June 13, 2024, marks a decade since the launch of International Albinism Awareness Day. This year’s theme, “10 years of IAAD: A decade of collective progress,” is an invitation to:

• → Celebrate the strides made within the movement, with renewed commitment for the future;
• → Highlight the tireless efforts of albinism groups from around the world;
• → Reflect on the continued legal, policy and practical changes still required to ensure the full and equal enjoyment of rights by persons with albinism.

Over the past ten years, International Albinism Awareness Day has brought much-needed attention to the challenges faced by those with albinism, fostering advancements in research, healthcare, and social inclusion.
As a natural collaborator of Massé World, a leading organization dedicated to supporting the albinism community, we are delighted to highlight the recently launched program by the National Institute of Arthritis and Musculoskeletal and Skin Diseases (NIAMS), a branch of the National Institutes of Health (NIH), titled “Accelerating Research in Understudied Skin Types “directed by Dr. Alexey Belkin, PhD. The purpose of the announcement is to notify the research community that NIAMS is interested in receiving grant applications focused on skin research uncovering the basis for inferior diagnosis, increased prevalence, elevated clinical severity, and altered treatment response in Black Americans and African Americans, Hispanics and Latinos, American Indians and Alaskan Natives, Asians and Asian Americans, and Native Hawaiians and Pacific Islanders with skin diseases. Albinism is among those diseases, as OCA2 type albinism is much more prevalent in Africans and African Americans than Europeans.

Through their research program on human skin pigmentary disorders, championed by Dr. Belkin, NIAMS has long supported studies on albinism. Among the active grants on albinism currently supported by NIAMS, are multi-year studies on “Molecular Determinants of Pigmentation,” by Dr Zubair Ahmed (University of Maryland) and “Genetic and molecular basis for variations in human skin pigmentation,” by Dr Michael Marks (Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia).
As we celebrate World Albinism Day and reflect on a decade of progress, we are renewed in our commitment to advancing the understanding of albinism and championing the wellbeing of the albinism population globally.

To learn more about the NIH announcement, click the link: https://grants.nih.gov/grants/guide/notice-files/NOT-AR-24-009.html 

#AlbinismDay #10IAAD #MasseWorld