Monthly Archives: April 2018

New publications

Here are recent publications with contributions from K2 based on last week’s search on PubMed (and optionally articles that have not been included in previous lists). This time the list includes in total 13 recent publications. The entries appear in the order they were received from NCBI. If you have publications that are not included in this or previous lists, please send the references to Hege F. Berg.
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Well spent Easter!

I hope everyone got to enjoy a bit of sun and snow during the Easter holidays and is ready for spring! It will come eventually!

Those of you intending to apply to NFR are hopefully well on their way and have been in contact with ʺtheirʺeconomist – are you in doubt who that is, get in touch with Amra (amra.grudic@uib.no). The approval of the application by the institute leader should go via the economist (deadline 20.4.). If of interest, Amra is available to read through your application.

But now to something else that is more fun than writing applications: The awards of the medical faculty 2017.

Have you been supervisor for an exceptional PhD candidate who defended her/his outstanding thesis in 2017, or (maybe even better?) have you attended a PhD thesis defense and been impressed by the PhD thesis of the candidate? Send suggestions for PhD thesis of the year to Pål Njølstad! You also still have the possibility to suggest Research group of the year, Publication of the year and Dissemination award of the year – but remember, the deadline is today!

REMEBER!! IMPORTANT!!! Holidayinformation 2018

It’s time to start planning your leftover holidays.
The Faculty of Medicine has set the following deadlines for application for holidays for 2018:

Holiday Deadline for request Fixed holiday
Winter Holiday 01.02.2018 15.02.2018
Easter Holiday 01.03.2018 15.03.2018
Summer holiday (at least 3 weeks between (15.05-15.09) 01.04.2018 15.04.2018
Autumn Holiday 018 01.09.2018
Any leftover Holidays 01.10.2018 15.10.2018

Application for leftover holidays should be sent in PAGA no later than 01.10.2018.

Information about holidays and how to register holidays can be found here:
http://pagaweb.b.uib.no/english/5-vacation/

If you have any questions regarding Holidays and registering please contact Personnel Consultant:

Elin Myhrvold – Email: Elin.Myhrvold@uib.no Phone: 55972954

Public PhD Defense, Week 15

Einar Elvbakken Birkeland will defend his PhD thesis on Thursday, April 12th, 2018
Trial lecture: Thursday, April 12th, 2018 at 09:15 AM
Topic:  ‘“The impact of microenvironmental and epigenetic heterogeneity on the evolution of therapy resistance in cancer”
Place:  Aud. 1, BB-building, Jonas Lies vei 91
Public defense: Thursday, April 12th, 2018 at 11:15 AM
Place:  Aud. 1, BB-building, Jonas Lies vei 91
Title of dissertation:  “Genomic evolution and therapy resistance in melanoma and breast cancer”
1st opponent: Postdoctor Ana Slipicevic, Univerity of Oslo
2nd opponent: Postdoctor Eva Colàs, Vall d’Hhebron Research Institute, Spain

Press release (in Norwegian)

To faculty employees – supervisors for thesis in medicine studies

Once a year, the faculty has contacted the institutes’ scientific staff and asked for proposals for assignment work for the medical students. When we address us now, we are asking for suggestions for THESIS, which is part of the academic pillar in a new study plan from 2015. At the same time, we will inform you about the role of the supervisor and the framework for work with the main assignment.

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INSULIN GOES VIRAL

Invited talk by Prof. C. Ronald Kahn, Harvard Medical School.

One of the world’s—if not the world’s—leader in insulin signaling.

Date: Wednesday April 18th
Time: 09:00
Place: Auditorium @ Armauer Hansens hus, Haukeland University Hospital

A recent study from Prof. Kahn has identified viruses that can produce insulin-like hormones that are active on human cells. This novel discovery brings new possibilities for revealing biological mechanisms that may cause diabetes, as well as autoimmune disease, metabolic conditions or cancer.

