Sandra Lindstedt and Maria Antfolk receiving grants from no-profit foundation owning Medicon Village

This is the first of four texts introducing research projects awarded funds from “Mats Paulsson foundation for research, innovation and societal development” in 2022.
Project 1/8: HLA-silenced mesenchymal stromal (stem) cell-based therapies to improve donor lung viability and transplantation success
Principal applicant: Professor Sandra Lindstedt, Department of Clinical Sciences, Faculty of Medicine, Lund University.
Project start/end date: 1/1/2023 – 31/12/2023
Granted amount (SEK): 2,000,000
Pictured: Franziska Olm and Sandra Lindstedt
Organ transplantation is the only treatment option for severe end-stage lung disease. However, lung transplantation faces two unsolved challenges; the shortage of vital donor lungs and the risk of rejection of the organ by the recipient. The overall purpose of the research project is to develop a stem cell therapy to treat damaged donor lungs and reduce the occurrence of early rejection in the transplant recipient. Projects have a high innovation potential because it can introduce a whole group of new lungs for transplantation and involves pioneering development of new therapies. The effect is increased organ availability, reduced early rejection, fewer deaths and lower related healthcare costs.
Project 2/8: Next-generation organs-on-a-chip
Principal applicant: Assistant Lecturer Maria Antfolk, Biomedical Engineering, LTH, Lunds university.
Project start/end date: 1/1/2023 – 31/12/2024
Granted amount (SEK): 2,000,000
Pictured: Maria Antfolk
Compared to traditional cell culture models, organs-on-a-chip technology enables insights in the function of healthy and diseased organs in a completely new way. The project aims to develop a self-contained organs-on-a-chip system, a fluidics system with integrated microenvironmental control, for wide use. The technology has the potential to change biomedical research in all areas, from basic research to applied research and can offer an alternative to animal models.
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 community building 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.