Monthly Archives: April 2020

Dear all!

Now it has been nearly 7 weeks since UiB was closed due to the SARS-CoV-2 pandemic. Most of us are still obliged to use home-office. Since Monday 27/4, some more people have been allowed back in the labs. However, it is still an exception that you get access!

Remember that it is the research group leader who has to send a list of who should have access to me (including risk assessment and confirmation of passed infection control course), and then Pål as head of department decides who gets access. And then of course, there are the infection control and hygiene rules when you are at work, so it takes some organization to avoid too many people at the same time in smaller rooms. A big thank you to all those who help make it work in these times!

I would also like to remind PhD fellows who have been delayed in their progress because of home-office during the Corona period to make a written description of the delay and let the supervisor confirm this. The documentation has to be sent to the faculty administration by e-mail:  hrmed@uib.no, mark with Korona in the subject line. This documentation will be entered into the personnel folder of the individual and may form the basis for an extension of the appointment period if necessary.

Finally, I wish you all a nice International Worker’s day and a good weekend!

The Nordic Nanopore-Seq Network Meeting September 14.

The Valen Lab at the Computational Biology Unit Bergen is hosting a conference to get to know Oxford Nanopore Sequencing and its applications.
The free-of-charge, one-day meeting aims at bringing together Nanopore experts with interested scientists from various disciplines. Experts from the company as well as experienced scientists will cover a wide range of scientific areas.
Additionally this conference aims at founding a network of Nanopore Sequencing users in the Nordics.

If you are interested, find out more information at the conference website: https://nordicnanopore.net/n3m-2020/

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Norwegian: Ønsker du pedagogisk stimuli?

Læringsfestivalen er i år digital, og gratis å være med på, den går 4-5 mai.

Hva er Læringsfestivalen? Festivalen er en nasjonal konferanse med fokus på undervisning og læring i høyere utdanning. Årets tema er:

  • studentaktiv læring
  • læringsarenaer
  • vurdering
  • læring og teknologi

Programmet er tilgjengelig her: https://www.ntnu.no/laeringsfestivalen/program

PhD defense – Yaping Hua

Yaping Hua will defend her PhD thesis on Monday 4th May 2020

Trial lecture: Monday 4th May 2020 at 10.15.
Topic: “Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM) in treatment of cancer – clinical effects on tumor size, survival, and metastasis”
Place: https://tinyurl.com/YapningHua 

Public defense: Monday 4th May 2020 at 12.15.
Title of dissertation: «Discovery and characterization of novel STAT3 and  androgen receptor inhibitors in prostate cancer cells”                                                                                                            Place: https://tinyurl.com/YapningHua

1st opponent: Professor José Carlos Machado, University of Porto, Portugal
2nd opponent: Førsteamanuensis Gerd Berge, UiT The Arctic University of Norway 3rd member of the comittee: Professor Lars Herfindal

The defense will be led by professor Silke Appel

This week’s employee – Lars Herfindal

Can you tell us something about your daily tasks and work in general?

I have been appointed here as a professor of pharmacology for almost five years. Prior to that, I was a member of the group of Stein Ove Døskeland, where I also earned a Doctorate in Cell Biology. My work is twofold, teaching and researching. I have responsibility of teaching pharmacology for pharmacists. It is a challenging field, consisting of several disciplines, such as physiology, pathophysiology, cell biology, biochemistry, drug chemistry, to mention some. Luckily, I have skilled co-workers who help me pull the load. Our goal is to constantly prepare for teaching, so that pharmacists have a good basis for practical use of pharmacology when going to work.

Research takes time, and is a way of life and a hobby (pleasure-staking activity that you do in your spare time) as much as work. During the time here I have built up the research activity around the development of new therapies for cancer, focusing on new molecules, and nanomedicine. We have also looked up systems where we use zebrafish larvae to find both the toxicity and effectiveness of new molecule sandand. With me in the research I have a small group of PhD students, master-student  and researchers , who take care of most of the practical work. It’s a good time when it’s needed, but most of the time is enough in the office.
I’m so lucky to be part of several collaborative project working on drug development. It is very inspiring to meet skilled researchers in other disciplines, who can fill in my knowledge hole.

What do you like working at K2?

