Henrik Ahlenius and Karl Åström receiving grants from no-profit foundation owning Medicon Village
This is the last of four texts introducing research projects awarded funds from ”Mats Paulsson foundation for research, innovation and societal Development” in 2022.
Project 7/8: Direct conversion of Alzheimer patient fibroblasts to astrocytes and neurons – disease mechanisms, drug targets and biomarkers
Principal applicant: Associate Professor Henrik Ahlenius, Faculty of Medicine, Department of Clinical Sciences, Lund University
Project start/end date: 1/1/2023 – 31/12/2024
Granted amount (SEK): 2,000,000
Mice are not people. Despite this, a majority of research is carried out on Alzheimer’s disease today on mouse models and in mouse cells, even though we know that there are big differences between brain cells from mice and humans. The research group wants to change that. New technologies make it possible to directly reprogram skin cells into different types of brain cells which in this way better reflects the disease. The overall goal is to generate new and better cell-based models of Alzheimer’s disease, in order to more effectively develop new drugs and diagnostics methods. The results from these studies will provide significant new knowledge about how the brain and brain cells are affected in Alzheimer’s disease and have great significance for how we look at things in the future and treat Alzheimer’s disease.
Project 8/8: Deep learning based evaluation of coronary artery disease and estimation of quantitative coronary angiography using myocardial perfusion imaging
Principal applicant: Professor Karl Åström, Centre for Mathematical Sciences, Faculty of Engineering, LTH, Lund University
Project start/end date: 22/11/2022 – 31/10/2024
Granted amount (SEK): 2,000,000
Cardiovascular disease is the most common cause of death in the world, of which coronary artery disease is the leading cause most frequent. There is much to be gained from improved and streamlined diagnostics of these diseases. Coronary artery disease can be diagnosed in several ways. Among the most common methods is cardiac scintigraphy where a small amount of a radioactive substance is injected into the blood and images of the heart taken with a gamma camera. For patients where the risk of coronary artery disease based on cardiac scintigraphy is judged to be moderate to high, invasive coronary angiography is used to measure the extent, a much more demanding method, with hospitalization and risks for the patient. The goal of this the project is to develop AI for automatic detection and assessment of narrowings in the coronary vessels directly from the cardiac scintigraphy, with all the benefits it entails for the patient and healthcare.
The foundation behind Medicon Village donates SEK 15.6 million to life science research in Malmö/Lund
When PEAB founder Mats Paulsson created Medicon Village ten years ago, it was with a new non-profit foundation as owner. The purpose of the foundation is to promote research within life science with the aim of achieving better conditions for people’s health and life. For 2022, this and two other foundations created by Mats Paulsson, have decided to distribute SEK 25.7 million to ten research projects in Malmö/Lund. Since 2005, these foundations have donated a total of SEK 166 million to research.
The non-profit foundation that owns Medicon Village, ”Mats Paulsson foundation for research, innovation and societal development”, has decided to donate SEK 15.6 million to purposes that promote research in medicine and other life sciences with the goal of benefiting health care, development, innovation and societal development in Skåne county. This year’s eight recipients work at Malmö University, Lund University and Lund University of Technology.
At the same time, two other foundations created by Mats Paulsson distribute a further total of SEK 10.1 million to two recipients at Lund University; SEK 9.6 million from ”Mats Paulsson foundation” and SEK 0.5 million from ”Stefan Paulsson cancer fund”.
The idea behind both the Mats Paulsson Foundations and Medicon Village is to contribute to new projects around important research and innovation that benefit people’s opportunities for a better life. The model is that returns on capital together with surpluses from the activities within Medicon Village go back to research.
Previously published texts in this series
- Per Augustsson and Denis Music receiving grants from no-profit foundation owning Medicon Village
- Sandra Lindstedt and Maria Antfolk receiving grants from no-profit foundation owning Medicon Village
- Pontus Nordenfelt and Harry Björkbacka receiving grants from no-profit foundation owning Medicon Village