GRANTS. Four researchers at Sahlgrenska Academy received the equivalent of just over SEK 13 million from the Danish Novo Nordisk Foundation in the latest round of call for applications. One of the projects, led by Suzanne Dickson, will identify previously unknown neurons in the brain involved in regulating our appetite.
The world faces an obesity pandemic, and we lack tools to deal with it, notes Suzanne Dickson. Weight loss surgery is offered to only a small proportion of those suffering from severe obesity, and the drugs available have limited efficacy.
“We need to think outside the box and consider new ways of tackling this problem. Our project focuses on identifying the populations of neurons that control appetite. This will provide candidate pathways, genes, and molecules to target and open up opportunities for new therapies,” says Dickson, a professor of physiology, particularly neuroendocrinology. She has been awarded DKK 3 million from Novo Nordisk, which corresponds to almost SEK 4.5 million.
The researchers hope that the project will lead to discoveries about mechanisms that result in new drug targets for obesity.
New technology delving deeper
In this project, the team wants to go beyond the well-studied hunger neurons in the hypothalamus, called AgRP, to identify additional clusters of neurons involved in the regulation of our appetite. The team will implement new techniques to first identify populations activated when appetite increases and then to determine the function of different subsets of neurons.
“In other words, we will try to find out who does what in the signaling pathways that encode appetite. We have new technology that allows more in-depth exploration, both at the circuit level and of individual cells and the genes they explore. This is still a rapidly advancing field, and new breakthroughs are occurring all the time,” says Dickson.
PROJECTS FUNDED BY NOVO NORDISK FOUNDATION
Claes Ohlsson, professor of hormonal regulation of bone metabolism and growth
The role of gut microbiota to avoid fractures in elderly subjects
DKK 2,000,000
Helena Filipsson Nyström, associate professor of endocrinology
The impact of Grave’s disease in the brain: from autoimmunity to e-health
DKK 1,972,000
Jan Borén, professor of cardiovascular research
Development of inhibitors of liver pyruvare kinase for treatment of NAFLD
DKK 2,000,000
Suzanne Dickson, professor of physiology, particularly neuroendocrinology
Discovering new targets to control body weight: focus on appetite neurones
DKK 3,000,000
By ELIN LINDSTRÖM