I applied to K2 because I saw that it was a varied research environment, and expertise that allowed me to develop as a researcher. Although it is in many ways similar to the Department of Biomedicine, where I came from, the close-up of the clinic is a huge advantage at K2. I’ve had the opportunity to work with clinicians, who make sure that my research abruptly come much more closer to the patient. There are also a lot of people at K2, and a lot of people who helped me get started right after I started here. Without that help, it would be much harder for me to get started with my research. I would also add that teaching is actually quite nice, so long as they get enough time to prepare. All in all, K2 is a nice place to work.

Home office – Anja Torsvik

I can confirm that the efficiency is drastically reduced when working in an open office landscape, especially if you share this with a 6-year-old, a snoring dog, and the regular visit of teenagers. In contrast, the working day has been extended by several work sessions, e.g. “The pre-breakfast session” and the “while-dinner-is-cooking-session”. I am approaching the end of my postdoc period and my work assignments now is to write manuscripts and analyze data. Table and figure editing can be partially combined with homeschool teaching, while work that requires deeper concentration is dependent on good “noise cancelling”.

I have had some problem with unstable VPN but setting files and software in offline mode has mainly solved this issue.

Digital meetings work well, and it is motivating to have someone to talk work-related stuff with. I miss my colleagues at MGM and K2, but lunch break zoom with the Martens group has been a nice option.

I enjoy working in the home office, but unfortunately it is not ergonomically designed as a workplace. However, I can vary between different workplaces / chairs / couch, and I have access to a good coffee machine and a good selection of lunch dishes. The view of Løvstakken is great, especially when the sun is shining. Significantly much better than the dark view of the rock wall from the 2nd floor of the Lab building.

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 7 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 Oda Barth Vedøy.

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Mette Vesterhus new leader of teaching at K2

Jone Trovik has been the leader of teaching at K2 since 2015. She took on this important responsibility in connection with the implementation of the new curriculum. Jone has done this in a very satisfactory way. Surely there was no downside to her being an active gynecologist! In addition, she has contributed constructive input to the many issues we are working on at K2. In particular, I want to highlight her good mood and contagious laughter. It’s never boring when Jone is there. Thank you so much, Jone!

Everything has to come to an end, and after 4 ½ as leader of teaching, it was natural with a change. The new leader of teaching is Mette Vesterhus. She is a 50/50 associate professor / consultant physician (gastroenterology) at Haraldsplass Diakonale Sykehus. She has had a research stay at Harvard and has her research interests in diseases of the liver and biliary tract. Vesterhus has been interested in teaching since the days of her studies. She has been a student representative both to the Student Parliament at UiB and to the National Student Organization. Since 2018, she has been the subject manager for the propedeutics teaching for medical students at Haraldsplass.

Welcome Mette as leader of teaching at K2!

Norwegian: Egne rom for bruk av Zoom og Kaltura i Sentralblokken – Mulighet for gjestekonto ved UiB

Hei alle som underviser ved K1 og K2!

Vi merker oss at de to rommene i sentralblokken hvor det er tilrettelagt for digital undervisning, ikke er mye brukt. Dette tilbudet var veldig etterspurt for en tid tilbake.

Hvis det er fordi de andre løsningene for å undervise fungerer bedre enn tidligere, så er det supert. Men om det skyldes manglende kjennskap til tilbudet, så vil jeg gjøre noe med det nå.

Under finner du informasjon om følgende:

– Info om egne rom for digital undervisning

– Mulighet for å søke gjestekonto ved UiB (nyttig å videresende til sykehusansatte som underviser)

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Conference: Oxford Nanopore Sequencing and its applications.

The Valen Lab at the Computational Biology Unit Bergen is hosting a conference to get to know Oxford Nanopore Sequencing and its applications in Bergen on 14.09.2020.

The free-of-charge, one-day meeting aims at bringing together Nanopore experts with interested scientists from various disciplines. Experts from the company as well as experienced scientists will cover a wide range of scientific areas.

Additionally this conference aims at founding a network of Nanopore Sequencing users in the Nordics.

If you are interested, find out more information at the conference website: https://nordicnanopore.net/n3m-2020/

Continue reading

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 8 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 Oda Barth Vedøy.

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Teaching challenges

Dear all K2 employees; THANK YOU for your invaluable efforts in teaching at our department!

