Research at Oslo University Hospital

The annual report for 2023 from the Institute for Cancer Research at Oslo University Hospital is now available online. The eleven key topics of the report describe the work and output from ICR in 2023. Alongside outstanding research and key figures, the report includes information about how we work with recruitment, training, and career development, translation and innovation, dissemination, and public outreach, and collaboration in Norway and abroad.

Our 377 employees in 6 research departments, 26 research groups, 29 project groups, and 6 core facility units represent a vibrant research environment producing high-quality research from basic research to clinical trials.

Professor Kristina Haugaa was presented with the Heart Research Award by HRH Crown Princess Mette-Marit during a ceremony on 15 April. The prize is awarded by the National Association for Public Health and is given to a researcher in Norway who meets high professional goals and who can demonstrate significant results in the heart field. Haugaa, who is professor at the Department of Clinical Medicine, University of Oslo and consultant at Oslo University Hospital, received the award for her pioneering work focusing on preventing sudden cardiac death due to genetic heart defects.

- This award means a lot. First and foremost, it is important for all patients with hereditary heart diseases and their families, says Haugaa, and continues:

- The prize is of course also important for me and my research team. We have worked together for many years with research into hereditary heart diseases. It's really nice to be recognized for this.

Cancer patients are often shown as stereotypes in the media – a person without hair in a hospital bed. Sigrid S. Skånland wants to change this by showing the diversity of people with cancer through portraits. 

Sigrid S. Skånland is a researcher and project leader at the Institute for Cancer Research. She was awarded the “Researcher of the Year” prize in 2023 for the work she does on developing and implementing precision medicine for patients with blood cancer. She has spent the last decade studying patient cells in the lab and says she would like to interact more with the patients.

Researcher Audun Kvalvaag at Department of Molecular Cell Biology (MCB) and Centre for Cancer Cell Reprogramming (CanCell) is a specialist on activation of cytotoxic T cells, and he has recently been involved in collaborations with Elliot Philips in Xiang-Peng Kong´s group at New York University Grossman School of Medicine, and with Pablo Céspedes and Megat Hamid at Chinese Academy of Medical Sciences Oxford Institute, University of Oxford. This has resulted in articles in two highly prestigious immunology journals, Science Immunology and Nature Immunology. Both papers elucidate mechanisms involved in T cell mediated tumour control and may represent novel avenues for immunotherapeutic cancer treatment.

The long-term collaboration between Department of Molecular Cell Biology (Iversen/Sandvig and collaborators) and Department of Tumor Biology (Mælandsmo group) has resulted in a new article published in International Journal of Nanomedicine (impact factor 8.0). Remya Valsalakumari is the first author and Tore-Geir Iversen the last and communicating author. The data show promising results following injection of cabazitaxel-loaded polyalkyl cyanoacrylate nanoparticles in mice bearing patient derived xenografts of triple negative breast cancer. The nanoparticles gave a strong effect both on the tumor and on the tumor-associated myeloid compartment, which probably boost the anti-tumor response.

Cancer Grand Challenges (CGC) is a funding initiative announced every second year that is co-founded by the two largest funders of cancer research in the world - Cancer Research UK and the National Cancer Institute in the US - to come together, think differently and take on some of cancer’s toughest challenges. Five new global teams were recently selected to receive up to $25m (275 mill NOK) each over five years. Johanna Olweus and her research group, the Experimental Immunotherapy Group at the Department of Cancer Immunology, are partners of the MATCHMAKERS team, focussed on deciphering the T-cell receptor cancer-recognition code. This is the first time a Nordic scientist is part of a CGC team, and the news was covered by the Norwegian Broadcasting Corporation (NRK).

Monica Baumann-Larsen from the Department of Research and Innovation at the Division of Clinical Neuroscience at OUH has together with psychology researcher Helle Stangeland from the Norwegian Centre for Violence and Traumatic Stress Studies (NKVTS) submitted a doctorate in the project "PATHWAY - Children's pathways after trauma for health and well-being through adolescence and young adulthood".
Here, they show that young people exposed to traumatic childhood events use more painkillers than others, and question whether this is the right treatment for headaches, body aches and psychological problems. The findings have recently been presented in an extensive feature article in the major Norwegian newspaper VG.

Professor Johanna Olweus, Head of the Experimental Immunotherapy Group at the Institute for Cancer Research, has been extensively interviewed for a feature article in "The Scientist" magazine, entitled "Next-generation CAR and TCR Cancer Therapies". In this piece of excellent scientific journalism, she goes through findings and mechanisms that she and group have exploited to develop innovative new concepts for T-cell based immunotherapies, and why she is optimistic that TCR T cell therapies will be effective also in solid cancer.

Prehospital treatment is of great importance for the outcome of patients and is receiving increasing research attention. This year's Newcomer Award winner, Mona Guterud, was honored at the research seminar for Division of Emergencies and Critical Care and the Divison of Prehospital Services at Oslo University Hospital, February 14th.

Mona Guterud, along with her team, has been recognized for their contribution in addressing the need for clinical decision tools to assess acute prehospital strokes. Their research project titled "Prehospital screening of acute stroke with the National Institutes of Health Stroke Scale (ParaNASPP)" conducted a stepped-wedge, cluster-randomized controlled trial. The results of their study were published in Lancet Neurology, showcasing the effectiveness of their approach.