Medfarm coordinator awarded by EATRIS
Ulrika Bäckman received the EATRIS Longevity award during EATRIS’ ten-year anniversary in the Hague
Hello there Ulrika Bäckman, Coordinator at the Office for Medicine and Pharmacy and the national coordinator for EATRIS Sweden, who recently received the EATRIS Longevity award during EATRIS’ ten-year anniversary in the Hague, Netherlands.
First of all, congratulations! How does it feel to have received the award?
“Thank you very much! I feel incredibly happy and proud to have received this award.”
What was your initial reaction?
“It was completely unexpected, and I was so surprised. When they read the justification for the award, I thought: ‘But that sounds like my work within EATRIS,’” laughs Ulrika.
You received the award, among other things, for your ‘significant and dedicated work promoting contacts between academia and industry in biotechnology and life science’. Tell us about your role as the coordinator for EATRIS Sweden.
“The role involves building a strong node with Swedish research infrastructure and promoting EATRIS and the opportunities within the consortium. As a member of EATRIS, you can, among other things, access the training platform, participate in larger EU applications and expert groups, find collaboration partners, and also attract new users to your research infrastructure. By growing in Sweden and making itself visible in Europe, EATRIS is also increasing interest from the industry. It is these collaborations that I am particularly passionate about with my background in the pharmaceutical industry.”
How was your experience at the award ceremony?
“Receiving an award established to recognize employees’ efforts in their work, both nationally and internationally, feels especially nice. Then, to receive the award at dinner and go on stage in front of all colleagues was a bit overwhelming. I don’t remember what I said in the acceptance speech, but I hope I didn’t forget anyone.”
Right now, a lot is happening at EATRIS Sweden. There is significant work underway to strengthen collaboration with several major Swedish infrastructures in life science, says Ulrika Bäckman.
“Additionally, we are pooling our efforts to map the capacity for advanced therapy medicinal products (ATMP) and the possibility of creating a Nordic centre of excellence in the field. Plans also include hosting next year’s annual coordinator meeting and organising an information day on Patient Engagement. We are also involved in several EU applications and have received some new inquiries from the industry. It’s full speed ahead, which is incredibly exciting.”
Text: Robin Widing
EATRIS and EATRIS Sweden
The European Infrastructure for Translational Medicine (Eatris Sweden) operates as a national research infrastructure and serves as the Swedish node of the European Infrastructure for Translational Medicine (EATRIS-ERIC). This research infrastructure supports the development of new pharmaceuticals, diagnostic methods and vaccines in preclinical and clinical research. Through EATRIS-ERIC, researchers can access various resources needed for the translational development of new medications, such as existing infrastructures, specialised equipment, expert knowledge, training, sample collections and guidance through regulatory processes.
Uppsala University hosts Eatris Sweden. Other participating major higher education institutions include Chalmers University of Technology, the University of Gothenburg, Karolinska Institutet, KTH Royal Institute of Technology, Linköping University, Lund University, Stockholm University and Umeå University.
National research infrastructures and networks linked to the Swedish node of Eatris are ATMP Sweden, BioMS, SciLifeLab’s Drug Discovery and Development platform, TestaCenter and the Uppsala Clinical Research Center.