SciLifeLab

Yuvarani Masarapu, a junior bioinformatician and doctoral student at SciLifeLab in Stockholm, spent a week with EMBL collaborators, finding solutions to research challenges and expanding her scientific perspective. She is one of several examples of how SciLifeLab and EMBL’s partnership continues to grow. Stefania Giacomello Yuvarani Masarapu Georg Zeller KTH Royal Institute of Technology SciLifeLab European Research Council (ERC) https://lnkd.in/eJUhdxUi

Welcome Global Alliance for Genomics and Health to Uppsala and Sweden - looking forward to interactions with the global genomics and health community through #GA4GH 13th Plenary!

Advancing Data-Driven Life Science – the DDLS Conference Showcases AI, Precision Medicine, and Education Initiatives. ↓ The 2024 Annual DDLS Conference brought together scientists, data experts, and students to explore advancements in AI, precision medicine, and open science in life sciences and more that comprises the scope of the SciLifeLab & Wallenberg National Program for Data-Driven Life Science (DDLS). In this video DDLS Fellows Jacob Vogel and Laura Carroll, as well as Christopher Erdmann, Head of Open Science at SciLifeLab Data Centre, and Siv Andersson (Uppsala University/Knut och Alice Wallenbergs Stiftelse) comment on the importance of getting the community together, to get new insights and exchange ideas. The purpose of the DDLS program is to train and recruit the next generation of life scientists, to create a strong computational and data science base, and to strengthen the competencies in today’s research society. This, along with research, education and training are key components of the program. Open science and the necessity of FAIR (Findable, Accessible, Interoperable, Reusable) principles on data management was a common thread throughout the conference. “Open science is not enough, if you don’t describe the results, the science is not reproducible, replicable, robust and generalisable. We think of the Turing Way as a global digital common” said Malvika Sharan, Senior Researcher at The Alan Turing Institute, in her presentation of the Turing Way, a community-led project on data science. “Open access enables free public access to research, accelerating knowledge dissemination and benefiting society. FAIR principles promote data sharing and collaboration across disciplines, ensuring reproducibility and advancing research. This openness is especially impactful in life sciences, where rapid, transparent access to data supports breakthroughs in healthcare and environmental solutions, ultimately enhancing public health and maximizing the societal impact of scientific knowledge” commented Parul Tewatia, Ph.D., Project coordinator (FAIR metadata and semantic technologies) at SciLifeLab Data Centre. Follow the link to learn more about what happened at the conference ↓ https://lnkd.in/dW5cZjrk

The SciLifeLab site in Umeå welcomed the new director of SciLifeLab, Jan Ellenberg, and SciLifeLab board chair, Ylva Engstrom, for a full-day visit of the site. The day included tours of the local research infrastructures, lunch with representatives of the university, meetings with staff scientists who make the infrastructures accessible for national users within life science.    The site director, Linda Sandblad, kicked the day off with an introduction of site Umeå, highlighting the strengths of the infrastructures being integrated with two universities, Umeå University and SLU - Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences, as well as Region Västerbotten.     Tours of infrastructures started at the Swedish NMR Centre, followed by a meeting with Chemical Biology Consortium Sweden, tours of Swedish Metabolomics Centre and the Data Science Node, including High Performance Computer Center North (HPC2N), NBIS – National Bioinformatics Infrastructure Sweden, and Data Driven Life Science (DDLS).     During the lunch with Umeå University representatives, including vice-chancellor Hans Adolfsson, Jan Ellenberg took the opportunity to present himself and his visions for SciLifeLab. The lunch followed with facility tours at SciLifeLab Clinical Genomics and Cryo-EM and FIB-SEM at Umeå Center for Electron Microscopy (UCEM).   “The staff is key in running the infrastructures for the greater good of life science research, and meeting the people who do the work at the sites is very important and something I cherish”, Jan Ellenberg said, stressing the importance of working together across the sites in order to achieve shared ambitions and goals. Thanks all involved in making the visit a stepping stone for SciLifeLab to continue to expand and become accessible to all, all the way to Umeå in the north!  

The annual SciLifeLab and Wallenberg National Program for Data-Driven Life Science (DDLS) conference has opened its doors for the third time. The two-day event, hosted at Hilton Slussen in Stockholm, will showcase the latest DDLS research, program activities, and services offered by the program. Participants will have the opportunity to connect to the larger DDLS community and meet the DDLS Fellows, PhDs, and postdocs to discuss research, collaboration opportunities, and exchange ideas. There will also be a large poster session where the researchers can showcase their own research and, if they are fortunate, win the “Best Poster Award”. At the end of the conference, the SciLifeLab Data Centre will offer three different workshops: ‘Hands-on with Large Language Models’, ‘Packaging and sharing data science applications as Docker container images’, and ‘How to boost your career using Open Science’. https://lnkd.in/dKf5ZjDU

