Workshop 16 January 2025

Luiza ANGHELUTA-BAUER

Physical modelling of biological systems, Complex systems, Active matter, Biophysics

Linda Hildegard Bergersen

Lifespan, Ageing, interdisiplinarity.

Discovery of new mechanisms and of ways to delay the speed of ageing based on the new mechanistic insights. New ways to integrate humanities and social sciences with biology for present and yet unknown future demands to achieve healthy, happy and meaningful ageing. The novel mechanisms unveiled, novel interventions, and unique interdisciplinary approach will make the NO-Age Centre stand out as an internationally leading research environment. 

Alejandro O. Blenkmann

Cognitive neuroscience, Predictive processing, Attention, Intracranial EEG

Title: Attention in Artificial Intelligence and the Brain This project aims to bridge theoretical and practical implementations of attention from the informatics and cognitive neuroscience perspectives. We will use electrophysiological data (intracranial EEG) from human patients and advanced machine-learning algorithms to study attention. With this interdisciplinary approach, we expect that cross-breading will benefit both research fields.

Sleep Systems, neuroscience, cognitive development

We combine high density electrophysiology, optogenetics and computational analyses to investigate how sleep contributes to healthy development.

Stig Ove B?e

Advanced light microscopy, biomechanics, active matter physics, cell migration, tissue regeneration, cell biology

Ulysse C?t¨¦-Allard

Machine learning, wearable, human-computer interface, digital biomarkers

Health state recognition and trajectory prediction.

Structural biology, molecular interactions, drug design, enzyme inhibitors, peptide drug design, molecular modeling. Cancer, antimicrobial resistance, neurodegenerative diseases, DNA repair.

We have experiences in recombinant protein production and purification, protein stability and interaction studies. Several technologies for drug-target interaction studies, drug-target affinities, 3D modeling of molecular interactions and drug-target optimization. Of particular interest are cancer, antimicrobial resistance and neurodegenerative diseases.

Camila Esguerra

Disease models, Drug discovery, Tissue xenografting, Toxicology

Steffen Maude Fagerland

fNIRS, fMRI, brain training

Evandro Fei Fang

Healthy longevity; hallmarks of ageing; dementia; population ageing

interested in healthy longevity though the study of the mechanisms of ageing and the use of AI + wet lab techniques to propel drug development.

Emma Haapaniemi

Inborn Errors of Immunity, Genetics, gene editing, T cell CRISPR, hematopoietic stem cell CRISPR

My lab is developing clinical protocols for T cell and hematopoietic stem cell correction in genetic blood diseases; these include inborn errors of immunity and certain inherited anemias and platelet disorders. We aim to establish a disease-independent system which can correct patient-specific mutations in autologous T cells and stem cells, which can then be infused back as an autotransplant.

Trond Vidar Hansen

Drug discovery/drug development, neuroscience, molecular and cellular mechanisms of chronic pain, life science and social aspects of pain management, drug use and substance abuse, CNS-inflammation and its resolution by lipid mediators.

Studies of cellular and biomolecular processes in neuroinflammation pain

Inflammation, Innate immunity, Stroke, Thrombosis, Vascular biology, Organoids, Risk factors, Treatment Animal models, Proteases, Biochemistry

Helene Kn?velsrud

Autophagy, kidney cancer, drosophila

Autophagy in sleep and restoration

Soili Marianne Lehto

Depression, stress, psychobiology, psychoneuroimmunology, psychosomatics

Several options possible based on potential collaborators' orientation and interests. I have ongoing projects (with focus on above topics of interest/competence) with multiple existing datasets, both clinical and population-based, ranging from 100 to ca. 500,000 individuals. Most samples include biomaterial banks (serum, plasma, whole blood, placental tissue, hair).

