Author Archives: hbe012

This week’s employee – Hege F. Berg

What do you work with?
I am a PhD student in Bergen Gynecologic Cancer Group at Kvinnekinikken under supervision of Camilla Krakstad and Erling Høivik. I work with preclinical models in endometrial cancer. First part of my project has been to establish patient-derived organoids (“mini-tumors”) and organoid-based PDX mouse models as, respectively, in vitro and in vivo model systems for endometrial cancer. I will now use these model systems to study the underlying biology of endometrial tumors (e.g. heterogeneity at single cell level) and to test relevant targeted drugs. This work is performed in the research lab at U level at Kvinneklinikken, but I am also at the animal facility (BBB) and in the laboratory building when needed. In addition to research, I have also worked as editor for K2-nytt as part of my duty work. This work will now be handed over to new editor, Oda Vedøy.

Why K2? What do you enjoy to work with at K2?
Working at K2 has given me the opportunity to participate in research at high international level. We have access to state-of-the art equipment at core facilities and at other K2-affiliated research groups – providing opportunities rather than constrains. These opportunities and a good working environment contributes to good motivation, inspiration and increased competence. Further, being editor of K2-nytt has given me the opportunity to get to know K2 and other K2’ers which is valuable at the beginning of a PhD. A good overview of activities at K2 also comes with the job. This has been useful, and it has been both encouraging and enjoyable to work with the K2 administration. I now wish Oda all the best with the job as editor.

(Norwegian) Ukens leder

Først og fremst ønsker jeg dere alle et godt nytt år. Jeg håper at planleggingen for det kommende året er godt i gang.

Det medisinske fakultet vil også i år utpeke Årets publikasjon, årets ph.d.-arbeid og pris for fremragende forskningsformidling. Fra 2019 vil prisen for årets forskningsgruppe bli erstattet med en pris for årets forsknings-/innovasjonsmiljø.

Om de enkelte prisene

Begrunnelse Årets publikasjon
Gi en begrunnelse som inneholder argumentasjon for kvalitet (bl.a. impact factor), originalitet og nyskapning. Der det er relevant bør nominasjon også redegjøre for konsekvenser for videre kunnskapsinnhenting, klinisk anvendelse eller innovasjon. Nominasjon til årets publikasjon bør avspeile instituttets egen forskning og originalartikkelen som nomineres skal sendes fakultetet som eget vedlegg (pdf-fil av trykket artikkel).

Begrunnelse Årets ph.d.-arbeid
Gi en kort begrunnelse som blant annet inneholder argumentasjon for kvalitet, originalitet og nyskaping. Der det er relevant bør nominasjon også redegjøre for mulige konsekvenser for videre kunnskapsinnhenting, klinisk anvendelse eller innovasjon. I tillegg skal kandidatens eget bidrag og selvstendighet beskrives. Bedømmelseskomiteens innstilling må legges ved og komiteen vil ta hensyn til denne i sin vurdering. Den nominerte avhandlingen kan sendes som som pdf.

Begrunnelse Årets forsknings-/innovasjonsmiljø
Gi en begrunnelse som blant annet inneholder argumentasjon med utgangspunkt i forskningsproduksjon og/eller innovasjonsaktivitet (For eksempel: fremme av innovasjonskultur, kontakt med næringsliv, innsendelse av/tilslag på søknader om innovasjonsprosjekter, oppnådde lisenser, selskapsetablering, fremragende tjenesteinnovasjon), vitenskapelig kvalitet eller evne til nyskaping. Også arbeidsmiljø, rekruttering, kjønnsbalanse og evne til å utvikle yngre forskere vil bli vektlagt og må presenteres i begrunnelsen. Miljøet som nomineres bør ha tett samarbeid og ikke ha karakter av å være et løst knyttet nettverk. I tillegg bør bidrag til nasjonalt og internasjonalt forskningssamarbeid eller innovasjonsaktivitet, nettverksbygging og bidrag til utdanning av studenter og ph.d.-kandidater kommenteres. 

