Swedish Foundations’ Starting Grant Fellows

Since the launch in 2015 a total of 24 fellows have been funded with over 310 million SEK. Four of them have been awarded the ERC Starting Grant and three have received the ERC Consolidator Grant.

GAULTIER LAMBERT
Department of Mathematical Statistics, Royal Institute of Technology
Project title: Log-correlated fields and applications to statistical mechanics
Funded by: Ragnar Söderbergs stiftelse (2023)

MAREK BARTOSOVIC
Department of Biochemistry and Biophysics, Stockholm University
Project title: Single-cell epigenomics: From methods development towards insights into epigenetic mechanism, neurodevelopment and human genetics
Funded by: Olle Engkvists Stiftelse (2023)

JOAN CAMUÑAS-SOLER
Department of Biomedicine, University of Gothenburg
Project title: Physiological profiling of excitable cell types using spatially-resolved patch-seq microscopy.
Funded by: Erling-Perssons stiftelse (2023)

The identity of any cell in the human body is determined by the proteins it produces. The instructions for making proteins are inscribed in the genes of the DNA in the cell nucleus. A molecular machinery reads and transcribes the genes into a messenger molecules, also known as gene transcripts, that carries the information out of the cell nucleus to sites for protein production. The total amount of gene transcripts produced in the cell at any one point is referred to as the trancriptome. The transcriptome can change over time depending on the developmental state of the cell and the signals it receives from its environment.

This project headed by Joan Camuñas-Soler aims is to develop a methodology that allows researchers to link the transcriptome of a specific cell with the function of the cell as well as its physical location in the tissue. To do so, the team will use modern technology that allows them to read the transcriptome of a single cell and couple this with additional functional measurements in the same cell. The team will perform such measurements in cells exposed to different environmental challenges to understand the response of the cells. In this way they aim to first establish a connection between the environment surrounding the cell and the function of the cell. Secondly, they want to identify genetic mechanisms by which cells become dysfunctional in certain human diseases.

As a model system, the team will look closer at pancreatic islets where specialized cells, β-cells and α-cells, are responsible for the regulation of the blood glucose levels. Cells within the pancreatic islets are involved in the development of diseases such as type 1 diabetes. By comparing healthy tissue with tissue from donors with diabetes, Camuñas-Soler and his team hope to uncover some of the underlying mechanisms behind the development of this disease.

Photo by Johan Wingborg

AGNESE BISSI
Division of Theoretical Physics Uppsala University
Project title:  Integrating the Conformal Bootstrap
Funded by: Olle Engkvists Stiftelse (2022)

Photo:  © Agnese Bissi 2022.

WEI-LI HONG

Department of Geological Sciences (IGV), Stockholm University
Project title: Silicate alteration in marine sediments: rate, pathway, and significance
Funded by: Ragnar Söderbergs stiftelse (2022)

Learn more: Research profile, Stockholm University
Photo: 
© Ragnar Söderbergs stiftelse (2022).

LINDA JOHANSSON
Department of Medical Biochemistry and Cell biology, University of Gothenburg
Project title: Structures of intramembrane receptor complexes: capturing transient GPCR dimers
Funded by: Ragnar Söderbergs stiftelse (2020)

Following a successful postdoctoral stint in the USA that lead to several extensive studies in the journal Nature, Linda Johansson recently returned to the University of Gothenburg to continue her path as lead researcher. Johansson is a medical structural biologist who develops pioneering microscopic methods to study the interaction between receptors for the hormone melatonin in our brain. This research may prove helpful in developing more effective methods and medicines for the treatment of type-2 diabetes and sleep difficulties.

Learn more: Research page at the University of Gothenburg
Photo: Elin Lindström. © Göteborgs universitet 2020. 

IBEN LUNDGAARD
Department of Experimental Medical Science, Lund University
Project title: Cerebrospinal fluid-mediated clearance of the brain
Funded by: Olle Engkvists stiftelse (2020)

At the Biomedical Center in Lund, Iben Lundgaard leads a lab conducting translational studies of the human glymphatic system, a recently discovered network of vessels that serves to clear our brain of waste in the form of dissolved substances and proteins. Disruptions to our glymphatic system can increase the risk of central nervous system damage and the development of neurodegenerative diseases such as Alzheimer’s disease; Lundgaard’s studies can potentially contribute to novel discoveries for improved brain health of great benefit to a large group of affected patients.

Learn more: Research page, Lund University
Photo: Tekla Kylkilahti 2020.

CARL SELLGREN MAJKOWITZ
Department of Physiology and Pharmacology, Karolinska Institutet
Project title: The rewiring of the connectome in adolescence as a target for preventing schizophrenia
Funded by: Erling-Perssons stiftelse (2020)

Sellgren Majkowitz leads a research group that develops and studies cellular models to better explain and predict the breakdown of nervous synapses, which has been observed in the brains of sufferers of schizophrenia. The psychiatric disease usually develops in late adolescence and the research group is well on its way to contributing to novel treatments that could be deployed early on for those at high genetic risk of disease onset.