Applying psychology to understand health consequences of clinical decisions and clinical encounters, Opioid effects; pain; addiction; anaestesia, Affective neuroscience, social neuroscience

Applying psychology to understand consequences of clinical decisions

Niamh MacSweeney

Hormonal contraceptive use, adolescent brain development, mental health risk, women's health, puberty, cognitive neuroscience

Neuroscience, gene therapy, de novo protein design, machine learning, docking simulations

Our goal is to develop a platform technology for gene therapies for central nervous system diseases combining generative AI models for construct and capsid development, in vitro and in vivo experimental pipelines, and an integral RRI approach to address fundamental relevant ethical issues.

Stroke

Preclinical development of new stroke treatment

Hedvig Nordeng

Real-World Data, Pharmacoepidemiology, Pharmacology, Women's health, Pregnancy, Neurosciences

Norway is home to some of the world's most comprehensive and well-maintained health care registries. These registries contain valuable data on patient demographics, diagnoses, treatments, and outcomes, and represent a tremendous opportunity for researchers to gain insight into the effectiveness and safety of pharmaceuticals for patients in real-world settings. A convergence environment would have the potential to improving accessibility, interoperability and efficiency of Norwegian health care data for health research, education and innovation.

Tuula Nyman

clinical proteomics, mass spectrometry, spatial proteomics, personalised medicine

Proteomics is the ¡®large scale study of proteins¡¯, and proteome level information is critically important in biomedical research. Recent advances in mass spectrometry (MS)-based proteomics have opened the way to widespread use of proteomics in clinical applications and personalized medicine. Also, new MS-based approaches for profiling the spatial proteome/lipidome/metabolome in tissues are important for understanding biological complexity in health and disease. Here, I propose an interdisciplinary project utilizing novel proteomics techniques to exploit the power of proteomics to address challenges in personalized medicine.

I am a sociologist of science with expertise in how to best create the kinds of organizations, groups, and social interactions that best facilitate creative interdisciplinary research. My interest is in joining a team to help them plan how they might best organize themselves for interdisciplinary success.

Developmental neurotoxicity

Opioid effects in the brain and society

Jonathan Polfus

Artificial synapse, physical neural networks

Development of solid-state electrochemical synapses based on resistive switches. These can be modulated by incorporation of protons, which emulates the strengthening and weakening of synapses in the brain.

Johanne Rinholm

Cellular mechanisms in stroke

Preclinical development of new stroke treatment

Fahri Saatcioglu

Molecular and cell biology of stress signaling, Cancer biology - mechanisms, identification of biomarkers and novel therapies, Physiological and molecular/cell biological effects of mind/body practices

1. Innovative treatment of patients who lose their sense of smell and/or taste due to different causes. 2. Innovative treatment of patients with oral burning sensation. 3. Understanding how brain processes smell, taste and oral pain.

Anne-Kristin Solbakk

Clinical neuropsychology, Human cognitive neuroscience, Brain injury, ADHD, Frontal lobes, Executive functions/cognitive control, Predictive processing, Attention, Working memory, Scalp- and Intracranial EEG

Preliminary title: Attention in the Human brain and in Artificial Intelligence. This project aims to study attention mechanisms from the views of informatics and human cognitive neuroscience. We will combine behavioral and electrophysiological data (primarily intracranial EEG) from humans performing cognitive tasks and machine-learning algorithms to study controlled attention and its role in predictive processes and decision-making. This interdisciplinary project is expected to enhance our understanding of both biological and artificial attention mechanisms.

Neuroscience, Memory

Attention is important for memory. How is attention formed in the brain and how is it used to successfully form memories? My idea is to record neural data in humans while they perform a memory task that is highly dependent on attention.

Christian K. Tamnes

Brain development, adolescents, mental health, MRI, environmental factors

Eivind Valen

Gene regulation

Multi-layered gene regulation. Interaction across epigenetics, transcription, epitranscriptomics and translation.

Koen Vervaeke

Neuroscience, microscopy, in vivo cellular imaging, mouse behavior and psychophysics, computational statistics, optogenetics, eye tracking, olfaction, visual and auditory physiology, learning and memory, Alzheimer's disease, brain tumours, sleep.

