Research at Oslo University Hospital

Three Oslo University Hospital scientists received prestigous awards for their outstanding research on Friday June 9th.
The major prize - the "Excellent Researcher Award" - went to Bente Halvorsen. Kushtrim Kryeziu and Håvard O. Skjerven both received the "Early Career Award".
The prize money - 300.000 and 150.000 NOK respectively - is earmarked for research activities.

The awards are distributed anually in order to honour excellent scientific work. The awarding process is organized by the hospital's research committee, while an external Scientific Advisory Board has evaluated the candidates. 

On Friday 26 May, the Minister of Health and Care Services Ingvild Kjerkol received a report from the regional health trust with national key figures and a mention of the best research and innovation projects in the hospitals in 2022.
The Pseudovax project was chosen as one of several important research projects to be presented in this national report. And this specific project was earlier this year selected as the project from our health trust to be presented in connection with the submission of the report to the Minister of Health. Kjersti was invited to give a 12 min oral presentation together with one project from each of the other health regions in connection with the report being handed over to the Minister of Health and Care Services.

The Heart Research Award for 2023 was given to Dan Atar, head of the Ischemic heart disease group at the Division of Medicine. The prize was distributed by by H.M. King Harald.
The National Association for Public Health, who distributes the award, highlights Atar's work with new international guidelines for the treatment of heart disorders, in addition to his participation in a number of professional forums both nationally and internationally.
- Dan Atar is one of the most influential researchers in the world. With this award, we want to thank, but also inspire continued efforts to combat heart disease and stroke, says Secretary General, Mina Gerhardsen.

The University Board at the University of Oslo (UiO) annually awards prizes to scientific staff for outstanding efforts and results. Kjetil Taskén receives this year's innovation prize, and he is awarded the prize for his instrumental work in building up precision cancer medicine in Norway.
- We highlight UiO's very best researchers, communicators and teachers through these awards. This year's five award winners show that long-term, purposeful and hard work contributes to increased competence and knowledge which benefits us all, says rector Svein Stølen.

The Laboratory of Adaptive Immunity and Homeostasis, headed by Professor Jan Terje Andersen, is in the forefront of studies related to the biology of FcRn, which is instrumental in design of antibody and albumin based therapeutic molecules. Last year, the OUH researchers Simone Mester and Torleif Tollefsrud Gjølberg joined Andersen in establishment of Authera AS - a new pre-clinical-stage biotechnology company dedicated to the discovery and development of novel therapeutic biologics. Now the company has revealed that it has entered a collaborative agreement with argenx, which has developed and is commercializing the first-and-only approved FcRn blocker for treatment of IgG-driven autoimmune diseases. 

During the COVID-19 pandemic years, many governments in the world, including in Norway, introduced invasive prohibitions of activities and mobility to control the spread of the virus in times of epidemic surge. 
It is essential to know what works best in mitigating the spread to inform authorities on what to do in the future when a new pandemic hits. As alternative to obligatory measures, governments often formulated advices on behaviours.
Researchers at the Oslo Centre for Biostatistics and Epidemiology of the University of Oslo and the Oslo University Hospital, Norwegian Institute of Public Health, Norwegian Computing Center and Telenor Research have published a scientific article providing insights into the answer, suggesting that advice may be enough in some situations.

Åslaug Helland is awarded the prestigious prize for her excellent molecular and clinical research, particularly on lung cancer diagnosis and treatment and for her efforts to introduce precision oncology for all types of cancer in Norway. The prize, one million NOK, will be presented by HM King Harald V in a ceremony in Oslo on 2 May.
Helland has made important contributions in characterising and identifying target populations of patients and in understanding cancer resistance mechanisms across multiple tumour types. 

The European Commission approved the project Precision Cancer Medicine Repurposing System Using Pragmatic Clinical Trials, PRIME-ROSE on 24 April 2023. The project will run for five years (2023-2028) and is funded by the European Commission Horizon Europe Mission on Cancer with 6 mill EUR. The consortium consists of altogether 24 partners, including nine beneficiaries and fifteen associated partners.
The pan-European PRIME-ROSE project is led by Professor Kjetil Taskén, Head of Institute for Cancer Research at Oslo University Hospital. OUH will receive about 20 mill NOK.