NEWS Professors Pernilla Wittung-Stafshede and Helena Edlund have both been awarded, along with 10 other researchers in Sweden, SEK 15 million in funding from the Knut and Alice Wallenberg Foundation programme Wallenberg Scholars.
Wallenberg Scholars is a programme aimed at supporting and stimulating some of the most successful researchers at Swedish universities.
"I am very proud and happy for both Helen and Pernilla’s sake, but also for Umeå University," says Marianne Sommarin, vice rector for research. "Last year, Lars Nyberg received the same award. Umeå University now has three researchers, among the total of twenty who have been involved in the programme, which is a validation of that research at the university is of top class."
Pernilla Wittung-Stafshede is a professor of biological chemistry. Her research is focused on how proteins fold and function. Diseases such as Alzheimer's, Parkinson's, Skellefteå Disease (Familial amyloidosis), as well as certain forms of cancer develop because proteins in the cells begin to fold incorrectly (misfolding), or because they begin bind to other protein chains or metallic ions.
"I am surprised, pleased, honoured, proud and shocked by this," says a very happy Pernilla Wittung-Stafshede. "This is a huge thing to receive. I am also very grateful to Umeå University for providing me with such a good start in Sweden. Now I have the opportunity to create a world-class research environment around protein folding and binding. I can also perform new and exciting collaborations and test wild ideas with great freedom," she continues.
Helena Edlund is a professor of molecular embryology. Her research is concentrated on the pancreas, a gland that is the key to our understanding of why and how diabetes occurs. Helena Edlund, who is one of the world-leading embryologists, has previously studies. how fat causes increased levels of insulin, sugar and blood lipids, which in turn can lead to diseases such as type-2 diabetes and fatty liver and complications such as cardiovascular diseases and chronic liver disease. In recent years, she has focused more on the link between obesity and diabetes.
"It is incredibly pleasing and an honour to receive this recognition, but also a bit bewildering,” says Helena Edlund. “It is always welcoming with funding for research, but in contrast to applying for funding for a particular purpose, the Wallenberg Scholars allows for more freedom so that we are even able to take on high-risk projects. For me, that means that I can focus fully on a new track for us in diabetes research."
Read more about Pernilla Wittung-Stafshede’s research
Read more about Helena Edlund’s research
Contact: Professor Pernilla Wittung-Stafshede
E-mail: pernilla.wittung@chem.umu.se Phone: +46 (0)90-786 53 47 Mobile: +46 (0)730-34 51 41 Professor Helena Edlund
E-mail: helena.edlund@ucmm.umu.se Phone: +46 (0)90-785 44 29 Mobile: +46 (0)70-6739986 Marianne Sommarin, Vice Rector for Research
E-mail: marianne.sommarin@adm.umu.se Phone: +46 (0)90-786 60 30 Mobile: +46 (0)70- 662 38 74
The Knut and Alice Wallenberg Foundation has selected the following other researchers to receive funding in the Wallenberg Scholars programme: • Mats Alvesson, professor of business administration, Lund University • Olle Eriksson, professor of theoretical physics, Uppsala University • Patrik Ernfors, professor of tissue biology, Karolinska Institutet • Olle Inganäs, professor of bimolecular and organic electronics, Linköping University • Kurt Johansson, professor of mathematics, Royal Institute of Technology • Jens Nielsen, professor of microbial biotechnology/system, Chalmers University of Technology • David A. Wardle, professor of soil and plant ecology, Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences
• Per Ahlberg, professor of evolutionary organismal biology, Uppsala University
Every recipient will receive SEK 3 million annually for a five-year period. The aim is that the selected researchers will be able to work using a higher level of ambition and with less pressure on them to apply for external research funding. This is to improve the preconditions for Swedish research to exert an even greater international impact and provide researchers with the opportunity to start up bolder and longer-term projects.
Editor: David Meyers