Swedish Research Council grants SEK 14 million to researchers at the Department of Pharmacy

(Image removed) Greta Hultqvist, Per Larsson, Alexandra Teleki and Christel Bergström

The Swedish Research Council has announced the outcome of the Medicine and Health Call 2023: Among no less than 897 applicants, four grants totaling SEK 14.2 million are allocated to researchers at the Faculty of Pharmacy and the Department of Pharmacy.

“It is inspiring for all of us to see our young researchers succeed in the very tough competition surrounding the Swedish Research Council calls. Their achievements also confirm that the applications are of the highest quality with a research focus along the absolute front line, which in turn keeps all doors open for continued success,” states Lena Friberg, Head of the Department of Pharmacy.

Greta Hultqvist, Associate Professor with a focus on Biopharmaceuticals, is granted SEK 2.4 million for her project Increased breakdown of amyloid beta as a treatment strategy for Alzheimer's disease. In their work, the group will use protein drugs and gene therapy to increase the expression of a body-specific enzyme with the capacity to break down the amyloid beta that aggregates in Alzheimer's disease.

(Image removed) Greta Hultqvist, Senior lecturer

“Our long term goal is to contribute to new treatments that prevent Alzheimer's disease from getting worse, and with long-term funding, you get the security to pursue promising tracks. In December, we received a million grant from the Alzheimer's Foundation, and with the Swedish Research Council's generous grant, we now have the basis we need for long-term planning,” says Greta Hultqvist.

Per Larsson, Associate Professor in drug delivery, receives SEK 4.8 million for the project Development of permeability enhancers for oral administration of peptide drugs. Within the scope of their work, the group will develop new molecules that are able to increase the amount of – mainly peptide-based – drugs that reach the blood when administered orally.

“If we succeed, it might enable significantly more effective treatment of a range of diseases. The Swedish Research Council grant provides us the resources to look further into why certain molecules work as permeability enhancers while others are completely ineffective, as well as how the interaction with drug molecules and the intestinal environment in general affects,” says Per Larsson.

Alexandra Teleki, Associate Professor who was recently granted the Foundation for Strategic Research's grant for an Industrial PhD project, receives SEK 4.8 million for the project Medical device with microneedles and long-term drug delivery for the treatment of vaginal women's diseases. In this work, the group will combine 3D-printed vaginal rings and microneedle technology aiming to enable effective and long-lasting treatments for a range of women's diseases.

(Image removed) Alexandra Teleki, Associate Professor

“Receiving a grant from the Swedish Research Council is a great honor as well as an important milestone in an academic career. With this funding, we will recruit a PhD student, which is the next step in establishing our research to develop vaginal pharmaceutical preparations, a challenge we take on in collaboration with Mia Phillipson and Matts Olovsson at Uppsala University, Juan Du at the Karolinska Institute and Natasa Skalko-Basnet, The Arctic University of Norway.”

Christel Bergström, Professor of Molecular Pharmacutics, receives SEK 2.167 million for the project A small-scale model of the intestine for the optimization of oral drugs. With the grant, paid out 2024-2026, the group will develop a model of relevance for both oral drug delivery and 3R – Development of methods for compensation, limitation and/or refinement of animal experiments.

FACTS

• The Swedish Research Council is awarding a total grant amount of more than SEK 1,26 billion within Medicine and health research throughout 2023-2028.

LEARN MORE

• Swedish Research Council Medicine and Health call 2023
• Research at the Department of Pharmacy

CONTACT

(Image removed) Christel Bergström, Professor
Department of Pharmacy
Christel.Bergstrom@farmaci.uu.se

(Image removed) Greta Hultqvist, Associate Professor
Department of Pharmacy
Greta.Hultqvist@farmaci.uu.se

(Image removed) Per Larsson, Associate Professor
Department of Pharmacy
per.r.larsson@uu.se

(Image removed) Alexandra Teleki, Associate Professor
Department of Pharmacy
alexandra.teleki@farmaci.uu.se

text: Magnus Alsne, photo: Mikael Wallerstedt