Lars Forsberg receives ERC Consolidator Grant

Lars Forsberg’s research focuses on the somatic mutation Loss of chromosome Y (LOY). This mutation only occurs in men and means that a fraction of their immune cells has lost the Y chromosome. In the project that has now been funded, Lars Forsberg and his team will study the effect of LOY on the development of disease and its role in the shorter life expectancy of men.

More specifically, they will examine cellular changes induced by LOY in immune cells and the consequences this has on these cells. They will also perform epidemiological studies to further investigate previously described associations between LOY in immune cells and risk for different types of disease in affected men. Previous research has discovered associations between LOY in blood and increased risk for death and diseases such as various forms of cancer and Alzheimer’s disease. A new focus in the project will be to study if LOY is also associated with increased risk for cardiovascular diseases. Development of new tools for LOY detection aims to increase its future clinical utility.

(Image removed) Lars Forsberg
Photo: Mikael Wallerstedt

“I’m very excited that the ERC has decided to continue their support of my research. With these resources, we will be able to further improve our understanding of how LOY in blood cells is connected with disruption of normal immune system function(s) and increased risk for different types of disease in affected men,” says Lars Forsberg.

The ERC Consolidator Grant aims to support researchers who have relatively recently established an independent research team to continue developing their research. In the present call for proposals, 14 Swedish researchers have been awarded grants,
out of which 5 are active at Uppsala University.

More information:
Press release ERC
Lars Forsberg’s research (Link removed)
About ERC Consolidator Grant