“Entrepreneurial success should go hand in hand with the promotion of the common good. The Kühne Foundation fulfills this task. With a variety of programs and projects, the founder and the Kühne Foundation also assume their socio-political responsibility.”
The activities were significantly expanded, particularly in the area of logistics. In addition, the new focus area of climate action was established, and the first projects were launched.
Prof. Dr. h.c. Klaus-Michael Kühne
As of November 2025, we welcome Prof. Dr. Kilian Eyerich as a new member of our Scientific Board.
Prof. Dr. Kilian Eyerich is the Medical Director of the Department of Dermatology and Venereology at the University Medical Center Freiburg.
With his appointment to our board, the University of Freiburg becomes an additional research center within the CK-CARE consortium.
The Freiburg site strengthens the research network with its outstanding expertise in T-cell immunology, with a particular focus on tissue-resident memory T cells and their role in the development and persistence of atopic dermatitis. The team aims to apply T-cell–targeted therapies even more precisely in the future and thereby sustainably influence immunological memory in a positive way.
At the core of their work is the recruitment of patients as well as the collection and integration of data and samples from the ProRaD study, a prospective longitudinal study investigating the remission phase of atopic dermatitis and other allergy-associated diseases such as asthma, food allergies, and allergic rhinitis.
We look forward to a successful collaboration and warmly welcome Kilian Eyerich and his team to the CK-CARE consortium.
From October 16–18, 2025, more than 70 international experts gathered at the Medicine Campus Davos for the 5th Global Allergy Forum. Under the theme “Allergy and Environment – Loss of Balance and Ways to Restore It”, participants explored how environmental factors drive the rise of allergic diseases and discussed innovative strategies to restore immune balance. Key topics included nutrition and environmental exposures, the role of skin and mucosal barriers, psychoneuroimmunology, and the use of artificial intelligence in allergy research. The forum’s conclusions will be summarized in the upcoming “Davos Declaration.”
“New and advanced treatments for atopic dermatitis (AD) are moving beyond just managing symptoms. For some patients, these therapies can modify the disease itself, potentially leading to long-term remission (“deep remission”) even after stopping medication. This new treatment goal is called “disease modification.” The aim is to fundamentally change the course of AD and its related health conditions, offering transformative and lasting relief. However, optimal measurement of deep remission remains a key challenge for clinicians, researchers, regulators, and ultimately the payers. Our recent publication in Allergy discussing the Atopic Dermatitis Disease Activity Index (ADDAI), a composite tool to help determine if a treatment has successfully achieved true disease modification, helping doctors and patients know if the right treatment approach has been found. (link to publication).
We are proud to share our latest paper published in Nutrients by the CK-CARE Consortium:
This study, conducted within the CARE birth cohort, provides new insights into how maternal nutrition during pregnancy influences the development of atopic dermatitis in early childhood.
Key findings:
These results underscore the importance of nutritional patterns—not just individual nutrients—in shaping immune development and allergic disease susceptibility.
Congratulations to the research team as well as all members of the CK-CARE study group and our international collaborators.
At CK-CARE, we are committed to advancing prevention strategies for allergic diseases through interdisciplinary and translational research. This study highlights the critical window of opportunity during pregnancy for long-term immune health.
On June 13, 2025, at the EAACI Congress in Glasgow, Peter Schmid-Grendelmeier was honored with the EAACI Clinical Fellow Award 2025. He is the first Dermatologist to receive this prestigious recognition.
We are proud to have Peter Schmid-Grendelmeier as part of our CK-CARE team and to benefit from his outstanding scientific work and extensive expertise. We warmly congratulate him on this well-deserved award!
Atopic Dermatitis and Cardiovascular Disease – a deeper connection?
As part of our ongoing commitment to advancing the understanding of chronic inflammatory diseases, we at CK-CARE are proud to share the results of a newly published study in *Allergy* from our multicenter ProRaD research initiative.
Read the full publication: https://doi.org/10.1111/all.16588