Researchers who are awarded a Göran Gustafsson Prize are among Sweden's foremost under 45 years of age in their field. One of this year's five Göran Gustafsson Prize winners is KI researcher Laura Baranello, who is being recognized for "groundbreaking studies on the regulation of topoisomerases and their role in tumor biology". The goal of the research is a new strategy for gentler cancer treatments.
Over the years, the Göran Gustafsson Prizes have been awarded to Emmanuelle Charpentier and Anne L'Huillier, researchers who were later awarded the Nobel Prizes in Chemistry and Physics respectively.
It is the Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences that reviews the nominations from Swedish universities and colleges. The prize winners are then appointed by the Göran Gustafsson Foundation for Natural Science and Medical Research.
The laureates must be no more than 45 years old and intend to carry out most of their research in Sweden. The prize money is SEK 7.5 million to each recipient, of which a personal prize of SEK 300,000 and SEK 7.2 million in grants for research over three years.
Better survival in cancer patients
Laura Baranello, principal researcher at the Department of Cell and Molecular Biology at Karolinska Institutet, has been awarded the Göran Gustafsson Prize in Molecular Biology.
The goal of her research is to find a new strategy for gentler cancer treatments. The idea is to be able to improve both survival and quality of life for patients in the future.
"The biggest challenge today when it comes to treatment with chemotherapy is that the drugs cannot distinguish between cancer cells and healthy cells. This means that doctors sometimes hesitate to start treatment because the patient suffers from so many side effects," says Laura Baranello .
One of the cornerstones of today's cancer treatments is to block the function of a group of enzymes, topoisomerases, which help both normal cells and cancer cells copy their DNA.
Sparing healthy cells
A few years ago, Laura Baranello discovered that the activity of the topoimerase can be regulated by a so-called oncoprotein with which they interact.
By attacking this mechanism, which only occurs in cancer cells, the researchers now hope to find new ways to stop the tumor's growth without damaging healthy cells.
"Our goal is to achieve a greater understanding of the molecular mechanism. But also to develop new forms of treatments. I am very happy about the award and it feels honorable because it recognizes high-quality research," concludes Laura Baranello.
The article is based on a press release from the Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences.
