The Swedish Brain Foundation funds 39 research projects at KI
The Swedish Brain Foundation (Hjärnfonden) is making its largest donation to date to Swedish brain research. This year, SEK 152.8 million will be awarded to research projects in neuroscience. A total of 112 research projects in Sweden receive funding, and 39 of these are run at KI.
Swedish brain research has taken important steps forward, but many questions remain unanswered, writes the Swedish Brain Foundation (Hjärnfonden) in a press release.
With this year's award, the Swedish Brain Foundation is giving researchers across the country improved conditions to move their knowledge towards new solutions for brain diagnoses.
For the fifth year in a row, the dividend sum reaches over SEK 100 million and this year a new record is broken with SEK 152.8 million awarded to research projects in neuroscience.
It’s the Swedish Brain Foundation's scientific committee that decides which research projects will receive financial support from the Swedish Brain Foundation's donors. The aim is to support the research that can most effectively contribute to solutions to the brain's major challenges.
Solving the brain's big challenges
A total of 458 applications have been received, which is the most in any year so far. All applications are assessed on the basis of the criteria of scientific quality, innovation and originality, as well as competence and feasibility.
KI researcher Patrik Ernfors has received a three-year grant for his research programme on chronic pain caused by arthritis, diseases that cause inflammation of the joints.
“We already know that there is activity of a specific signaling pathway in the nerve cells involved in joint pain, but do not understand how the signaling pathway is linked to pain,” says Patrik Ernfors, professor at the Department of Medical Biochemistry and Biophysics, KI. “We are very grateful for the support from the Swedish Brain Foundation, which means that we now have the opportunity to research this. The hope is that we will find the pain-causing cause and that it will create opportunities for new treatment strategies.”
KI projects that receive funding
Project: NAD metabolism as a target for neuroprotection in age-related ophthalmic and neurodegenerative diseases (NAD-metabolism som mål för neuroskydd vid åldersrelaterad oftalmiska och neurodegenerativa sjukdomar)
Principal investigator: Pete Williams, professor at the Department of Clinical Neuroscience
Project: Unlocking new therapeutic strategies for nerve repair and healing in spinal cord injury (Upplåsning av nya terapeutiska strategier för nervreparation och läkning vid ryggmärgsskada)
Principal investigator: Konstantinos Ampatzis, senior researcher at the Department of Neuroscience
Project: New pain mechanisms: Relief of inflammatory pain (Nya smärtmekanismer: Lindring av inflammatorisk smärta)
Principal investigator: Patrik Ernfors, professor at the Department of Medical Biochemistry and Biophysics
Project: Enhancer regulation in neuronal differentiation and neuropsychiatric disorders
Principal investigator: Juha Kere, professor at the Department of Medicine, Huddinge
Project: The importance of environment and lifestyle in a genetic context for the onset and progression of multiple sclerosis (Betydelsen av miljö och levnadsvanor i genetisk kontext för uppkomst och förlopp av multipel skleros)
Principal investigator: Lars Alfredsson, professor, Institute of Environmental Medicine and Department of Clinical Neuroscience
Project: Neuromodulatory Dysfunction: A window into the hidden phase of Alzheimer's Disease (Neuromodulatorisk dysfunktion: Ett fönster in i den dolda fasen av Alzheimers sjukdom)
Principal investigator: Joana Braga Pereira, senior researcher at the Department of Clinical Neuroscience
Project: Impaired mtDNA copying in neurodegenerative diseases (Nedsatt mtDNA kopiering vid neurodegenerativa sjukdomar)
Principal investigator: Nils-Göran Larsson, professor at the Department of Medical Biochemistry and Biophysics
Project: Studies on genetic forms of Alzheimer's disease and frontal lobe dementia ± ALS to map early disease processes and develop biomarkers (Studier på genetiska former av Alzheimers sjukdom och Frontallobsdemens ± ALS för att kartlägga tidiga sjukdomsprocesser och utveckla biomarkörer)