Learn more: Research page at Karolinska Institutet
Photo: Ada Trepci. © Karolinska Institutet 2019.

EMMA ANDERSSON
Department of Cell and Molecular Biology / Department of Biosciences and Nutrition, Karolinska Institutet
Funded by: Ragnar Söderbergs stiftelse (2019)
> Presentation / Q&A  

Our bodies rely on tubes – tubes transport blood around our bodies, food through the digestive canal, and air in and out of our lungs. In our livers, tubes collect bile produced by liver cells and bring it to our digestive canal to help us digest fat and absorb nutrients. Tubes are essential: when they form badly during embryonic development in the womb, this leads to various diseases. Understanding how different organs take shape and build tubes is essential for developing therapies for these diseases.

Our project aims to uncover the mechanisms controlling liver bile duct development. We developed a mouse model for the bile duct disorder Alagille syndrome and using this model, together with samples from patients with Alagille syndrome, we identified new signals during liver development which we hypothesize control bile duct formation. We will thoroughly test the roles of the newly identified signals using genetic, surgical, and pharmacological approaches, and are establishing a new technique to manipulate gene expression in developing mouse liver – a technique which would reduce the numbers of animals used in science.

This project brings together tools from neuroscience, vascular biology, hepatology and developmental biology to address how tubes form during development. By resolving this question, we aim to understand a fundamental step in establishing a body plan, and in more practical terms we aim to re-introduce the missing signals and ultimately treat disorders such as Alagille syndrome.

KATRIN AMANN-WINKEL
Department of Physics, Stockholm University
Funded by: Ragnar Söderbergs stiftelse (2018)

Water is the most important liquid for life on Earth. Although a water molecule is apparently simple, the hydrogen-bonded network keeping these molecules together and determining the many anomalous macroscopic properties of water, is still a puzzle. Among different scenarios proposed to explain the anomalies in water, the most controversial issue is the hypothetical existence of two distinct liquid states: high- and low-density liquid (HDL, LDL). At ambient conditions the two structural components making up the two liquids fluctuate and cannot be studied as separate states. Rapid cooling of liquid water forms a low-density amorphous ice (LDA). High-density amorphous ice (HDA) can be made instead by pressure-induced amorphization of crystalline ice. A fascinating question arises: are the two amorphous ices the counterparts of the two proposed liquids states?

Modern X-ray scattering methods provide powerful tools to investigate both static structure and structural dynamics on different length- and timescales. Using X-rays, we have recently shown the diffusive character of HDL and LDL around their proposed glass transition temperatures at ambient pressure, but studies at elevated pressures are missing and challenging. This project aims to develop new experimental in situ pathways to study the pressure dependence of the hypothesized glass-to-liquid transition in amorphous ices. The experiments will have a high impact on the debate about different models explaining water´s mysteries.

RONNIE BERNTSSON
Department of Medical Biochemistry and Biophysics, Umeå University
Funded by: Kempestiftelserna (2018)

Multidrug resistance in bacteria, originating from conjugative gene transfer, is an increasingly common problem in today’s world. The majority of bacteria that causes hospital infections are of gram-positive origin, but so far very little is known about their conjugation systems.

The goal of this project is to determine the molecular structure and function of conjugation complexes belonging to Type IV Secretion Systems (T4SSs) from gram-positive bacteria. This will lead to a deeper insight into one of the main processes responsible for horizontal gene transfer events, including the spread of antibiotic resistance genes in bacteria. It will also pave the way for future drug discovery against this type of bacteria, which are often involved in hospital infections. The proteins involved in forming the T4SS will be studied biochemically, structurally and biophysically. Since gram-positive T4SSs are very dissimilar from their gram-negative counterparts, little can be deduced from the few gram-negative systems so far studied. Furthermore, they occur in a number of pathogens. Another aspect that makes gram-positive T4SSs interesting is that they are used to efficiently transfer not only antibiotic resistance, but also virulence factors. This makes them attractive targets for the development of novel anti-virulence drugs, since deactivation of T4SSs would lead to attenuation of the pathogen followed by easier clearance of an infection by the host immune system.

MARCUS DAHLSTRÖM
Department of Physics, Lund University
Funded by: Olle Engkvists Stiftelse (2018)

Extreme bursts of radiation has enabled for measurements of coherent electron wave packet motion and photoionization delays from different microscopic targets. As electrons are the fastest receptors of electromagnetic forces at our disposal, I ask the question how precise pulse characterization can be achieved when the burst duration is comparable, or even below, the natural electron time scale?

I will regard coherent bound electron wave packets in atoms as super-accurate clocks that allow for direct measurements of the temporal structure of extreme bursts of short-wavelength radiation. During this project, I wish to study both the physics and applications of bound electron wave packets in three main activities: [A] preparation and optimization of coherent electron wave packets, [B] photoionization dynamics and interferometry of correlated electron wave packets and [C] coherent wave packet dynamics in a macroscopic (complex) environment.

