On 24 October 2025, at an awards ceremony at Medicon Village, six researchers from the Faculty of Medicine at Lund University were awarded funding from the Mats Paulsson Foundation for Research, Innovation, and Societal Development. Professors Anna Falk and Filipe Pereira, research group leaders at the Lund Stem Cell Center, are among this year's grant recipients from the Faculty of Medicine.
Here they tell us more about what they hope their research will lead to.
Anna Falk
Project: PerfectNES - platform for the development of new cell therapies
What does this support from the foundation mean for your work?
"I am very grateful for this support, it means that we have the opportunity to spend time and resources investigating the innovation potential of our research in the development of cell therapy for diseases and injuries in the Central Nervous System (CNS) and to drive our research towards clinical translation, towards patient benefit."
You want to create a cell therapy that can function as an “off-the-shelf drug.” What is required to make such an advanced treatment both sustainable and accessible in practice?
"'Drugs on the shelf' is our bold vision that we are working towards. To achieve the vision, a lot of work is needed in the form of research, development, regulatory investigation, innovation, clinical translation, clinical trials. No one can do this alone, but close cooperation with partners from the University, the Hospital and iActors (innovation actors) is necessary. Furthermore, support is needed from infrastructures such as the ATMP center, the preGMP unit, the GMP facility and the Path2Patient project. In Lund, we have a strong ecosystem to realize this type of bold vision."
Why is this research important?
"We want to develop cell therapies for diseases and injuries in the brain that lack effective treatment options. I have personal experience of how an entire life can be turned upside down after a stroke affected a close relative in the middle of life with small children."
Filipe Pereira
Project: Promoting reactive TIL (tumor-infiltrating lymphocytes) therapy through cellular reprogramming.
Your project aims to advance current cancer treatments for certain cancers, can you tell us more about what you have planned?
"Our project aims to harness our ability to reprogram cancer cells into specialized immune cells known as dendritic cells. We plan to improve clinical protocols for adoptive cell therapy using tumor-infiltrating lymphocytes (TILs), immune cells capable of migrating into tumors to recognize and destroy cancer cells, to improve treatment outcomes for certain cancers. While TIL therapy has recently been approved for the treatment of melanoma, a serious form of skin cancer, current approaches remain limited. Existing methods typically expand a broad range of TILs without specifically enriching those most effective against tumor cells. Our cellular reprogramming strategy addresses this by selectively expanding TILs with strong tumor-reactive potential."
Why is this research important?
"Through dendritic cell reprogramming, we aim to transform current clinical practices by increasing the precision and effectiveness of TIL therapies. The selective expansion of TILs that are most likely to attack cancer cells could lead to more successful treatment outcomes for patients. To do this, we will:
- Establish a co-culture protocol with reprogrammed cancer cells to expand TILs that are specifically reactive to tumors.
- Analyze the expanded TILs from patients to better understand their diversity and functionality and identify which are most effective in targeting cancer cells.
- Develop a clinical manufacturing process for tumor-reactive TILs. This will be important for making this therapy more widely available in clinical settings."
What does the support from the foundation mean for you?
"These awards from the Mats Paulsson Foundation support public-benefit initiatives and advances in medicine and life sciences by funding research that fosters innovation in the south of Sweden. My sincere thanks to the Mats Paulsson Foundation for supporting this initiative and contributing to the continued development of Lund University and our work in cellular reprogramming for cancer therapies."