SciLifeLab DDD exit spin-off Akiram Therapeutics to start clinical trial of drug aimed at treating aggressive #cancers. ↓ Akiram Therapeutics, a spin-off company based on SciLifeLab researcher Marika Nestor’s 2022 SciLifeLab Drug Discovery & Development (DDD) exit, has received approval from the Swedish Medical Products Agency to begin a Phase 1 clinical trial for its drug cAKIR001. This trial will assess the safety and tolerability of 177Lu-AKIR001, a targeted radioimmunotherapy aimed at treating aggressive, treatment-resistant cancers such as anaplastic thyroid cancer, head and neck squamous cell carcinoma, and non-small cell lung cancer. “The start of the Phase 1 clinical trial is a significant milestone for Akiram and an important step forward in molecular radiation therapy,” says Marika Nestor, CEO and co-founder of Akiram Therapeutics. “We are excited to collaborate with Karolinska University Hospital and are confident in AKIR001’s potential to improve treatment outcomes for patients.” The trial will take place at Karolinska University Hospital, with recruitment starting in fall 2024, funded by grants from foundations including the Sjöberg Foundation, the Erling-Persson Foundation, and the Swedish Cancer Society. Follow the link to learn more ↓ https://lnkd.in/dQ2TTE68 Cancerfonden

The SciLifeLab Drug Discovery & Development celebrated ten fruitful years in translational drug development with a symposium highlighting examples from pharma developing companies that have exited from the platform since its start. The symposium - Translational Research as a Boost for Swedish Life Science - underscored the platform’s value to the scientific community. Marika Nestor, speaking on behalf of Akiram Therapeutics, one of the company exits, captured the holistic support approach when recalling the a message shared as her academic research project joined the platform: “you don’t just get our working hours — you get our hearts as well.” #heartsinlifescience #drugdevelopment

Congratulations Sortina Pharma, to the exit from SciLifeLab Drug Discovery & Development Platform! Their development project focuses on the therapeutic potential of sortilin. We got the opportunity to ask Sortina Pharma founders Sara Rhost and Göran Landberg, University of Gothenburg, about the company journey after Ulrika Yngve handed over documentation from the project. Learn more ↓

On November 11-12, Sweden’s Innovation Agency, Vinnova hosted the EP PerMed - the European Partnership for Personalised Medicine for a site visit with representation from patient organizations, healthcare decision-makers, clinicians and researchers. ↓ “Personalized medicine is like climbing an unknown peak where the life line is research, innovation and healthcare. Let’s aim for the highest summit together and leave no one behind”, Laurent Saunier, Head of Precision Health at VINNOVA, initiated the discussion. The visit was co-arranged with Karolinska University Hospital, Karolinska Institutet, and two national precision medicine actors: Genomic Medicine Sweden (GMS) and SciLifeLab. This opportunity to weave together thoughts from European precision medicine stakeholders was the first of its kind, and was held in Sweden. “On the wish-list for technology and data-driven precision medicine is implementation of broad digital patient consent, systematic sample collection and data provenance. Furthermore, to succeed, it is crucial to secure handling of sensitive research data and conduct large systematic clinical studies and to ensure real-time data generation and sharing” said Päivi Östling, SciLifeLab/Karolinska Institutet researcher and Scientific Lead for Precision Medicine at SciLifeLab. Karolinska Institutet Professor Richard Rosenquist Brandell, Director of Genomic Medicine Sweden, reflected on the fast paced development that we are currently facing to meet patient’s need for personalized medicine. “A lot has happened since Genomic Medicine Sweden was founded in 2018 and today precision health is in the state budget for the next-coming six year period. Together with SciLifeLab, GMS have built a research implementation model based on the quadruple helix steering of GMS: healthcare, academia, patients and industry. As Sweden is a small country with a population of 10,5 million inhabitants, we need to join forces nationally and collaborate internationally”, Richard Rosenquist Brandell stated. Karin Liljelund, representing the Swedish Lung Cancer Association shed light on the individual patient journey and the need for patient and citizen engagement in precision medicine. “The patient should be involved in the whole chain, from diagnosis, treatment and follow-up – patients need to be educated and well informed. Equal care. Early detection”, said Karin Liljelund. Visitors were also given the opportunity to join lab tours at the SciLifeLab capabilities within clinical genomics and spatial omics. Follow the link to learn more ↓ https://lnkd.in/dJzizUUj Lungcancerföreningen

We are proud to be collaborating with NBIS – National Bioinformatics Infrastructure Sweden on a new series of talks called Lite (or lite på Svenska! 🇸🇪) where we will be covering a range of topics around Genomics and Data Analysis. 🧬 💻 🤝 All presentations will be around 15 minutes, serve to level the playing field on the chosen topic, and will be available via a YouTube playlist so that you can watch them at leisure and rewatch them as many times as you'd like! You are encouraged to contact us if you have questions that are specific to your research topic. We’re always happy to help! For a start, we invite you to check out the first two talks in the series, one by Richelle Björvang on working with human data, and the other by Karin Granström on writing a Data Management Plan. Both speakers are Data Stewards at NBIS – National Bioinformatics Infrastructure Sweden Get in touch with us if you have ideas on topics you would like us to cover! We'd love to hear from you! 👀 https://lnkd.in/dHFZH3tD