I will develop novel numerical tools for extreme light-matter interaction including the first relativistic time-dependent configuration-interaction-singles method and the first correlated atomic calculations coupled to macroscopic wave equations at short wavelengths.

A successful project will greatly enhance basic knowledge of extreme light-matter interaction on the attosecond time scale and yield increased precision in pulse characterization that will open up new possibilities in future high-gain experiments in physics, chemistry and material science, where pump-probe experiments at short wavelengths will become an important new research direction. The assessment of all attosecond effects and the transition towards single-shot pulse analysis, required for free-electron-laser pulses, is the grand motivation for this proposal.

JENNY MJÖSBERG
Department of Medicine Huddinge, Karolinska Institutet
Funded by: Erling-Perssons stiftelse (2018)
Granted ERC Starting Grant (2019)

Inflammatory bowel disease (IBD) constitutes an increasing global health burden, yet effective treatments are lacking. Hampering rationale treatment strategies, the human intestinal immune system remains largely unexplored.

I have made seminal contributions to the discovery and characterization of innate lymphoid cells (ILCs) revealing that in addition to antigen-specific adaptive T cells, innate equivalents play important roles in mucosal immunity. Determining the complementarity and redundancy of these two lymphocyte systems, acting in concert, is important for our understanding of inflammatory diseases and the development of novel therapies.

I have access to unique patient samples as well as established methods for single-cell RNA-sequencing to perform a comprehensive molecular dissection of the human intestinal lymphocyte compartments in IBD. I will determine parallels between known, and identify novel, subsets of tissue-resident, inflammation-associated, innate and adaptive lymphocytes. Building on this unprecedented molecular characterization, we will take on some of the most pressing clinical problems in IBD by performing longitudinal assessments of intestinal lymphocytes from IBD patients on conventional and biological treatments. As only a fraction of patients respond to treatment, this approach provides an opportunity to unveil immunological signatures of treatment response and “drug-induced transformation” of inflammation in non-responders. Furthermore, we will unfold critical disease mechanisms and reveal novel therapy targets and how they can be used to personalize treatment.

LISA STRÖMBOM
Department of Political Science, Lund University
Funded by: Riksbankens Jubileumsfond (2018)
The over-arching objective of this project is to develop a new conceptualization of peace. The project claims that the possible success of peace processes depends on the extent to which they can tame and foster long-standing violent conflicts into inclusive and plural dialogic interactions among the citizens – suppressing and channeling – although not eradicating conflict. The project advances a conceptual framework where institutional inclusion and identity-change are the two central pillars by which peace is measured. The main endeavor for this project is to advance the concept of agonistic peace, which was developed in the field of international political theory, and to this date it has never been applied in empirical research. The concept will be developed for analyses of inclusion and plurality in peace processes, which can contribute with the generation of peace of a more sustainable nature. This project thus takes on the task of reconceptualising peace, creating an analytically rigorous, yet context-dependent understanding of peace, serving as a spring-board for new and more sustainable peace practices. The project conducts a comprehensive study of the Colombian, Israeli-Palestinian and Northern Ireland peace processes, which will be investigated in order to test the hypothesis and suggest new ways forward in terms of making peace processes more agonistic. Through a mixed-methods design, and an innovative and ambitious combination of interviews, institutional ethnography and quantitative analyses of survey material in order to probe the research questions, the project aims for far-reaching societal impact.

CRISTIAN BELLODI
Division of Molecular Hematology, Lund University
Funded by: Erling-Perssons stiftelse (2016)
This proposal aims to unravel a completely new facet of gene expression governed by RNA pseudouridylation (Ψ), the most abundant single nucleoside RNA modification in living organisms, which directly impacts the stem cell transcriptome during normal and malignant hematopoiesis. Importantly, RNA modification is newly emerging as a key mechanism to coordinate gene expression in stem cells. Recent data show that Ψ modifications are dynamic and widespread among RNAs in cells and tissues, suggesting that Ψ may rapidly rewire a cell’s transcriptome. This proposal will be transformative in hematopoietic research by defining for the first time a new RNA-pseudouridylation ‘code’ that drives distinct genetic programs in stem and cancer cells.

VICENTE PELECHANO
Department of Microbiology, Tumor and Cell Biology, Karolinska Institutet
Funded by: Ragnar Söderbergs stiftelse (2016)
I will use novel genome-wide approaches to investigate the transcriptional basis of the non-genetic heterogeneity driving divergent gene expression responses within a clonal population using S. cerevisiae. This research has a dual objective: 1) to refine our knowledge of translation regulation and its contribution to cell-to-cell variability, and 2) to develop novel genome-wide approaches to functionally characterize and assign molecular and cellular phenotypes to subtle variations of the transcriptome. These approaches will be complemented by analysing the molecular phenotypes of the mRNA isoforms (e.g., association to ribosomes or RNA binding proteins). This will allow linkage of molecular phenotypes with cellular consequences, and highlight those variations with higher functional potential. Once I identify novel mechanisms implicated in the appearance of phenotypically divergent cells, I will characterize selected targets using biochemical and molecular biology tools.