Principal investigator: Caroline Graff, professor at the Department of Neurobiology, Care Sciences and Society
Project: Individualized brain stimulation through in-silico simulations in stroke (Individualiserad hjärnstimulering genom in-silico-simuleringar vid stroke)
Principal investigator: Torkel Klingberg, professor at the Department of Neuroscience
Project: Towards precision medicine for individuals with intellectual disabilities, a multidisciplinary approach (Mot precisionsmedicin för individer med intellektuell funktionsnedsättning, en multidisciplinär approach)
Principal investigator: Anna Lindstrand, professor at the Department of Molecular Medicine and Surgery
Project: Chaperone-amyloid interactions for biomimetic treatment of Parkinson's disease (Chaperon-amyloid-interaktioner för biomimetisk behandling av Parkinsons sjukdom)
Principal investigator: Axel Abelein, researcher at the Department of Medicine, Huddinge
Project: The effect of systemically administered galanine ligands on neuropathic pain
Principal investigator: Tomas Hökfelt, researcher at the Department of Neuroscience
Project: Enteric neural networks and their systemic integration in the gut-brain axis (Enteriska nervnätverk och deras systemiska integration i tarm-hjärna-axel)
Principal investigator: Ulrika Marklund, senior researcher at the Department of Medical Biochemistry and Biophysics
Project: A translational project for a better understanding of the effect of traumatic brain injury in the elderly and its role in the development of dementia (GRAY-TBI) (Ett translationellt projekt för bättre förståelse för traumatisk hjärnskadas effekt hos äldre samt dess roll för utveckling av demens (GRAY-TBI))
Principal investigator: Eric Thelin, researcher at the Department of Clinical Neuroscience
Project: Stimulating protein quality control in neurodegenerative disorders
Principal investigator: Nico Dantuma, professor at the Department of Cell and Molecular Biology
Project: Inhibition of CAT III: A novel treatment strategy for immune-induced cognitive impairment and psychosis (Inhibering av KAT III: En ny behandlingsstrategi för immuninducerad kognitiv svikt och psykos)
Principal investigator: Sophie Erhardt, professor at the Department of Physiology and Pharmacology
Project: Neural determinants of the beneficial and negative effects of hormone-based anti-obesity medications (Neurala determinanter för de gynnsamma och negativa effekterna av hormonbaserade anti-fetma mediciner)
Principal investigator: Alessandro Furlan, researcher at the Department of Neuroscience
Project: Interlinking of synaptic density and changes in activity in brain networks (Sammanlänkande av synaptisk densitet och förändringar av aktivitet i hjärnans nätverk)
Principal investigator: Johan Lundberg, professor at the Department of Clinical Neuroscience
Project: 'FindDLB' – A leading platform for Swedish research on Lewy body dementia (‘FindDLB’ – En ledande plattform för svensk forskning om Lewykroppsdemens)
Principal investigator: Daniel Ferreira Padilla, senior researcher at the Department of Neurobiology, Care Sciences and Society
Project: Improved and targeted delivery of CRISPR-Cas9 to neurons through screening of CNS-specific fusogenic proteins for the treatment of ALS (Förbättrad och målinriktad leverans av CRISPR-Cas9 till neuroner genom screening av CNS-specifika fusogena proteiner för behandling av ALS)
Principal investigator: Joel Nordin, researcher at the Department of Laboratory Medicine
Project: New PET imaging and plasma biomarkers in hereditary and sporadic Alzheimer's (Nya PET imaging och plasmabiomarkörer vid ärftlig och sporadisk alzheimers)
Principal investigator: Agneta Nordberg, professor at the Department of Neurobiology, Care Sciences and Society
Project: A data-driven and clinical method to diagnose and characterize rare syndromes with intellectual disability across the lifespan (En datadriven och klinisk metod att diagnostisera och karaktärisera sällsynta syndrom med intellektuell funktionsnedsättning över hela livet)
Principal investigator: Ann Nordgren, professor at the Department of Molecular Medicine and Surgery
Project: Combination therapy for Alzheimer's disease: The anti-amyloid substance BRICHOS linked to the nerve growth factor NGF (Kombinationsbehandling av Alzheimers sjukdom: Anti-amyloida substansen BRICHOS kopplad till nervtillväxtfaktorn NGF)