Luiza ANGHELUTA-BAUER

Physical modelling of biological systems, Complex systems, Active matter, Biophysics

Linda Hildegard Bergersen

Lifespan, Ageing, interdisiplinarity.

Discovery of new mechanisms and of ways to delay the speed of ageing based on the new mechanistic insights. New ways to integrate humanities and social sciences with biology for present and yet unknown future demands to achieve healthy, happy and meaningful ageing. The novel mechanisms unveiled, novel interventions, and unique interdisciplinary approach will make the NO-Age Centre stand out as an internationally leading research environment. 

Signalling systems, toxins, structural biology, peptide activity, plant pathogen interactions.

Stig Ove B?e

Advanced light microscopy, biomechanics, active matter physics, cell migration, tissue regeneration, cell biology

Ulysse C?t¨¦-Allard

Machine learning, wearable, human-computer interface, digital biomarkers

Health state recognition and trajectory prediction.

Structural biology, molecular interactions, drug design, enzyme inhibitors, peptide drug design, molecular modeling. Cancer, antimicrobial resistance, neurodegenerative diseases, DNA repair.

We have experiences in recombinant protein production and purification, protein stability and interaction studies. Several technologies for drug-target interaction studies, drug-target affinities, 3D modeling of molecular interactions and drug-target optimization. Of particular interest are cancer, antimicrobial resistance and neurodegenerative diseases.

Radiation physics, radiobiology

Convergence environment on Radiation and Health

Immunotherapy; prediction of outcome; cancer heterogeneity; patient stratification; drug screening; leukemia

Immunotherapy can provide remarkable clinical benefit to cancer patients; however, only a subset of patients responds to immunotherapeutic treatment. Being able to differentiate between responders and non-responders will have a major impact on the accuracy of patient stratification and thereby on treatment outcome. The goal of our environment will be to bring together experts in the field of cancer biology, mathematical modeling, and law/ethics to develop novel personalised medicine methods for immunotherapeutic treatment of a variety of cancer types.

Camila Esguerra

Disease models, Drug discovery, Tissue xenografting, Toxicology

Steffen Maude Fagerland

fNIRS, fMRI, brain training

Evandro Fei Fang

Healthy longevity; hallmarks of ageing; dementia; population ageing

interested in healthy longevity though the study of the mechanisms of ageing and the use of AI + wet lab techniques to propel drug development.

Yael Friedman

Philosophy of medicine; Philosophy of science in practice.

Knowledge gaps and epistemic injustice in medical research.

Osman Gani

Computer-aided drug design (CADD). Molecular Modeling

Emma Haapaniemi

Inborn Errors of Immunity, Genetics, gene editing, T cell CRISPR, hematopoietic stem cell CRISPR

My lab is developing clinical protocols for T cell and hematopoietic stem cell correction in genetic blood diseases; these include inborn errors of immunity and certain inherited anemias and platelet disorders. We aim to establish a disease-independent system which can correct patient-specific mutations in autologous T cells and stem cells, which can then be infused back as an autotransplant.

Trond Vidar Hansen

Drug discovery/drug development, neuroscience, molecular and cellular mechanisms of chronic pain, life science and social aspects of pain management, drug use and substance abuse, CNS-inflammation and its resolution by lipid mediators.

Studies of cellular and biomolecular processes in neuroinflammation pain

H?vard J Haugen

surfaces, cell adhesion, implants

Pharmaceutical technology, nanotechnology, new advanced drug delivery systems

We are dedicated to developing new drug delivery systems. Our goal is to optimize drug release profiles and improve therapeutic efficacy while minimizing side effects. We are developing various administration systems, including gels, microparticles, and liposomes and possess extensive experience in nanotechnology. Our interests cover multiple routes of administration, with a particular focus on drug delivery to the oral cavity and wound healing. However, we are open to explore any sites that involve formulation of a new drug delivery system.

