Within PREDICT, special opportunities for research are created by participants donating blood samples to research over time, which can be enriched with clinical data.
Breast cancer
What is the problem?
Breast cancer screening can increase cancer detection and reduce the risk of patients dying from their disease. Screening at a population level can also potentially cause harm by detecting many benign cancers with subsequent overtreatment linked to serious side effects. This is called overdiagnosis.
What do we hope to achieve?
In PREDICT, we are looking for new blood markers that can be used in the clinic to identify people who are at increased risk of breast cancer recurrence and who, based on their increased risk, should be followed with screening strategies that are personalised to the patient's unique profile.
Coordinator
Wendy Yi-Ying Wu, First Research Engineer, Department of Diagnostics and Intervention
Covid-19
What is the problem?
COVID-19 could be a global issue for a long time. Lack of knowledge and uncertainty about how long a vaccine is protective means that the need for therapeutic treatments will continue to exist.
What do we hope to achieve?
In PREDICT, we are studying inherited levels of specific protein variants that can predict which people are at risk of developing severe COVID-19 and acute complications. This knowledge can also be used to develop new medicines for COVID-19 that can reduce the risk of getting sick and prevent severe disease in those who have already fallen ill.
Coordinator
Johan Normark, Associate professor, consultant (attending) physician, Department of Clinical Microbiology
Dementia, memory alterations, biomarkers
Coordinators
Hugo Lövheim, Associate Senior Lecturer and Resident at the Department of Community Medicine and Rehabilitation (main coordinator)
Anna Oudin, Researcher at the Department of Public Health and Clinical Medicine
Demography and disease processes
What is the problem?
Health is influenced by various factors such as lifestyle, family networks, genetics and socio-economic situation. The impact of these factors affects health throughout the life course and is also transmitted between generations. This makes it difficult to estimate the impact of the different factors on health, as it requires data that highlights all these factors.
What do we hope to achieve?
This project combines databases that illustrate the impact of intergenerational transmission and family networks on health. The databases include data from parish registers, modern registry data and biomarker measurements. In this way, the impact of intergenerational transmission and family networks can be studied.
Coordinator
Erling Häggström Gunfridsson, Statistician at the Centre for Demographic and Aging Research
Diabetes
What is the problem?
The development of type 2 diabetes mellitus depends on several factors. How and which of these factors interact in the disease process and lead to disease is not yet known.
What do we hope to achieve?
PREDICT aims to identify factors contributing to the development of type 2 diabetes and, through this, to discover new elements that interact in the development of the disease with the aim of increasing the prospects for prevention and improved treatment.
Coordinators
Olov Rolandsson, Professor, Senior Physician, Department of Public Health and Clinical Medicine (main coordinator)
Anna Möllsten, affiliated as researcher to the Department of Public Health and Clinical Medicine and the Department of Clinical Sciences
The exposome, including environment and lifestyle
What is the problem?
The environment and our lifestyle affect our body's ability to avoid disease.
What do we hope to achieve?
We want to find out more about how environmental pollution and lifestyle, such as diet, affect our health. To do this, we will study the many environmental factors we are exposed to, sometimes called the “exposome”, and relate them to health, disease and various biomarkers.
Coordinators
Sophia Harlid, Researcher, Department of Diagnostics and Intervention (main coordinator)
Maria Wennberg, First Research Assistant at the Department of Public Health and Clinical Medicine
Ingvar Bergdahl, Senior Lecturer at the Department of Public Health and Clinical Medicine
Sports medicine, physical activity
What is the problem?
Being physically active is very important for our health, both in the short and long term, from childhood to old age. But there is still a lot we don't understand about how our muscles, bones, fat and blood work together to keep us healthy and physically active.
What do we want to achieve in PREDICT?
Our goal in PREDICT is to find out more about how these different parts of our body communicate with each other and better understand how biological functions of our cells affect our health and physical performance.
Coordinator
Christer Malm, Professor at the Department of Community Medicine and Rehabilitation
Haematology
What is the problem?
There is a great need to better study and understand haematological disease.
What do you hope to achieve?
In PREDICT, we want to contribute to new knowledge that can improve treatment strategies and guide treating physicians to prescribe the right medicine and intervention to the right patient, thereby increasing survival and quality of life.
Coordinator
Florentin Späth, MD, PhD, specialist in haematology. Affiliated to the Department of Diagnostics and Intervention
Brain tumours
What is the problem?
