The Swedish Childhood Cancer Fund (Barncancerfonden) has decided to grant funding to eight research positions at KI for paediatric oncology research over the next two to six years. The goal is, among other things, to improve current treatment methods with the help of precision medicine that is based on the characteristics of the cancer and the individual child's genetics.
Research positions are an important part of the Swedish Childhood Cancer Fund's research support, together with project funding and support for infrastructures in the form of registers and biobanks.
The researchers who receive grants are at different levels in their research careers and are active in a number of different diagnostic areas. In total, the Swedish Childhood Cancer Fund awarded SEK 59.8 million to 23 researchers at seven institutions.
Precision diagnostics offer hope
Leukaemia and brain tumours are the most common diagnoses in paediatric oncology, so the distribution of services clearly reflects these areas, but new knowledge is needed in all diagnoses in order to save more lives and reduce the late complications that affect 70 per cent of children after completing treatment.
Common are both physical and psychosocial problems that can make life complicated long after the cancer treatment is over.
"Finding ways to use new technology and new knowledge to reduce both under- and over-treatment is a clear common thread in childhood cancer research, both internationally and in Sweden,"says Britt-Marie Frost, Head of Research at the Swedish Childhood Cancer Fund, in a press release. "A lot of it is about precision medicine, where we are now basing our work on the characteristics of the cancer and the individual child's genetics so that we can tailor the treatments even better."
The Swedish Childhood Cancer Fund's call for proposals 2024
A senior paediatric cancer research position for six years is awarded:
Margareta Wilhelm, senior researcher at the Department of Microbiology, Tumor and Cell Biology.
Project: Identification of molecular mechanisms and therapeutic targets in paediatric nervous system cancer (Identifiering av molekylära mekanismer och terapeutiska mål i nervsystemscancer hos barn)
Susanna Ranta, researcher at the Department of Women's and Children's Health, Karolinska Institutet, and active at Astrid Lindgren Children's Hospital, Karolinska University Hospital.
Project: Toxicity in children treated according to ALLTogether leukemia protocol (Toxicitet hos barn som behandlas enligt ALLTogether leukemiprotokoll)
Clinical Research Months, 3 months per year for 3 years, are assigned:
Emma Tham, Associate Professor at the Department of Molecular Medicine and Surgery.
Project: Improved diagnostics and follow-up of children with cancer based on multimodal analyses (Förbättrad diagnostik och uppföljning av barn med cancer baserat på multimodala analyser)
Carina Rinaldo, PhD student at the Department of Women's and Children's Health, Karolinska Institutet, and active at the Astrid Lindgren Children's Hospital, Karolinska University Hospital.
Project: Children and young people as donors for their seriously ill sibling (Barn och ungdomar som donator för sitt svårt sjuka syskon)
Doctoral grants for four years are awarded:
Genia Kretzschmar, PhD student at the Department of Women's and Children's Health.
Project: Immunological recovery after chemotherapy in children (Immunologisk återhämtning efter cellgiftbehandling hos barn)
Niklas Jensen, researcher at the Department of Women's and Children's Health.
Project: The importance of local control and radiopharmaceutical treatment in high-risk neuroblastoma (Betydelsen av lokal kontroll och radiofarmaceutisk behandling vid högrisk neuroblastoma)
Postdoctoral positions for two years will be awarded:
Javier Louro, postdoc at the Institute of Environmental Medicine.
Project: Socioeconomic differences in time to diagnosis of childhood cancer (Socioekonomiska skillnader i tid till diagnos av barncancer)
Jinjiang Chou, Department of Cell and Molecular Biology.
Project: Development of new immunotherapy strategies for the treatment of osteosarcoma (Utveckling av nya immunoterapistrategier för behandling av osteosarkom)
