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A new Swedish biobank act comes into force on July 1. It is expected to make it easier for researchers to use biobanks – i.e. collections of samples of human and fetal tissue – and to collaborate.

The web page Research Support & Services has recently been developed to provide an overview of the support and specialised competences available to all researchers, both at their departments and at other units at KI.

From the 31 January 2023, all new clinical trials shall be registered in the EU-joint web portal Clinical Trials Information System (CTIS). CTIS is replacing the old web portal EudraCT. Everything regarding the clinical trial is now managed in one system, compared to the previous procedure for clinical trials applications.

Maria Kowalski-Jahn and Hannes Schihada, two postdocs in the Schulte laboratory, have used a novel technology of fluorescently labelling receptors with a minimally invasive technique and detecting structural rearrangements in a receptor molecule in living cells. These experiments pinpointed how FZDs respond to WNT stimulation by conformational changes in the extracellular domain of the receptor.

A Swedish COVID-19 data portal has now been in operation for a year and forms part of a European network aimed at promoting data sharing and access to data-related resources. The data portal has contributed to increased support for a large number of research projects and publications.

As the pandemic lingers on, more and more emphasis is being placed on the indirect, negative effects (i.e. collateral damage) of the pandemic and related restrictions. Sweden took a relatively lenient approach towards mitigating the pandemic during the spring of 2020, relying on voluntary adherence to recommendations and encouraging elderly to stay at home, avoid social gatherings and public transportation, and to remain physically active outdoors in a safe manner.

How have social distancing and quarantine measures affected older individuals during the COVID-19 pandemic? Recent research lead by Professor Miia Kivipelto’s team provides some important insights – there were several negative effects but at the same time many lifestyles and behaviors did not substantially change during the first wave of the pandemic, and some even improved.