Begrunnelse Formidlingsprisen
Gi en kort begrunnelse som blant annet inneholder argumentasjon for hvordan en forsker eller en forskningsgruppe har evnet å formidle nyere forskning på en fremragende måte til et bredt publikum. Forskningsformidlingen skal være av høy kvalitet med hensyn til faglig innhold, utforming og utførelse. Den bør engasjere, vekke nysgjerrighet, gi inspirasjon og ny kunnskap. Formidlingen skal svare på samfunnets behov for informasjon og kunnskap om forskning og høyere utdanning.

Frist

Bruk linken å nominere kandidatene dine:

https://skjemaker.app.uib.no/view.php?id=7848679

Frist for innsending av grunngitte forslag settes til 07.02.2020.

UiBs bærekreftskonferanse 6. og 7. februar

Til alle ansatte.

Det nærmer seg tiden for UiBs store nasjonale bærekraftskonferanse 6. og 7.
februar. Som i fjor holder vi en arrangementsdag den 5. februar som vi kaller
Day Zero. Her finnes det noe for enhver smak, og godt faglig påfyll.

Du kan delta på en rekke svært interessante seminarer og workshops med ulike
tilnærminger til bærekraft. Har du studenter i undervisning kan kanskje noen av
arrangementene være relevant å ta med studentene på. Day Zero er selvfølgelig
gratis og et virkelig unikt tilbud.

Det er mer enn 30 arrangement å velge mellom, og temaene spenner bredt. Ta en
titt på listen av arrangement her.

Med vennlig hilsen,

Ingrid Hagerup

2020 proposal round to Research Council of Norway

Research Council of Norway has set the deadline for this years’ main proposal round to 6th May. We do not have much information yet, but most likely you will be able to apply to the health programmes BEHANDLING, BEDREHELSE and HELSEVEL and the programme FRIPRO which is open to all thematic areas. In the FRIPRO programme you can apply for researcher project, mobility grant and young research talent grant. The mobility and young research talent grants are for researchers in the early stages of their career, 2-7 years after defense allowing deduction of maternity leave, etc.

Rumours say that the next “Fellesløftet” (Toppforsk) also has 6th May as deadline. This programme supports development of excellent research environments at the forefront of international research within their research fields. Nothing is yet confirmed, but you can show your interest in the programme via the questionnaire (link below) and we will get back to you when we hear more.

The department would like to know who plans to apply this year in order to plan administrative resources. If you intend to apply, we ask you to fill in the form before 31st January, it will only take 2 min:

https://skjemaker.app.uib.no/view.php?id=7844053

(Norwegian) Dagskurs I Design Thinking 24.1.20

Du inviteres herved til kræsjkurs i Design Thinking, fredag 24.januar 0900-1600 på Marineholmen Makerspace.

Design Thinking er hovedverktøy for innovasjon, fokusert på brukerbehov og rask testing av praktiske løsninger. Seminaret med Federico Lozano er svært høy kvalitet, nyttig for alle fagområder, og ikke minst veldig gøy! NB: svært begrenset antall plasser, påmelding kun via link.

Workshop announcement

The Respiratory Research group is organising the workshop

Bioinformatic analysis of the airway microbiome: A QIIME2 workshop

16th – 20th of March 2020

This five-day workshop focuses on applied bioinformatics in the field of microbiome data mainly for non-computer scientists using QIIME2. The QIIME2 developers Greg Caporaso and Matthew Ryan Dillon will teach at the workshop.

Participants are required to have some experience with QIIME2 prior to attending the workshop, as no introduction to QIIME2 will be given. Examples used in the workshop will be from the MicroCOPD study, which is data consisting of 16S-rRNA (bacterial) and ITS (fungal) sequencing data from lung samples. Since these samples are low biomass, an emphasis will be on the challenges related to contamination in microbiome analysis.

