Research at Oslo University Hospital

The first Institute Seminar for the autumn season of 2019 will take place Wednesday August 21st at 12:00 in the auditorium in the Research Building, Montebello.

The speaker is Viola Lobert, PhD, Scientist in the research group of Tor Erik Rusten, Department of Molecular Cell Biology.

Title of her talk: Targeting ion transport to prevent metastasis in mucinous colorectal cancer

In a recent publication in the journal Cell Reports, Kari-Anne M Frikstad, in team with six international collaborators and her co-workers in Sebastian Patzke's project group at the Institute for Cancer Research, provides new insights on how cells build a functional antenna for sensation of a key developmental signaling pathway required for normal brain development.  

In a recent paper in the journal Autophagy, Dr. Yan Zhen and her co-workers in Harald Stenmark's group at Institute for Cancer Research and Centre for Cancer Cell Reprogramming (CanCell) show a mechanism for how autophagosomes are sealed, a crucial step in autophagy.

A consortium of University of Oslo, The International AIDS Vaccine Initiative (IAVI) and the Translational Health Science and Technology Institute (THSTI) has been granted 19.09 MNOK (about U.S. $2.2M) for a period of three years from the Research Council of Norway through the GLOBVAC (Global Health Vaccination and Research) program for the development of broadly neutralizing antibodies as HIV prevention products.

Funding of research-based innovation in Helse Sør-Øst is intended to provide financial opportunities for good ideas that have been developed through research activities at the hospitals and private institutions in the region. The ideas must be based on research results with the potential for commercialisation and/or benefit for society. 

Application deadline is Thursday, September 5th 2019, 16:00.

Funding of ideas and inventions in this context involves financing an innovation process, that is to say that the innovation funds will be used to support activities that are linked to defined milestones in the innovation process and which ensure that the development of the idea is continued towards implementation.

The South-Eastern Norway Regional Health Authority (Helse Sør-Øst RHF) hereby announces a call for applications for health research in this region. The total funding available for this call is approximately 130 million Norwegian kroner.

Application deadline is Thursday, September 5th 2019, 16:00.

The following research categories are available for funding of projects starting in 2020:
PhD fellowships, Postdoctoral fellowships, Career fellowships, Support for clinical research projects, Open project support

In a recent article in Nature Communications, published online on the 28^thof June, 2019, PhD student Marte Sneeggen and her coworkers at the Institute for Cancer Research and the Center for Cancer Cell Reprogramming (CanCell) identify a new mechanism how the tumor suppressor WDFY2 prevents metastasis by controlling recycling of the matrix metalloproteinase MT1-MMP

One of the most serious complications of cancer is the ability of tumors to form metastases. In most cases, the primary tumor can be treated, whereas metastasis is still the major cause of cancer mortality.

The project Protons contra cancer (PROCCA) was selected as one out of eight new convergence environments that receive funding from UiO: Life Science this year. The convergence environment consists of interdisciplinary research groups that address major challenges within health and environment. The PROCCA consortium intends to create an excellent platform for collaborative efforts in proton therapy research in Oslo, and consists of research groups from several departments at UiO and OUS.

The consortium is headed by Eirik Malinen, Department of Physics, UiO, and Department of Medical Physics, OUS. At Institute for Cancer Research, Åslaug Helland, Department of Genetics, is one of the principal investigators, and Randi Syljuåsen and Heidi Lyng at Department of Radiation Biology are collaborators.

In competition between 30 very good applicants, the hospital's external Scientific Advisory Board has selected three new strategic research areas for Oslo University Hospital.

Personalized treatment is central to all three areas; intestinal microflora treatment as part of personalized medicine, ex vivo drug testing as a basis for personalized treatment of intestinal cancer and cell-based immunotherapy against cancer.

The initiatives are led by Johannes Espolin Roksund Hov, Ragnhild A. Lothe and Karl-Johan Malmberg.

The Scientific Adisory Board members were impressed by the high quality of the applications in general and identified several innovative research approaches.