Brain tumour is a serious disease with limited treatment options.
What do we hope to achieve?
The aim of the research is to understand how brain tumours arise so that we can detect cancer early and find mechanisms for new treatments.
Coordinator
Beatrice Melin, Professor and Senior Consultant, Department of Diagnostics and Intervention
Heart attack, Stroke, Heart valve
What is the problem?
Despite major advances in recent decades in the treatment and monitoring of cardiovascular disease. the most common cause of early death and disability in the ageing population is a result of heart attack and stroke.
What do we hope to achieve?
At PREDICT, we conduct research with the aim of saving lives by identifying people at high risk of developing and dying from cardiovascular disease, and helping them to make effective preventive lifestyle changes and use medication.
Coordinator
Stefan Söderberg, Professor and Chief Physician, Department of Public Health and Clinical Medicine
Lung disease
What is the problem?
There is a major need to identify biomarkers that provide early signs of observable ischaemic coronary artery disease, and that can also predict prognosis in people with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD).
What do we hope to achieve?
Within PREDICT, we conduct research that will provide better knowledge and tools to identify individuals at risk in need of prevention and even treatment.
Coordinator
Anders Blomberg, Senior Lecturer and Consultant, Department of Public Health and Clinical Medicine
Lung cancer
Coordinator
Jonas Nilsson, Researcher, Department of Diagnostics and Intervention
Metabolomics
Coordinators
Benny Björkblom, Staff scientist, Department of Chemistry (main co-ordinator)
Hans Stenlund, Staff scientist, Department of Plant Physiology
Kidney diseases
Coordinator
Björn Runesson (PhD, MD) Physician, Kidney Medicine, Norrland University Hospital
Osteoporosis
What is the problem?
Osteoporosis is a common disease that increases the risk of fractures. For reasons that are not yet clear, Sweden has one of the highest rates of osteoporosis fractures in the world. There is currently effective treatment for osteoporosis, but unfortunately most individuals are only identified after they have suffered a fracture. The fractures lead to great suffering, high health care costs and, for hip fractures, also a high mortality rate and impact on quality of life.
What do we hope to achieve?
In PREDICT, we want to find markers in blood that can be used to identify early which individuals are at high risk of osteoporosis fractures in order to be able to start preventive treatment in time. We also hope to find new disease mechanisms that can lead to new treatments for osteoporosis and a more personalised treatment.
Coordinator
Ulrika Pettersson Kymmer, Associate Professor and Senior Consultant, Department of Medical and Translational Biology
Pancreatic cancer
What is the problem?
Pancreatic cancer is one of the deadliest cancers, almost always ending in the death of the patient as a result of their disease. Despite research, this situation has not improved significantly over the last 10 years. The high mortality rate is caused by the lack of systematic treatments combined with the fact that the disease is often found at a late stage.
What do we hope to achieve?
In PREDICT, we want to study combinations of blood markers that can detect pancreatic cancer as early as possible, and most favourably, even while the cancer is curable. The aim of the research is to increase our knowledge of how we can use these markers to choose the best possible treatment for each individual.
Coordinator
Malin Sund, Visiting Professor and Senior Consultant, Department of Diagnostics and Intervention
Parkinson's disease
What is the problem?
The causes of Parkinson's disease and other age-related neurodegenerative disorders are incompletely understood. These diseases are expected to increase in the coming decades. In addition, most neurodegenerative diseases are currently incurable. The lack of early biomarkers for diagnosis and monitoring of the underlying disease processes hinders the development of neuroprotective therapies. Better characterisation of the earliest stages of the disease would lead to better opportunities to find new treatments.
What do we hope to achieve?
By studying early molecular signatures (biomarkers) in Parkinson's disease and utilising the large population coverage of biobanks such as the NSHDS, we hope to gain a better understanding of this disease. We also aim to identify other, severe forms of neurodegeneration at an early stage. This could lead to individualised treatment and better interventions to prevent neurodegeneration.
Coordinators
Parkinson's disease (clinical expertise): David Bäckström, Adjunct associate professor. Affiliated to the Department of Clinical Sciences
Parkinson's disease (expert omics): Miles Trupp, Group Leader, Department of Clinical Sciences
Sudden cardiac death
What is the problem?
The majority of deaths from acute myocardial infarction currently occur through sudden cardiac death.
What do we hope to achieve?
