The IngaBritt and Arne Lundberg Research Foundation has awarded grants totaling SEK 26.7 million to 15 researchers this year, including 10 from the Sahlgrenska Academy.
The foundation mainly funds purchases of instruments and equipment, and gives priority to research conducted in the Gothenburg region. Its aim is to promote scientific medical research, with the emphasis on cancer, renal disease and orthopedics.
The two largest grants this year, each of SEK 2.5 million, have gone to Peter Thomsen/Björn Rydevik and Suchitra Holgersson.
Working together on orthopedic implants
The overarching question for Peter Thomsen and Björn Rydevik is understanding the mechanisms for the integration and loosening of orthopedic implants.
“The inflammatory process is important in both cases. A more in-depth knowledge is therefore needed of the local environment at the surface of the implant and the signaling paths that are active”, says Peter Thomsen.
The research group has previously shown that nanostructures on the implant surface inhibit bacteria such as Staphylococcus epidermidis.
“We’re now working intensively on understanding how this happens, partly by looking at how bacterial biofilms can be prevented. Together with clinical research groups, we’re trying to develop strategies for infection control”, says Margarita Trobos, whose thesis looked at the transmission of antibiotic resistance. Both she and her colleague Karin Ekström are part of Peter Thomsen’s research group.
“We’ve previously demonstrated that cells that grow attached to implants sense the chemical and topographical characteristics of the surface of the material”, says Karin Ekström.
Recently the group was able to show that, by releasing small membrane-bound packets called exosomes, the inflammatory cells can stimulate human connective tissue stem cells to develop into bone-forming cells.
“We’re very pleased and grateful to win this grant. We can now buy important equipment that will enable us to study in detail very small numbers of cells and molecules, changes in cells’ phenotype, and the composition of exosomes at the interface between implant and tissue”, says Peter Thomsen.
Building tissues for transplantation
Suchitra Holgersson’s research group is working on refined and advanced techniques for building individualized tissues for transplantation in the laboratory.
“We’re firmly convinced that progress in regenerative medicine will revolutionize the treatment of many patient groups and lead to better quality of life and benefits for society”, says Holgersson.
The grant from the foundation will be used to purchase a bioprinter that can recreate tissues such as blood vessels and liver tissue, as well as body parts such as ears and noses, by printing cells and tissue skeletons in three dimensions. The group also plans to purchase a bioreactor to make it possible to grow human tissues in the laboratory.
THE COMPLETE LIST
The following have been awarded grants from the IngaBritt and Arne Lundberg Research Foundation in 2014:
Jón Karlsson, Institute of Clinical Sciences, Department of Orthopedics
SEK 1 200 000
Peter Thomsen, Institute of Clinical Sciences, Department of Biomaterials
SEK 2 500 000
Suchitra Holgersson, Institute of Clinical Sciences, Department of Surgery
SEK 2 500 000
Susanna Cardell, Institute of Biomedicine, Department of Microbiology and Immunology
SEK 2 000 000
Maria Falkenberg, Institute of Biomedicine, Department of Medical Biochemistry and Cell Biology
SEK 2 000 000
Ulf Smith, Institute of Medicine, Department of Molecular and Clinical Medicine
SEK 1 000 000
Börje Haraldsson, Institute of Medicine, Department of Molecular and Clinical Medicine
SEK 1 500 000
Lena Carlsson, Institute of Medicine, Department of Molecular and Clinical Medicine
SEK 1 500 000
Ulf Lerner, Institute of Medicine, Department of Internal Medicine and Clinical Nutrition
SEK 1 500 000
Jan Lötvall, Institute of Medicine, Department of Internal Medicine and Clinical Nutrition
SEK 2 000 000
The IngaBritt and Arne Lundberg Research Foundation
Arne Lundberg was a leading Swedish industrialist. He served as CEO of AB Fortia (then owner of Pharmacia AB), chairman of Adaco AB and a director of Pharmacia AB, Säfveåns AB, Återförsäkrings AB Skandia and the Gothenburg Chamber of Commerce. He died in 1973.
His wife IngaBritt established the foundation in his memory. She was made an honorary doctor of medicine at the Sahlgrenska Academy in 1995 and died on June 6, 1999, making an additional bequest to the foundation.
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