Respiratory and inflammatory diseases constitute a heavy burden for both the individuals affected and for society. AstraZeneca and the Sahlgrenska Academy are now entering into a collaboration in which a guest professorship has been created to reinforce research and drug development in several globally widespread and common diseases.
Respiratory, inflammatory and autoimmune diseases are focus areas given high priority within AstraZeneca’s research. The global pharmaceuticals company is currently conducting several advanced projects in the field, and is leading development in the hunt for new, effective and safe drugs.
Respiratory and inflammatory diseases are also a focus for research carried out at the Sahlgrenska Academy. With a close collaboration between the Academy, the University of Gothenburg, the Sahlgrenska University Hospital and the Västra Götaland Region, plus a number of independent clinics, the Gothenburg region have reached a unique position, in which fundamental laboratory research is directly coupled with day-to-day patient care.
A Unique Guest Professorship
Few scientists represent this collaboration better than medical doctor and researcher into inflammation Anna Rudin. She is now to become a key player in a revolutionary form of collaboration, in which the Sahlgrenska Academy and AstraZeneca reinforce each other in the continued development of the research field, through a new guest professorship.
Anna Rudin is studying the regulatory mechanisms that lie behind allergy and rheumatoid arthritis, and has established herself as one of Sweden’s leading scientists in this field, with support from the Wallenberg Foundation, the Swedish Research Council and the Vårdal Foundation, among others.
Both parties agree that she more than enough satisfies the profile of skills requirements that AstraZeneca and the Sahlgrenska Academy laid down together for the guest professorship, which specified that the person selected should possess expertise within inflammatory diseases and laboratory research methods, carrying out clinical work.
The successful candidate, furthermore, should be a good communicator, dedicated, and interested in drug development.
Linking Research and the Clinic
Anna Rudin will divide her work between research at the Institute of Medicine, a patient clinic in arthritis at the Sahlgrenska University Hospital, and drug development at AstraZeneca.
“To put it simply, I will be giving the views of an academic specialist doctor for a number of current development projects that AstraZeneca is conducting, and I will be the link between fundamental research, drug development, and the patient. This is a unique opportunity for me, where I will have the potential to use everything I have learned through the years, and furthermore be able to learn something new,” says Anna Rudin.
Her wide-reaching network of contacts is another important factor. Anna has been a member of the Associate Professor Appointments Board at the Sahlgrenska Academy, acted as scientific secretary in the Swedish Society for Rheumatology, and been a member of the board at the Karolinska Institutet Center for Allergy Research. This has given her a unique overview of the research field, and she will be able to find the expertise that AstraZeneca needs.
Shared expectations
Maarten Kraan, Head of the Respiratory, Inflammation and Autoimmunity iMed at AstraZeneca in Mölndal sees huge potential in the collaboration:
“By combining the cutting-edge expertise at the Sahlgrenska Academy with our own in this field, we are convinced that we can accelerate the development of new medicines for this vulnerable patient group.”
The Dean of the Sahlgrenska Academy, Olle Larkö, shares these hopes:
“The set-up at the Sahlgrenska Academy has shown that it offers unique possibilities for collaboration, not only between clinic and laboratory, but also between hospital, laboratory and industry. At the Sahlgrenska Academy, we are looking forward with pleasure to further reinforcing our collaboration with AstraZeneca in a very important research field. We hope that in the long term this will contribute to a better quality of life for severely ill patients.”
Anna Rudin took up the guest professorship in May.
By: Krister Svahn