Each of you contribute direct or indirect to the teaching provided. As with all other work, the corona epidemic also had a significant impact on how we could conduct educational activities. Under these circumstances, all staff have shown a great deal of flexibility: despite physically closed campus, our students have been nurtured and provided education, but using other modalities and through other channels.

Lectures have been moved from auditoriums to the web, been recorded through Kaltura or sound tracks on PowerPoint files and posted at MittUiB, group sessions or lectures are held via Zoom or Skype. And even though the hospital closed down a great deal of patient care, students who needed practice to obtain a temporary license have completed and been approved the revised minimum service. This provide Norway more people who can function as doctors from summer and onwards (leaving us better equipped for a possible new corona wave).

Thanks also to the hospitals in our region (Haukeland, Haraldsplass, Stavanger, Førde and Haugesund) that have helped students to actually complete their practice. We have been far more fortunate than in Oslo, where hospital closed the doors for students in clinical practice.

The faculty has established a group of super-users in digital teaching, Bergithe Eikeland Oftedal is K2’s representative. She shall not act as IT technician or conduct individual training but can advise on what programs/equipment and what is appropriate to use.

Finally: Thanks and goodbye from me! I have been acting as teaching director for K2 since I was hired as professor in the fall of 2015, ie. I started at the same time as the “new” curriculum for medicine. It has been exciting to follow the implementation (both of the curriculum and my professional academic function), participate in the inner life of the department management and to truly ensure that teaching is as high on the agenda as it deserves! I am not quitting teaching but I am transferring the formal responsibility as leader of teaching  to my successor Mette Vesterhus. Welcome Mette, you will receive proper presentation in a later K2-news.

Norwegian: Smittevernråd til virksomhetskritisk personell

Bedriftshelsetjenesten har utarbeidet råd om smittevern for virksomhetskritisk personell som befinner seg på campus i en periode med økt fare for korona-smitte: Allmenne smittevernsråd til virksomhetskritisk personell ved UiB. Vi ber om at alle setter seg inn i, og følger disse. Ledelsen ved alle enheter skal legge til rette for gode rutiner for å begrense ytterligere smittespredning så mye som mulig.

Norwegian: Digitalt frokostmøte om arbeidsmiljø 14. mai

Arbeidsmiljø – trakassering – håndtering

Et godt arbeidsmiljø kjennetegnes av god ledelse, medvirkning fra ansatte og tydelige organisatoriske rammer. Kompetanse, god kommunikasjon, mestring og anerkjennelse gir både trygghet og trivsel. Noen ganger er det imidlertid ikke slik og det oppstår situasjoner på arbeidsplassen om fører til mobbing og trakassering.

Vernetjenesten ved UiB ønsker å sette fokus på betydningen av godt arbeidsmiljø gjennom frokostseminarserien Arbeidsliv i endring – hva med arbeidsmiljøet. Serien setter søkelys på arbeidslivs- og arbeidsmiljøfaktorer under endring og omstilling. Hvordan tar vi vare på arbeidsmiljøet vårt og hverandre i en verden som stadig er i endring? Hvordan ha fokus på arbeidsmiljø med stadig nye krav til effektivitet, kompetansebygging, fleksibilitet, bærekraft og nye digitale løsninger i arbeidslivet? Målgruppen er alle ansatte og ledere.

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Peder Sather Grant Program

The deadline for the Peder Sather program has been extended till 1 May. This is a nice opportunity for researchers who have collaborators at UC Berkeley or would like to establish collaborators with that US institution.

The Center offers grants of between $10K and $25K. Funds are made available for two academic years.  Grants can support activities such as workshops, mini-conferences, virtual intellectual exchanges, the undertaking of exploratory and pilot studies, activities such as PhD student exchanges, longer-term stays for Principal Investigators, the collection and analysis of data, and other core research activities.