Participants can bring their own data, but workshop datasets will also be provided. The sessions in the workshop include interactive discussions on several related topics such as different denoising strategies, bioinformatic identification and handling of contaminants, filtering strategies, diversity analyses, differential abundance testing, statistics interpretation, and visualisation and presentation of data.

The spaces are limited, and priority will be given to applicants with relevant background. If you are interested in attending the course, check out the information here:

https://www.digitallifenorway.org/arrangementer/bioinformatic-analysis-of-the-airway-microbiome-a-qiime2-workshop

(Norwegian) Seminarserie Senter for ernæring, torsdag 23. januar

Senter for ernæring har gleden av å invitere til et nytt seminar i vår seminarrekke. Serien tar opp sentrale utfordringer innen ernæring og helse.

Maternal nutrition in a modern world. Are we creating new risks for the baby?

Foreleser: Eleni Papadopoulou, PhD, Norwegian Institute of Public Health (NIPH), Oslo

Moderator: Petur Benedikt Juliusson
Tid: Torsdag 23. januar kl. 14.30-15.30
Sted: Auditorium 2, BB-bygget, Jonas Lies vei 91

Eleni Papadopoulou is an epidemiologist at the Norwegian Institute of Public Health (NIPH). Her background is in nutrition and environmental health. She holds a PhD in Environmental Epidemiology (2013) from the Barcelona Institute for Global Health, Spain, on the impact of early life exposures to environmental contaminants on fetal growth and endocrine disruption. Her research is focused on the investigation of exposures to environmental contaminants with toxic effects for humans, especially using birth cohorts, as well as the interactions with beneficial nutrients. When coming to NIPH, she first received funding as a Marie Curie post-doctoral fellow to study human dietary exposures to new “emerging” toxicants and currently she is funded by the Norwegian Research Council (“CATCH-UP project”) for a study aiming to identify early life environmental stressors that can affect child growth in the Norwegian Mother, Father and Child cohort study.

Abstract
Diet and nutrition are among the major modifiable risk factors for the prevention of Non-communicable diseases (NCDs), and more specifically alcohol use, inactivity and unhealthy diet, as well as obesity. In addition, exposure to environmental chemicals have become hot topics due to the link to increase NCD risk. These chemicals are now considered the new threats for human health, mainly because some of them after they enter the human body can mimic the function of our hormones and promote adverse health effects. The periods of pregnancy and early life are identified as critical periods to tackle NCD risk development, as the risk factors are developing long time before the occurrence of the disease, all the way to the pregnancy period and the fetal life. This is no different for environmental chemicals, as the placenta is not protecting the fetus from being exposed to them and the child is born with detectable levels of several environmental chemicals. In this talk, she will focus in the role of maternal diet as a source of exposure to environmental chemicals as well as beneficial nutrients and the associations with child’s physical development and health.

Det blir lett servering.

Velkommen!

http://www.uib.no/ernaring

Disputas – Priyanthi Borgen Gjerde

Priyanthi Borgen Gjerde will defend her PhD thesis on Wednesday 29th January 2020

Trial lecture: Wednesday 29th January 2020 at 09.15.
Topic: “Lipid metabolism in physical health promotion and follow up of treatment response in psychotic disorders”
Place:Auditorium, Armauer Hansens hus, Haukelandsveien 28

Public defense: Wednesday 29th January 2020 at 11.15.
Title of dissertation: “Lipid effects during antipsychotic drug treatment and their relevance for clinical outcomes”
Place: Auditorium, Armauer Hansens hus, Haukelandsveien 28

1st opponent: professor Olli Kampman, Universitetet i Tampere, Finland
2nd opponent: førsteamanuensis Eva Malt, Universitetet i Oslo
3rd member of the comittee: professor II Jørn V. Sagen, Universitetet i Bergen

The defense will be led by professor Francisco Gomez Real

 

 

 

 

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 20 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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