Professor Aaltonen and Professor Helleday share the Anders Jahre Award for Medical Research for their discoveries of mechanisms that contribute to cancer development in humans. Their findings have been used in the follow-up and treatment of patients.
The Anders Jahre Award for Young Researchers is shared between associate professors Albrechtsen and Taylor from the University of Copenhagen. Albrechtsen receives the award for his studies on how peptide hormones are involved in the regulation of metabolism. Taylor receives the award for his studies of molecules' form and function.
– The Anders Jahre Awards for Medical Research honour basic research that pushes the boundaries of knowledge. I would like to congratulate all four winners and say a big thank you for their dedication and determination. They all contribute to basic understanding which will in turn make a difference for many people, says Svein St?len, Rector at the University of Oslo.
The Anders Jahre Awards for 2024 will be awarded on 7 November in the University aula.
Research into colon cancer and tumors of the uterus
Professor Aaltonen from the University of Helsinki has studied how mutations in our genes can predispose to the development of cancer. Aaltonen has previously identified gene mutations responsible for hereditary forms of colon cancer. For that, he received the Anders Jahre Award for Young Researchers in 2000.
As Aaltonen later showed, this knowledge makes it possible to identify family members with a high risk of cancer, so that they can be followed up closely and receive treatment before the cancer develops. Aaltonen has also identified gene variants that predispose to colorectal cancer in the general population.
Aaltonen says: “It is a great honor to receive the Anders Jahre’s Prize for Medical Research 2024. This achievement, however, is not solely mine; on the contrary. The work has required the devotion of a number of co-workers, including 38 graduated PhD students and other present and past group members. Collaborators and funding have been a must. Most of all I am indebt to the patients and relatives participating in our studies. I hope that the fruits of the work have benefitted at least some of them, and continue to serve the common good also in the future.”
In addition, Aaltonen has studied uterine leiomyoma. These are benign muscle tumours that cause discomfort in many women, with heavy menstrual bleeding and pelvic pain. Aaltonen has identified a mutation that causes a hereditary form of the disease. He has later also identified key non-hereditary mutations in leiomyoma cells that are the underlying cause of most of these common lesions.
Research into gene mutations that cause cancer
Thomas Helleday at Karolinska Institutet has studied how gene mutations in cells are repaired, and how knowledge of these repair-mechanisms can be used in cancer treatment.
In particular, he has developed a concept known as "synthetic lethality". This means that for two genes in a cell, loss of one of the genes is compatible with life, while loss of both genes results in cell death. Cells that cannot repair DNA damage by a process called homologous recombination are more prone to cancer. By additionally inhibiting another DNA repair pathway in cells that have defective homologous recombination, the cell fails to survive. This is used today in the treatment of women with hereditary breast and ovarian cancer.
Helleday says: “I am deeply honoured to be recognised by the Anders Jahre Prize. The credit for the achievement goes to the entire team that dared to break new grounds and not follow well-trodden paths. Our new research directions have been met by scepticism from researchers that felt challenged or did not look deeply into the scientific details. Now, many of these early ideas have developed into well-established treatments or research areas. My hope is that the prize may serve as an inspiration for young researchers to try unconventional approaches to challenge the big questions”.
The Anders Jahre Award for Young Researchers
Associate Professor Nicolai Albrechtsen, Department of Clinical Biochemistry, Copenhagen University Hospital and Faculty of Health and Medical Sciences, University of Copenhagen, receives the Anders Jahre Award for Young Researchers for his work on peptide hormones. Albrechtsen’ s work, particularly that related to the hormone glucagon, has provided important new insight into key physiological mechanisms.
Albrechtsen says: “Becoming a recipient of the Anders Jahre Talent Award is a not only a tribute to me as clinical scientist but is also a major recognition of my team and what we have gained of new insight in physiology and medicine. The award is a major life achievement, and I can’t wait to celebrate with all those that have and are making our scientific adventures possible. Being recognized with the Anders Jahre Talent Award for living out my scientific dreams is an underscoring of why persistency and not giving up in science is important.”
Associate Professor Nicholas Taylor, University of Copenhagen.
?Foto: Steffen-Gammelgaard
Albrechtsen shares the award with Associate Professor Nicholas Taylor, also from the University of Copenhagen. Taylor receives the award for his structural studies of molecules involved in transport across cell membranes, and of molecules that enable bacteria to move. Taylor's studies have provided important information about how molecules work.
Taylor says: ”I am very grateful to the committee for awarding this prestigious prize. I would like to thank all the mentors and colleagues I had during my scientific career, for their support along the way. I would like to thank as well the members of my research group which deserve a lot of the credit for this prize. Finally, I would like to acknowledge all current and former colleagues at the NNF Center of Protein Research and the University of Copenhagen. It is a privilege to help uncover nature’s beautiful secrets and it would not be possible without the support of all these people.”