KI researcher awarded international fellowship for melanoma research
Matthew Hunt at Karolinska Institutet is one of the recipients of the IBSA Foundation Fellowships 2025. He is awarded the fellowship for a research project on new treatment strategies for aggressive skin cancer.
The international research fellowship IBSA Foundation Fellowships is aimed at young and talented researchers and seeks to provide them with the opportunity to conduct outstanding research.
Matthew Hunt, a postdoctoral researcher at the Division of Dermatology and Venereology, Department of Medicine, Solna, was one of six researchers selected following an international review process.
This year’s call received 398 applications from 64 countries, the highest number since the fellowship was established 13 years ago.
Seeking new ways to treat aggressive skin cancer
Matthew Hunt is awarded the fellowship in dermatology for a project on melanoma, the most aggressive form of skin cancer. His research focuses on mitochondrial dynamics — the processes that regulate the shape and function of the cell’s energy-producing organelles — and how these influence tumour development and treatment resistance.
The project specifically investigates melanomas with mutations in the NRAS gene, a patient group for which effective targeted treatments are currently lacking. By combining analyses of patient material with experimental models and gene editing, the research aims to identify new therapeutic targets.
“This fellowship is a great opportunity to deepen our understanding of how melanoma cells adapt and survive treatment. By focusing on mitochondrial processes, we hope to identify new vulnerabilities that could be targeted in future therapies, particularly for patients who currently lack effective treatment options,” says Matthew Hunt.
Fellowships promoting global and equitable research
The IBSA Foundation Fellowships are awarded annually to researchers at the beginning of their careers.
The programme includes fellowships of EUR 32,000 each across six therapeutic areas: dermatology, endocrinology, fertility and urology, healthy ageing and regenerative medicine, pain medicine, and rheumatology and orthopaedics.
The awards were presented at a ceremony in Barcelona in May 2026, in the presence of representatives from academia and research organisations.