You can find more info about the program here, and do not hesitate to contact K2’s research advisor if you want more info: amra.grudic@uib.no

This week’s employee – Karl Albert Brokstad

With background as a Microbiologist, I started my doctoral work as a University fellow in 1990 together with Professor Lars R. Haaheim. I participated in building what has now become the Influenza centre. After defending my doctoral degree, I worked one year as temporary associate professor. I then received a three year post-doc. from the Rsearch Council of Norway, and worked with professor Karl-Henning Kalland on his HIV rev project. After this period, in 1998, I was offered a job at Broegelmann Research Laboratory with Professor Roland Jonsson as head, and I have been there since then. Firstly I was employed as researcher, then as senior researcher and in 2007 a permanent position as senior engineer. In my career at the UiB, I have published more than 100 peer review papers, I have also supervised over 30 students and been actively involved in all levels of teaching in microbiology and immunology. I have led several clinical studies. I am partner in several large projects funded by NFR and EU, and my main research interest is immunological processes in autoimmune rheumatic diseases, after infection and vaccination. I have a special interest in teaching, and particular in the next generation of scientists. I am responsible for several immunology courses and I am also the head of the research school «Bergen Research School for Inflammation».

Home office – Linn Iversen

Clockwise:

-Can’t complain about the view. A little cloudy today, but have had all seasons since March 12.

– Easter pops up.

– Since my appointment with the hairdresser on March 16 got canceled, I had an emergency cut last week.

-A good, classical base for lifting a digital workday.

-A classic from the 80s has been brought down from the attic and given the opportunity to swing again.

After a little hick-ups with the digital hock-up in the first few days, all systems work fine. But the ergonomic working position can be a challenge. I take breaks doing stretching exercises on the living room floor.

Must admit that the coffee is better in the home office, but look forward to being back on campus. As a controller, everyday work consists of many smaller work tasks. It makes it easy to create lists to work with and plan the workday so that the shoulders, back and neck are not overloaded.

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 14 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 Oda Barth Vedøy.

Continue reading

Happy Easter holidays!

Now that the Easter holidays are here again, we can look forward to even brighter days, warmer sun, and some long-awaited holidays. I hope you can enjoy some well-deserved days off with family, friends, outdoor activities, and rest.

The coronavirus epidemic has halted most of the experimental research and turned upside down teaching and meeting activities. It has been a tough and brutal exercise, but I think we have also learned a lot that we will take with us after the epidemic is over. I want to take this opportunity to thank you for your constructive attitude and effort in meeting the enormous challenges we have had since March 12 at 6 pm. I am really proud of the K2.

On April 8, the government will announce possible changes in restrictions on schools and universities. The university now operates with 6 phases where phase 0 is where we are now and phase 5 is regular activity. If there will be any ease of restrictions for the universities, UiB wants this to happen gradually and slowly. We have mapped research and teaching activities that may fit with what the university calls phases 1 and 2, which seem most realistic in the first place. The research groups have been given the challenge of suggesting a limited number of projects. I have reviewed these, and based on central guidelines, selected those that seem most critical to get started and gain acceptance for. An application has been sent to the faculty for exemptions from the current limitations for these projects. Unfortunately, the deadline for this review was extremely short, and I thank the research team leaders and researchers for responding so quickly and constructively.

For many Norwegians, Easter means spending the holidays skiing in the mountains, boating, or travelling abroad. This will be different this year with a ban on travel and spending the night in the cabin in municipalities other than one´s place of residence and advice on reduced activity at sea. Prime Minister Erna Solberg says it is not a terribly great sacrifice to stay home, and although Norwegians are concerned about their own freedom and independence, this is the time to show unity. I really agree with her. Take the short trips instead of the long ones right now. Emergency preparedness in the mountain areas should be used for those who live there. Keep your distance – by exposing ourselves to infection, we can infect others who cannot tolerate it – here we must all take responsibility for our community at large. Also keep in mind those who are alone for various reasons. The holiday itself can be a difficult time for them, and the coronavirus epidemic can add a new kind of loneliness to being alone. Make a phone call, meet on the streets only at a distance, arrange Skype / Zoom / Facetime meetings with chat, contests and more. Only the imagination sets the limits, we have all seen the video clips that go viral at the moment.

Wishing a happy Easter holiday to all of you. Take care of yourself, your loved ones, and also those who are not the closest!

Pål

Regarding joint Team for Department of Clinical Science – created, but not yet in use

The management board at K2 was informed that this channel is created automatically by the IT department at the start of the corona eruption. We discussed whether this channel should be used for information flow. If Teams is to be introduced to the department, it should as far as possible replace all shared emails to the department. Due to the corona situation, we need frequent information for all our employees and we were uncertain how many employees currently use Team at a regular basis. Considering this, we decided to await the introduction of Teams. The management team will have another discussion of implementing Teams for all and usage after Easter.