Elin Svensson & Thomas Dorlo: Set out to create global public health for all

“Currently, only 10 percent of all resources in drug development are spent on diseases that primarily affect the 90 percent of the world's population living in low- and middle-income countries. The reason for this is that industry profits derive from a patent system that places resource-poor groups in the back seat. This is an obvious problem that drives us to want to make a difference for some of the world's most vulnerable patient groups,” state Elin Svensson and Thomas Dorlo, researchers at the Department of Pharmacy.

Elin and Thomas unite in commitment and as leaders of two teams at Uppsala University's pharmacometrics research environment - but also in marriage, and the atmosphere at home must have hit a peak as they were recently granted 750,000 Euros to participate in three international collaborations with a focus on new ways to treat diseases in urgent need of effective drugs.

“I will join two projects aiming to identify new tools against resistant tuberculosis bacteria that every year claim numerous human lives and once again pose a global threat. We will study the effects of a potential drug developed at Ludwig-Maximilians-Universität, and also test new combination treatments to map their effect on tuberculosis patients,” says Elin Svensson.

In her work, Elin Svensson uses mathematical models and clinical data to optimize the effect of drug treatments. Her research has spawned several recommendations for new dosing strategies, which in turn have been implemented in, among many things, the WHO global guidelines and also were a decisive factor in Uppsala University awarding Elin the prestigious Oscar Prize, stating that Elin has "established herself as a leading force globally within tuberculosis research".

Thomas Dorlo's research focuses on what the WHO defines as neglected diseases: a term including lack of effective drugs and infrastructures incapable of meeting needs of care. In parallel with his involvement in, among many things, PYRAPREG – a project trying new therapies against malaria during pregnancy in several African countries, Thomas will now engage in clinical studies of five potential treatments against an Ethiopian variant of the parasite causing cutaneous leishmaniasis.

“These are diseases that primarily affect poor patient groups in countries where healthcare systems generally face challenges providing the few drugs that are available. Therefore, the industry's incentives to engage are quite weak, but now we have repeatedly shown what public organisations can accomplish with strategic funding. And if I may wish, it would be for our elected officials to even stronger prioritize the long-term conditions required to pursue research initiatives and drug development for the patients who need it most.”

text: Magnus Alsne, photo: Mikael Wallerstedt