Donation for research into rare disorder

In his will, which was recently shared with the University, Bo Brämberg expressed his wish to donate over SEK 100 million to Uppsala University in order to form a new foundation named the “Linus and Ida Brämberg Foundation”. The Foundation’s yield is to go to research on Behçet's disease, a rare disease that has been estimated to affect about 500 people in Sweden.

“We are very happy about this donation. It will contribute to an increased understanding of the mechanisms behind this rare disease and to knowledge about how to develop better forms of treatment,” says Mats Larhed, vice-rector of the Disciplinary Domain of Medicine and Pharmacy.

Related to other inflammatory diseases

Behçet’s disease, also known as the Silk Road disease, is most common in the Eastern Mediterranean region and Asia. It is characterised by inflammation of the blood vessels, and causes recurrent painful mouth and genital ulcers. However, the cause and underlying mechanisms of this disease are largely unknown, although it is probably related to other inflammatory diseases. For example, the disease presents intermittently, in flare-ups.

Good basis

The plan is that each year a call for applications for funding will be announced internally within the Disciplinary Domain of Medicine and Pharmacy and the yield for the year from the Foundation will be used to fund the best projects, following an assessment. According to Mats Larhed, conditions are excellent for getting started quickly with this research.

“The disciplinary domain already has leading research into vascular diseases, autoimmunity, inflammation and dermatology, and its close collaboration with the University Hospital is another major advantage. We also have experience of researching several other very rare diseases. So this large donation is very welcome, and I look forward to seeing how this research develops,” he says.

Anneli Waara