WCMTM University of Gothenburg

How about getting together to enjoy a summer fika and talk about life science? Well, that's exactly what we did this week with team members from the WCMTM research community ☕ 🍰 💬 Thanks for interesting input from all who participated, and a special thank you to Jenny Almkvist, who presented the life science landscape in the Västra Götaland Region, and to Cyril Stahl and Nima Ahmadyan from the research and innovation services who gave a hands on workshop about innovation. We are looking forward to coming networks and events!

A third WCMTM Fellow is now part of The Young Academy of Sweden. Erik Smedler recently joined the Academy, where also Johan Zelano and Michael Schöll are active members. “The Young Academy of Sweden is a strong voice in the research policy debate, and I am looking forward to highlighting the importance of clinical aspects when it comes to research on psychiatric disease,” said Erik, who is Associate professor and medical doctor in molecular psychiatry at the University of Gothenburg. Considering that Erik is also fellow within the WCMTM, a wide network of researchers within the molecular and translational field is open to him, both locally and nationally. “These networks are very important for both receiving input on what policies we need to work on and what the research community is interested in, while also reaching out with decisions and information,” Erik said. https://lnkd.in/d24U2yYH

In the bustling Tygerberg University Hospital in Cape Town, a dedicated research team led by Lina Bergman, is on a mission to improve the lives of women facing the challenges of pregnancy-related complications. Particularly, the team studies preeclampsia, a condition with far-reaching effects on both mother and baby. The team in South Africa is a dynamic group of clinical staff as well as researchers and data specialists, funded partly by The Wallenberg Centre for Molecular and Translational Medicine (WCMTM), where Lina is a Fellow. Together with colleagues in Gothenburg, they are sharing insights toward better outcomes for women's health globally. “We collaborate on all levels, connecting research staff, PhD students as well as coordinators and other parts of the teams in both South Africa and Sweden. The research questions and the setup of the studies are quite similar, although the environment and the patients are different. We back up each other and use each other’s competence and local knowledge so we can carry out the best possible research with the available resources. We are for example now introducing treatment trials at Sahlgrenska Universitetssjukhuset in Gothenburg based on the results from the South African context.” Lina explained. Read more in the reportage on our website. https://lnkd.in/d2CcGupx

🌟 Great presentations by Yike Xie, Evgeniia Shcherbinina, Gayathri Narasimhan, and Angana Patel (who presented in place of Nadia Gul) during the WCMTM and AstraZeneca postdoc seminar in April! In this industry postdoc program, a PI from each organization joins forces with a shared postdoctoral researcher. Together they conduct a research project focused on innovation and health benefits. While presenting methodologies, results, and timelines, the postdocs also underscored a vital aspect: the invaluable access to both the university and the AstraZeneca labs, capabilities, and network. Pernille B. Laerkegaard Hansen who is Executive Director and Head of Bioscience Renal and CVRM at AstraZeneca, was one of the participants at the seminar: “The joint postdoc program is intended as a close collaboration allowing the researchers to work as one single team, although placed in different organizations and locations,” Pernille said. Learn more about the seminar and the ongoing projects at our website https://lnkd.in/dPBaXpgd #innovation #healthinnovation #lifescience #academy #industry #collaboration #astrazeneca #wcmtm #postdoc #

WCMTM Fellow Cristina Maglio shared insights about her lab’s ongoing project where rheumatoid arthritis is in focus – one of the most common rheumatic illnesses. As an auto-immune disease, rheumatoid arthritis is mainly characterized by swelling and pain in the joints. At a joint level, the cells involved in the development of the disease are the so-called fibroblast-like synoviocytes (FLS). In normal conditions, they support the overall health of the joint by producing substances that help repair and maintain the joint tissue. However, in rheumatoid arthritis, these cells become aggressive, supporting inflammation and contribute to bone destruction. “Once FLS become activated, they alter their metabolism to sustain their inflammatory activity. Our project aims to identify the metabolic mechanisms associated with FLS activation in rheumatoid arthritis which could be potential new targets for drug development”, Cristina said. Despite the significant advances in creating drugs to treat rheumatoid arthritis in the past 20 years, many patients with rheumatoid arthritis still experience treatment failure. “The study of the metabolic processes associated with rheumatoid arthritis may also help identifying metabolic predictors of response to treatment. It is crucial to start treating patients with rheumatoid arthritis early and effectively, to enhance patient outcomes." Cristina's group consist of both a wet lab and a dry lab which allows the study of the metabolic factors associated with rheumatoid arthritis both at a systemic and a joint level.

