“I’m very happy and honoured”
Kerstin Lindblad-Toh and her research team at the Department of Medical Biochemistry and Microbiology are looking for answers to the role that genes play in humans developing cancer. Photo: Mikael Wallerstedt.
Dogs are said to be man’s best friends. Kerstin Lindblad-Toh, professor of comparative genomics, studies their genes, hoping to find the key to a cure for cancer and other diseases that have no cure today. She has just been awarded the Torsten Söderberg Academy Chair in Medicine, amounting to SEK 10 million.
What kind of professorship is this?
“It’s awarded annually by the Torsten Söderberg Foundation through the Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences to a researcher working in medical research. I’m very happy and honoured to have received it.”
What does this funding mean for your research?
“It will allow us to invest more in our research on the genetics underlying a number of different diseases, including cancer. An example is amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS), a neurodegenerative disease that occurs in both dogs and humans. Both humans and dogs that develop ALS have mutations in the SOD1 gene. We are now looking for additional genes that might influence if and when the disease will develop. In dogs, it’s easier to find the genes for this disease because they are concentrated in certain breeds. When we find genes for diseases in dogs, we look at the same genes in humans.”
What opportunities will you have now that you didn’t have before?
“We can generate bigger datasets and have more people analysing the data. We will be hiring at least one more postdoc. We can also sequence the DNA of more patients with lymphomas and bone cancer, for example, to identify the mutations that lead to cancer. So for example we want to look at what mutations cause bone cancer to spread, which is often to the lungs.”
What questions are you looking for answers to in your research?
“Well for example we’re trying to understand which mutations and genes lie behind different types of cancer. If we can find out which genes are mutated and what the biological consequences of these mutations are, it will become easier to both diagnose and treat the cancer. This can lead to precision medicine where the treatment is tailored to each patient.”
Åsa Malmberg
Torsten Söderberg Academy Professorship in Medicine
Justification:
Kerstin Lindblad-Toh is awarded the chair ‘for pioneering comparative studies of the mammalian and human genome to better understand the genetic causes of disease.’
Facts about Torsten Söderberg Academy Professorship in Medicine:
The Torsten Söderberg Academy Professorship promotes internationally leading research in the field of medicine by allowing the holder to dedicate themselves to full-time research at a Swedish medical faculty for five years. The Torsten Söderberg Foundation donates ten million kronor to each Academy Professorship. Five of these run in parallel. The appointments are worked on and decided by the Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences.