Horizon Europe grants over SEK 100 million to researchers at Karolinska Institutet

“Oral diseases and conditions affect more than 3.5 billion people worldwide and are also one of the most expensive areas of disease to treat. Unfortunately, oral care is often forgotten when talking about general health, so that is why I am very happy and proud that our research project has been granted funding from Horizon,” says Nagihan Bostanci.

Although oral diseases are considered preventable through daily oral hygiene, it does not turn out so well for everyone because there are several obstacles to effective oral care. The goal of the project is to improve patients’ oral health through dialogue and measures involving citizens and patients as well as suppliers, dental practitioners, and decision-makers.

“Unfortunately, the current dental care system has many limitations, and we shall therefore develop an innovative, patient-driven dental care model that optimizes oral health and overall well-being, especially among vulnerable groups,” says Nagihan Bostanci.

There is a need for a more holistic approach to oral health, including greater implementation of combined personal healthcare/dental care. As part of this, researchers will involve patients and survey the patient’s journey. The aim is to create a better understanding of patients’ experiences of interprofessional care with several care paths, such as periodontitis and diabetes. They will also investigate whether so-called digital companions, such as health apps, can strengthen patients in their oral care.

Reuse of medicines saves time and money

Another exciting project is REMIDi4ALL, the purpose of which is to increase the possibilities of reusing medicines. The project, which runs for five years, has been awarded EUR 23 million, of which Karolinska Institutet’s share amounts to almost SEK 18 million.

“Among other things, we will identify, test and validate how existing medications can be used in new treatment areas, which will create the potential to reduce both the time and the extensive costs that drug development entails,” says Annika Jenmalm Jensen, researcher and head of the core facilities at the Department of Medical Biochemistry and Biophysics, MBB, at Karolinska Institutet.

REMIDi4ALL, which is run by KI and 23 other European organisations, will develop and provide a research and innovation platform with expertise and services in all areas required for drug repurposing to be high-quality and point-of-care. An important part of the project is about collecting and developing advanced so-called in silico tools for machine learning and artificial intelligence. The platform’s various processes and tools will first be validated using four pilot projects representing disease states related to cancer, rare diseases, and infectious diseases. Päivi Östling, a researcher at the Department of Oncology-Pathology at Karolinska Institutet, will be responsible for one of these pilot projects.

“Karolinska Institutet will, through MBB’s core facilities, lead the work in preclinical development and validation but also contribute broadly to the construction of the platform,” says Annika Jenmalm Jensen.