At The Wallenberg Centre for Molecular and Translational Medicine (WCMTM), you have the opportunity to reach your full potential as part of one of the research teams. We offer a thriving, interdisciplinary research environment and collaboration for the advancement of molecular medicine in Sweden. Currently there is for example an open position as Postdoctor in Epilepsy in Johan Zelano group, as well as Postdoctor to study RNA binding proteins in Aishe A. Sarshad group. Welcome to apply! #openpositions #wearehiring #lifesciencepositions #lifesciencejobs #molecularmedicine #gothenburg https://lnkd.in/dxcsVe5d

Yesterday WCMTM University of Gothenburg arranged their yearly Science Day, with interesting sessions and engaging speakers! This event showed that the connection between the SciLifeLab site and WCMTM is becoming closer and closer, a fact which we believe is very important both for the development of the infrastructure and for the quality of the research. In the first session, Olli Kallioniemi, Director of SciLifeLab, gave a thorough overview of SciLifeLab and Elisabet Carlsohn, Site Director in Gothenburg, presented the site, helped chair the session and moderated the panel discussion. In this session there were also representatives from Västra Götalandsregionen and AstraZeneca presenting their views on life science collaborations in our region. In the second session, after a fika, poster and exhibition mingle, there were duo-talks by WCMTM fellows followed by a panel discussion the intersection between the experimental and clinical. We thank the management of WCMTM, Gustav Smith Director and Margit Mahlapuu Co-Director, for a great event!

Fantastic to meet a diversity of researchers, students, and staff from across the university, the Västra Götaland region and Sahlgrenska university hospital, as well as from our partners during the WCMTM Science day! The conference started off with our partners giving their perspectives on the future as well as sharing the motivation behind their engagement in the centre. Following a poster session (science discussions are always cut short by time constraints!), we continued with presentations in so-called Duo-Talks. In pairs and together with a moderator, our fellows shared stories and scientific insights from their unique collaborative journeys. One important take-home message: grab lunch with new people in your surroundings! It might be a really fun lunch, and also the start of a groundbreaking translational project making use of the most recent life science techniques to solve complex questions on rare diseases. Thank you to all who participated, making this event a success in networking, learning, and collaboration. Martin Dalin, Anders Ståhlberg, Volkan Sayin, Anetta Härtlova, Cristina Maglio, Joan Camunas-Soler, Roger Bagge Olofsson Gustav Smith, Margit Mahlapuu, Elisabet Carlsohn, Olli Kallioniemi, Ann Ekberg_Jansson, Rob M. Västra Götalandsregionen, AstraZeneca, SciLifeLab Gothenburg #lifescience #westsweden #gothenburg #molecularmedicine #translational #presicionmedicine #datadrivenlifescience

Our recent PI meeting took us to the cutting-edge Science Faculty building, Natrium, where we explored the latest advancements in Organic and Medicinal Chemistry. Hosted by Alesia T., she and her colleagues introduced a wide range of methods, research projects and applications of the chemistry of small molecules and peptides for drug discovery and delivery. The research groups in organic and medicinal chemistry, study the synthesis and use of organic molecules. Their research contributes to the development of new socially relevant applications, mainly in the field of material chemistry and life sciences. 🔬✨ A huge thank you for hosting the WCMTM network! 🌟 #ChemistryInnovation #ResearchAdvancements #NetworkingSuccess

An impressive study that brings together AI, imaging, and life science 💗