In PREDICT, we want to identify markers in healthy people who later died due to sudden cardiac death. The levels of these markers will then be compared with levels in survivors of acute myocardial infarction and from people without heart disease. Through this, we hope to both understand why some heart attacks have such a severe course and use this knowledge to find ways to prevent sudden cardiac death.
Coordinator
Jonas SO Andersson, Visiting lecturer. Affiliated to the Department of Public Health and Clinical Medicine
Prostate cancer
What is the problem?
The risk of a man dying from prostate cancer is, for unknown reasons, higher in Sweden than in most other countries. More and more men are being diagnosed and the increase is estimated to be partly due to modifiable factors such as lifestyle and environmental factors. There is currently insufficient evidence to recommend any primary prevention for prostate cancer.
What do we hope to achieve?
Within PREDICT, we will create a better understanding of which patients need active treatment and distinguish them from those who can be left untreated and safely followed with continuous monitoring. We also study modifiable factors such as lifestyle and environmental factors in relation to prostate cancer with the aim of opening up opportunities for preventive measures.
Coordinator
Elin Thysell, Staff scientist, Department of Medical Biosciences
Rheumatoid arthritis
What is the problem?
Rheumatoid arthritis is a chronic, degenerative inflammatory joint disease. Early diagnosis, which can lead to early treatment, has a major impact on the progression and long-term prognosis of the disease.
What do we hope to achieve?
In PREDICT, we want to find blood markers that can be used to make a diagnosis at an early stage and can also help doctors determine the long-term prognosis for the development of the disease.
Coordinators
Mikael Brink, Assistant professor, resident physician, affiliated to the Department of Public Health and Clinical Medicine (main coordinator)
Solbritt R Dahlquist, Professor and Consultant, Department of Public Health and Clinical Medicine
Colorectal cancer
What is the problem?
General screening for colorectal cancer (e.g. stool samples and colonoscopy) has a preventive effect and can help find cancer earlier. However, the tests are inconvenient for the patient and costly for the healthcare system. The only criterion for screening is age, although it is now recognised that the risk of developing colorectal cancer varies across the population for a number of reasons.
What do we hope to achieve?
PREDICT hopes to contribute to the development of a blood test that shows whether a person would benefit from earlier or more frequent screening for colorectal cancer. The research also aims to better understand the biology of cancer and the role of lifestyle factors.
Coordinator
Bethany van Guelpen, Associate professor consultant (attending) physician, Department of Diagnostics and Intervention
Urological diseases
Coordinator
Andreas Josefsson, Assistant professor, Department of Diagnostics and Intervention
Venous thromboembolism and atrial fibrillation
Coordinators
Lars Johansson, Associate Professor and Senior Consultant. Affiliated to the Department of Public Health and Clinical Medicine (main coordinator). E-mail: Lars.Johansson@regionvasterbotten.se
Marcus Lind, Adjunct associate professor, Department of Public Health and Clinical Medicine
Viral disease
What is the problem?
Blood vessels are most often involved in the pathogenesis of viral diseases. Previous research has shown that a protein-sugar structure on top of blood vessel cells regulates many functions such as leakage, immune cell and platelet binding, and inflammation.
What do we hope to achieve?
In PREDICT, we want to investigate the underlying mechanisms of the role of blood vessel cells in the pathogenesis of viral infections. Using biobank samples, we hope to find markers of blood vessel activation/dysfunction that could potentially help us identify people at risk of severe viral disease. This could help prioritise vaccines in the future.
Coordinator
Johan Normark, Associate professor, consultant (attending) physician, Department of Clinical Microbiology
Waldenström's macroglobulinaemia
What is the problem?
There is a great need to improve our understanding of the early and late mechanisms underlying the development of Waldenström's macroglobulinaemia.
What do we hope to achieve?
Within PREDICT we want to identify prognostic blood markers and biomarkers that can guide treatment choices.
Coordinator
Lena Brandefors, Chief physician affiliated to the Department of Diagnostics and Intervention
Ovarian cancer
What is the problem?
Ovarian cancer is usually detected late due to few and diffuse symptoms, and therefore has a poor prognosis. Good methods for screening and early diagnosis are missing.
What do we hope to achieve?
We want to find biomarkers and risk profiles that can identify women with precancerous changes or very early stages of ovarian cancer and thus hopefully treatable disease. Furthermore, we want to find good prognostic and predictive markers to optimise individualised treatment.
Coordinator
Annika Idahl, Associate professor, senior consultant, Department of Clinical Sciences