KI researchers awarded European Research Council grants

Rickard Sandberg, senior researcher at the Department of Cellular and Molecular Biology, and Per Svenningsson, professor at the Department of Clinical Neuroscience, both at Karolinska Institutet, have been awarded ERC Consolidator Grants from the European Research Council (ERC).

Rickard Sandberg, who studies molecular gene regulation, receives 1.9 million Euro. Using technology for single cell gene activity analysis, the group aims to map activity in genes originating from each parent of an individual to properties at the cellular and individual level.

ERC Consolidator Grants are awarded to promising young researchers who are in the early stages of their careers.

– It is an honour and an acknowledgement to receive this grant. It enables us to pursue our research program and learn about how our genome is regulated in different tissues, says Rickard Sandberg.

Per Svenningsson, active in Parkinson's disease research, receives an ERC Consolidator Grant of two million Euro for five years. He is awarded the grant to conduct research on the protective mechanisms of a cell receptor, through the use of animal models and tissue from patients with Parkinson's disease. Hopefully, this research will lead to new treatment strategies and biomarkers for Parkinson's.

– The grant means that I will have financial support for venturous research that may prove to be groundbreaking in the long term, says Per Svenningsson.