GRANT. Claes Ohlsson, Professor at the Institute of Medicine, is one of five successful clinical researchers that have now been named a Wallenberg Clinical Scholar. Together with his colleagues at the Centre for Bone and Arthritis Research, he runs completely unique research on osteoporosis and fractures.
Along with being named, comes a generous research grant totaling SEK fifteen million, distributed over five years, which the group can freely allocate.
“It represents enormous security for the group. The foundation trusts that we will conduct excellent research and thus gives us the opportunity to focus on slightly bolder projects,” says Claes Ohlsson.
There are also excellent opportunities that the funding from the Knut and Alice Wallenberg Foundation will be extended by five years. After evaluation, the Foundation plans to extend funding to just over half of the researchers named as Wallenberg Clinical Scholars.
“It is an amazing opportunity to receive such a substantial grant for five years with the possibility of it being extended to ten years. There are almost no other such grants! I have to ensure that we achieve something great in the coming five years, so that I will be one of those that receive extended funding,” says Claes with a wry grin.
Both bone strength and fall risk
Swedes and Norwegians have the highest risk in the world of, at some point, fracturing a bone due to osteoporosis. The older the population becomes, the more common the disease. The Centre for Bone and Arthritis Research (CBAR) where Claes Ohlsson is Director, gathers some thirty researchers into several independent groups that collaborate on the goal of reducing the risk of patients getting fractures. The research concerns both skeletal strength and the patient’s risk of falling.
“If you do not fall, you will not fracture,” notes Claes and continues,
“The risk of falling affects both how much muscle a person has and how well their muscles work, as well as our balance and ability to coordinate our movements.”
Completely different diseases
Many osteoporosis researchers in the world gather in large consortia to look for DNA markers that are associated with the disease, but that is often where the research stops. By also investing in stricter, more focused international collaborations, Claes Ohlsson has been able to take osteoporosis research a step further. Patients’ bones have been examined with high resolution computed tomography, which provides the foundation for a mapping of specific bone phenotypes, namely, skeletal characteristics that are affected by both genes and environment.
“We have been able to show that the genetic signals for the various specific bone parameters are completely different, which supports that different skeletal components are regulated differently,” says Claes, who means that osteoporotic fractures should be viewed as a group of diseases, rather than a single disease.
“Bone has different characteristics depending on what type of bone we are talking about. Essentially, there are different mechanisms that cause vertebral fractures, hip fractures and forearm fractures. I believe that different fracture types are different diseases and should be treated and diagnosed specifically.”
With the help of large scale methods of gene analysis, Claes Ohlsson and his colleagues have been able to identify exactly which genes and which proteins affect the risk of a fracture, including WNT16, which they have shown plays an important role in forearm fractures, SOAT-1 that is associated with hip fractures and GREM2 that is linked to vertebral fractures. What is unique about his research is that he, in subsequent experimental studies mapped, in detail, the mechanisms on how the identified proteins affect fracture risk.
The most successful clinical researchers
To be named a Wallenberg Clinical Scholar is preceded by a long process, where the applicant is peer reviewed in a multi-stage process, where the Royal Swedish Academy of Science (KVA) is responsible for investigating the candidates. After an internal process, Claes Ohlsson was first named one of the University’s candidates, then came a review by KVA’s expert group, which continued on to international judges and then back to KVA, where he presented his research in front of some of the country’s foremost translational clinical researchers. The decision was made by the Board of the Knut and Alice Wallenberg Foundation at the end of March and was made public on Wednesday April 13.
In 2016, five Wallenberg Clinical Scholars were named in a new program for clinical researchers established by the Knut and Alice Wallenberg Foundation. The program supports some of the most successful clinical researchers at Swedish universities and university hospitals. In total, the endeavor will encompass 25 of the country’s best clinics. After five years, up to 15 of the 25 originally named Clinical Scholars will be evaluated and compete for a further five year’s funding.
TEXT: ELIN LINDSTRÖM CLAESSEN
