a single investigator or multiple investigators at multiple institutions. Applicants do not need to be United States citizens, and the research does not need to be conducted in the United States. Applicants may not hold current R‐level funding from NIH (or equivalent) as PI or Co‐PI, however recipients of past or current NEA and/or PeDRA grants are eligible to apply.

Budget

Applicants may request up to $50,000 (USD; direct costs only). Indirect costs are not allowed. Salary and fringe benefit support is allowed. Staff salary support should be commensurate with the percent effort dedicated to the project and explained in budget justification. PI salary support must adhere to the current allowable NIH salary cap.

How to apply

For detailed timing and grant application instructions, visit the Apply for a Grant webpage. Grant applications typically open each spring and close in the summer. Decisions are typically sent out the following winter.