Principal investigator: Maria Eriksdotter, professor at the Department of Neurobiology, Care Sciences and Society
Project: Identification and validation of target molecules and drugs against vascular malformations in the CNS (Identifiering och validering av målmolekyler och läkemedel mot kärlmalformationer i CNS)
Principal investigator: Lars Jakobsson, principal researcher at the Department of Medical Biochemistry and Biophysics
Project: The blood-DRG-barrier in health and disease: From basic mechanisms to neuropathy therapy
Principal investigator: Harald Lund, researcher at the Department of Physiology and Pharmacology
Project: GDNF - a novel biomarker and precision medicine target to treat schizophrenia (GDNF - en ny biomarkör och precisionsmedicinmål för att behandla schizofreni)
Principal investigator: Jaan-Olle Andressoo, senior researcher at the Department of Neurobiology, Care Sciences and Society
Project: In utero single-cell ancestry tracing and gene analysis of nervous system development (In utero enkelcells härstamningsspårning och genanalys av nervsystemets utveckling)
Principal investigator: Emma Andersson, principal researcher at the Department of Cell and Molecular Biology
Project: Inflammation of blood vessels in children with ADHD. Do probiotics protect? (Blodkärls-inflammation hos barn med ADHD. Skyddar probiotika?)
Principal investigator: Catharina Lavebratt, principal researcher at the Department of Molecular Medicine and Surgery
Project: Neural networks that underlie physiological and maladaptive expressions of survival behaviors (Neurala nätverk som ligger till grund för fysiologiska och maladaptiva uttryck för överlevnadsbeteenden)
Principal investigator: Stefanos Stagkourakis, researcher at the Department of Neuroscience
Project: Characterisation of molecular mechanisms and clinical characteristics of cluster headache (Karakterisering av molekylära mekanismer och kliniska egenskaper vid klusterhuvudvärk)
Principal investigator: Andrea Carmine Belin, senior researcher at the Department of Neuroscience
Project: Investigation of a protein signaling pathway linked to autism spectrum disorder (Undersökning av en proteinsignalväg kopplad till autismspektrumstörning)
Principal investigator: Onur Dagliyan, researcher at the Department of Medical Biochemistry and Biophysics
Project: Lysosome biogenesis in aggressive medulloblastoma (Lysosombiogenes i aggressiv medulloblastoma)
Principal investigator: Anders P Mutvei, principal researcher at the Department of Laboratory Medicine
Project: Anti-gene oligonucleotides and base-editing therapeutics targeting somatic instability and toxicity in Huntington's Disease
Principal investigator: Rula Zain, researcher at the Department of Laboratory Medicine
Project: The effects of genetic risk variants for bipolar disorder in a model of early brain development (Effekterna av genetiska risk varianter för bipolär sjukdom i en modell av den tidiga hjärnans utveckling)
Principal investigator: Carl Sellgren Majkowitz, researcher at the Department of Physiology and Pharmacology
Project: Disease mechanisms during different phases of multiple sclerosis (Sjukdomsmekanismer under olika faser av multipel skleros)
Principal investigator: Fredrik Piehl, professor at the Department of Clinical Neuroscience
Project: Antibody-controlled nanoparticles for targeted treatment of brain tumors (Antikroppsstyrda nanopartiklar för målriktad behandling mot hjärntumörer)
Principal investigator: Oscar Wiklander, researcher at the Department of Laboratory Medicine
Project: Decoding the scar-free nervous system healing in African spiny mice with single-cell multiomics
Principal investigator: Sebastian Lewandowski, senior research specialist at the Department of Clinical Neuroscience
Project: Temporal programming of neurotransmission in the placental-brain axis (Temporal programmering av neurotransmission i placenta-hjärnaxeln)
Principal investigator: Cristiana Cruceanu, researcher at the Department of Physiology and Pharmacology
Project: Genes(is) of INSPIRATION - and dynamic inflammation-induced life-threatening events (Genes(is) av INSPIRATION - och dynamiska inflammations inducerade livshotande händelser)
Principal investigator: Eric Herlenius, professor at the Department of Women's and Children's Health