Henry Lim, MD, Shares Insights into ILDS’ DermImpact Grant Program, Support of Underserved Communities

The International League of Dermatological Societies (ILDS) is actively promoting improvements in dermatological care, recently announcing a commitment of $1 million to advance dermatology training in the Pacific Island Nations through the Pacific Dermatology Training Centre (PDTC) at Tamavua Twomey Hospital in Fiji.¹ This funding aims to enhance access to care for individuals with skin diseases across the region, including Papua New Guinea and the Solomon Islands.

In addition, the ILDS recently announced it is inviting applications for its new DermImpact Grants Program, which offers $20,000 in funding for 3 projects aimed at creating sustainable improvements in dermatological care for underserved communities.² These grants are part of a broader effort to address the critical shortage of dermatology services in various regions, complementing the existing DermLink Grants Program, which provides smaller funding for 1-year projects.

Both initiatives reflect the ILDS's commitment to expanding skin health provision and improving health care access as part of its goal to achieve Universal Health Coverage by 2030. The training programs at PDTC will not only focus on diagnosing and treating tropical skin diseases but also enhance data collection on health issues, ensuring a lasting impact in the Pacific region.

ILDS President Henry Lim, MD, a dermatologist at Henry Ford Hospital in Detroit, Michigan, recently spoke with Dermatology Times to discuss the grant program and the ILDS' efforts to support patients in underserved communities.

Henry Lim, MD

Q&A

Q: What are the primary objectives of the newly launched DermImpact Grants Program, and how does it differ from the existing DermLink Grants Program?

A: The DermImpact grant is a very important project for the ILDS. Essentially, it is a continuation of an in-country support grant that has been going on since 2016. However, this is going to be an expansion and our modification of that grant; specifically, we will have 3 grants that we will award. Each grant is for 2 years. Each year, we will provide 10,000 US dollars in support, so a total of 20,000 per grant. The entire purpose here is capacity building. Specifically, we would encourage organizations or individuals to come in and apply for this in collaboration with other stakeholders, organizations within the region; it doesn't have to be within a country—it can be across the country but within the region—to help to deliver better skin health care for underserved areas of the world. It is an important grant to achieve our objective of skin health for the world, which is an important mission of the ILDS.

Q: Can you provide examples of how previous projects supported by the ILDS have achieved sustainable improvements in dermatological care?

A: We have in-country support grants for Cambodia, Argentina, as well as Mexico—very, very concrete projects from these grants had shown that we were able to improve the care of patients in those 3 areas. At this stage, we want to modify and expand that.

Q: Given that the DermImpact Grants are aimed at underserved communities, what are some of the most pressing dermatological challenges these communities face, and how do you envision the grants addressing these challenges?

A: I think in many communities, there is not enough dermatology or dermatology health care providers—the concept that patients suffering from skin diseases have no place to go. They have no proper way to take care of those diseases. The capacity building on this one is that to expand the expertise of dermatology care, we know that there are not enough dermatologists worldwide. We need to work with other stakeholders, other organizations, to educate them on the power of properly taking care of those specific diseases that may be prevalent in that area, so that patients would have at least access to that care, and therefore improve their skin health.

Q: Looking ahead, how do you see the DermImpact Grants Programme evolving? Are there any plans to expand or modify the program based on the outcomes of the first round of grants?

A: I think the purpose here is that we have a track record, using the 3 countries from the in-country support grant. We do have some ideas of what would be appropriate to do in these type of projects. We will start with 3 selected projects. We will do that for 2 years in terms of the funding, and it is understood that the second round of funding, specifically the second year of funding, would be given only after satisfactory progress report from the first year. We will have to decide internally, then, whether to initiate this funding the following year versus the year after. Specifically, whether we've completed a 2-year cycle first and then get another 2 years of support for other projects, or else we can have the same 3 2-year projects going on, and then in the second year, start with another fresh 3 projects. That is something that we have to decide internally, depending on the success of the program, but we are very optimistic that we properly selected, based on our track record, this would be a successful project.

Q: What advice would you give to organizations or individuals applying for the DermImpact Grants?

A: I think it's very important for them to identify the issue, to identify the partners that they could work with. The partners include other dermatological organizations, patient care organizations, community organizations, because communities obviously have to be involved in these type of projects, and then working together, showing the collaborative effort that can go on. If there is already a track record for them to have collaborated across these different organizations, including patient support groups and community organizations, it's even better, but also identifying a common goal for these stakeholders and organizations to work together. With the support of ILDS to solve or to help to address the program, it would be a sustainable type of program.

Q: What else you would like to share with dermatology clinicians?

A: This is a compliment to the DermLink projects that we have been going on for quite a while. DermLink is much more focused and on smaller projects, but nonetheless, this would complement that. Those DermLink recipient that have received DermLink grants in the past, they can obviously apply, with this different and broader scope in mind. This is complimentary to those more specific, smaller projects, and more focused projects.

References

1. ILDS commits US$1 million to enhance dermatology training for the Pacific Island Nations. News release. ILDS. Accessed September 20, 2024. https://www.ilds.org/news-events/news/ilds-pdtc-funding-announcement/#:~:text=The%20International%20League%20of%20Dermatological,Tamavua%20Twomey%20Hospital%20in%20Suva.
2. ILDS launches new DermImpact Grants Programme. News release. ILDS. September 2, 2024. Accessed September 20, 2024. https://www.ilds.org/news-events/news/dermimpact-2024/