Viruses known to infect fish and amphibians, could possibly expose humans to viral insulins. Prof. Kahn and his colleagues at Joslin have found that various viruses can produce peptides that are similar in whole or in part to 16 human hormones and regulatory proteins. Four viruses interestingly have insulin-like sequences, and show ability to bind to and stimulate human insulin receptors and receptors for a closely related hormone called IGF-1 (insulin-like growth factor 1). The viral peptides could this way potentially stimulate all signaling pathways inside the cells that are stimulated by human insulin and IGF-1, including glucose uptake and cellular Growth.

“The 20th Broegelmann Lecture”

by Andreas Radbruch Prof. Dr. rer. nat.

“Pathogenic memory plasma cells – a roadblock to tolerance induction in chronic inflammatory diseases”

Tuesday, May 15th, at 13:00 – 14:00
Auditorium AHH

Andreas Radbruch is an immunologist and scientific director at the German Rheumatism Research Centre Berlin as well as professor for rheumatology at the Medical faculty of the Humboldt University of Berlin (Charité), Germany. His research focus is on the topics of autoimmunity, inflammation and immune pathology, biology of T and B lymphocytes and plasma cells, and development of molecular imprinting of immunological memory as well as cytometry and cell sorting. In particular, his work aims at a molecular understanding of the control of immune reactions and immunological memory in vaccination, and autoimmune and allergic inflammation.

Arranged by The Research Group Immunology and Rheumatology, NSI Bergen and The Bergen Research School in Inflammation.

 

 

Funding opportunities for innovative projects – additional info and links!

In K2-nytt released on week 12, there was some information missing about some of the possibilities and calls for development of your innovative projects. Please see below for more information including relevant links.

BIOTEK 2021 Optimalisation funds: Projects with commercial potential within the fields of Biology or biotechnology can get seed financing for further development. UiB acts as the applicant, but it is obligatory to have a TTO (for UiB this is BTO) involved in the application. Involvement of the TTO is to ensure that the project develops commercially. See here for more information (this was the last call): https://www.forskningsradet.no/prognett-biotek2021/Programme_description/1253970728220

StudENT: Students with a god idea can get up to 1 million kroner to further develop their ideas commercially. UiB sends the application to the Norwegian research council. The scheme is aimed at those who are at M.Sc level (or close too). BTO assists both in the application process and after the project is awarded. https://www.forskningsradet.no/prognett-stud-ent/Home_page/1254030826313

FORNY 2020 is the research councils own verification program. Projects must have come considerably further in their development than is the case with the BIOTEK 2021 optimalisation funds, but at the same time still be in a relatively early phase of development and carry large risk. BTO is the project owner in these projects with UiB as a partner. https://www.forskningsradet.no/prognett-FORNY2020/Programme_description/1253963921859

Horizon 2020 HelpDesk – Horizon HelpDesk is an initiative where both companies and researchers can take contact to help finding relevant calls and build good consortiums. Horizon HelpDesk is a collaboration between UiB (project owner), Høgskulen på Vestlandet, Bergen kommune, Innovasjon Norge, Hordland Fylkeskommune among others. BTO is the project leader. For more information, go here: https://bergento.no/what-can-we-do-for-you/horizon-2020-helpdesk/

 

Family Blix fund for support of medical research

The Blix Foundation for the Promotion of Medical Research was founded on December 1, 1983. The purpose of the fund is to support medical research, especially in the fields of cardiovascular disease and cancer, including medical diagnostics in these fields. Fund support will particularly go to research projects combining basic and clinical research, with special emphasis on applications from younger researchers. Application for support is sent to the board of directors of the fund by Erik Keiserud, Advokatfirmaet Hjort DA, PO Box 471, 0105 Oslo. The application must be sent by 25 June 2018. It must be written on a standard form that will be sent on request by e-mail: goe@hjort.no.

New publications

Here are recent publications with contributions from K2 based on last week’s search on PubMed (and optionally articles that have not been included in previous lists). This time the list includes in total 29 recent publications. The entries appear in the order they were received from NCBI. If you have publications that are not included in this or previous lists, please send the references to Hege F. Berg.

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