The awards include seven grants to six Lund Stem Cell Center researchers, together amounting to over SEK 46 million, supporting projects that range from generating personalized models for testing cellular immunotherapies to developing cell-replacement therapies for repairing the brain after a stroke.
Building patient-specific models for next-generation cancer immunotherapy
Paul Bourgine, Associate Professor at Lund University, received both a Consolidator Grant (SEK 10 million) and a Project Grant (SEK 8.5 million) for his work on personalized modeling of cellular immunotherapy using human mini-ossicles.
Bourgine’s lab develops human “mini-ossicles,” advanced 3D stem-cell-derived models that replicate the microenvironment of human bones. These systems allow researchers to test how the patient bone environment influences immune cell behaviours, accelerating the design of safer and more effective cellular immunotherapies for cancer.
“This is a bold and new research direction for my group, an attempt to combine tissue engineering, cancer research and immunology principles,” highlights Paul Bourgine.
The Consolidator Grant, aimed at helping promising independent researchers expand and strengthen their programs, will enable the team to uncover fundamental knowledge on bone marrow function and organization, and also increase translational outcomes by collaborating with clinical partners.
“It is comforting to see that the project was deemed innovative and relevant. It takes time and resources to achieve scientific breakthroughs. With this support from VR, my team is an ideal position to envision exciting discoveries.”
Advancing stem-cell science for human health – from blood to brain disorders
While Bourgine’s research focuses on developing patient-specific cellular models for cancer immunotherapy development, other Lund Stem Cell Center awardees are exploring how cells function, develop, and can be used to repair different organs of the human body.
Johan Flygare, Senior Lecturer of Experimental Hematology at Lund University, has been awarded a SEK 5.4 million Project Grant to explore Therapeutic Mechanisms for New Treatments of Diamond-Blackfan Anemia, a rare blood disorder caused by defects in ribosome function. His team investigates how the ribosome, the cell's protein-manufacturing machinery, influences blood cell production. By uncovering these fundamental mechanisms, the research group aims to identify novel molecular targets that could lead to improved treatments for Diamond-Blackfan anemia and related hematological disorders.
Anna Falk, Professor of Neuroscience at Lund University, also received support (SEK 5.4 million) for the project Early human neuronal development and its role in neuropsychiatric disorders. Using stem-cell-derived brain models, her team studies how human neurons form during early development and how errors in this process may contribute to the development of neuropsychiatric conditions such as schizophrenia and autism. Their research aims to understand how early molecular events can shape lifelong mental health.
Where Falk’s work explores how the brain develops, Zaal Kokaia, Professor of Experimental Medical Resarch at Lund University, focuses on how it can recover after injury. His project, Repairing the stroke-damaged brain with reprogrammed human cortical neurons, which was awarded SEK 5.4 million aims to restore lost brain function by generating new, healthy neurons from reprogrammed human cells. This regenerative approach could one day help patients regain abilities lost after stroke, a leading cause of disability worldwide.
Supporting a new generation of researchers and ideas
Alongside these established research programs, the Swedish Research Council’s funding also supports the next generation of scientists, including researchers building their independence and shaping the future of regenerative medicine in Sweden.
Two early-career investigators affiliated with Lund Stem Cell Center received Starting Grants, each worth SEK 6 million, to establish and develop their own independent research programs.
Vivien Horvath was awarded funding for the project Transposable elements in the aging human brain: Functional insights and therapeutic opportunities. Her research explores how mobile DNA elements affect brain aging and disease, a growing field of study that combines neuroscience, genetics, and epigenomics. Later this year, Vivien will move to Umeå University to establish her own research group at the Wallenberg Center for Molecular Medicine.
“My research group will investigate the gene regulatory functions of transposable elements in the human brain, with a focus on healthy and pathological aging,” explains Vivien. “Thanks to the generous support from the Swedish Research Council, we are now able to explore these mechanisms in greater depth, focusing on the role of transposable elements and their epigenetic repressors in aging oligodendroglia.”
Alexandra Rundberg Nilsson, based at Lund University, also received a Starting Grant for her project Decoding molecular mechanisms in blood stem cell regulation and leukemia. Her research aims to reveal new insights into how the balance between healthy blood formation and malignancy is controlled at the molecular level.
“I am very grateful to receive this Starting Grant,” notes Alexandra. “It provides the support needed to advance my independent research program and pursue questions that are central to understanding how blood cells are regulated and function in health and disease.”
Their success reflects the Lund Stem Cell Center’s commitment to fostering scientific independence and developing early-career researchers who advance Swedish biomedical research across institutions.