Inflammation, Innate immunity, Stroke, Thrombosis, Vascular biology, Organoids, Risk factors, Treatment Animal models, Proteases, Biochemistry

organoids, organ models, microphysiological systems

Stem cell derived embryo models for in vitro organogenesis

Alvaro K?hn-Luque

Mathematical modeling, knowledge-driven machine learning, digital twins, personalized cancer therapies, biomarkers, genomics, medical imaging.

Personalized cancer therapy integrating multi-type clinical data, biological experimentation, mechanistic mathematical models and artificial intelligence.

Angela Lupattelli

Drug repurposing, psychiatry, early life drug exposure

Drug repurposing for difficult-to-treat mental disorders across the life-course, including assessment of personalized drug treatment approaches based on genetic predisposition

Emma L?ng

Main interests: wound healing, cancer progression, tissue development, and inflammatory skin disorders. Main expertise: Cell- and molecular biology, advanced light microscopy, and computer-based image analyses.

We combine experimental cell biology, mathematical modeling, and physical theory to explore cellular dynamics and uncover mechanisms that can improve health and treatment regimens. With expertise in advanced light microscopy - including live cell imaging, high-content imaging, and multiplex imaging - we aim to understand cellular mechanisms to determine the best ways to manipulate or stimulate impaired processes in disease contexts, ultimately enhancing therapeutic outcomes. Our work bridges basic science with clinical applications, addressing challenges in health and disease.

Neuroscience, gene therapy, de novo protein design, machine learning, docking simulations

Our goal is to develop a platform technology for gene therapies for central nervous system diseases combining generative AI models for construct and capsid development, in vitro and in vivo experimental pipelines, and an integral RRI approach to address fundamental relevant ethical issues.

Stroke

Preclinical development of new stroke treatment

Design of coating materials, thin films. Organic- inorganic coatings. Porous materials. Cell growth, antimicrobial surfaces.

Tuula Nyman

clinical proteomics, mass spectrometry, spatial proteomics, personalised medicine

Proteomics is the ¡®large scale study of proteins¡¯, and proteome level information is critically important in biomedical research. Recent advances in mass spectrometry (MS)-based proteomics have opened the way to widespread use of proteomics in clinical applications and personalized medicine. Also, new MS-based approaches for profiling the spatial proteome/lipidome/metabolome in tissues are important for understanding biological complexity in health and disease. Here, I propose an interdisciplinary project utilizing novel proteomics techniques to exploit the power of proteomics to address challenges in personalized medicine.

Deo Pandey

Cancer research, epigenetics and transcription, kinases and kinase inhibitors, drug discovery

The aim is to advance our understanding of the molecular underpinnings of addiction and develop targeted therapies, addressing a critical and growing public health crisis with profound social and economic impacts. We will leverage advanced molecular biology techniques to identify and characterize shared molecular pathways, using drug screening and genetic approaches to pinpoint therapeutic targets. By integrating insights into cellular signaling, gene regulation, and pharmacological interventions, this collaborative effort seeks to drive the development of precision therapies for addiction disorders.

I am a sociologist of science with expertise in how to best create the kinds of organizations, groups, and social interactions that best facilitate creative interdisciplinary research. My interest is in joining a team to help them plan how they might best organize themselves for interdisciplinary success.

L¨¦on Reubsaet

microsampling, dried blood spots, advanced protein determination (using LC-MS) from biological samples, innovative sampling, complex sample preparation integrated in paper (smart sampling), targeted protein determination, analytical chemistry

Our research is focused on revolutionizing the workflow for LC-MS-based protein determination by integrating traditionally tedious sample preparation steps directly into the paper used for collecting dried blood samples or other microsampling devices (smart sampling). This innovative method leverages the significant advantages of dried blood samples, which can be collected in virtually any environment without the need for trained personnel. Upon receipt of the dried samples in the laboratory, we streamline and enhance protein analysis using advanced LC-MS techniques. By embedding preparation steps into the sampling paper itself, we significantly reduce both time (up to several days) and labor, while seamlessly maintaining the existing workflow from sample collection to analysis. We are seeking to collaborate with groups that recognize the potential of this approach and are interested in implementing smart sampling in their workflow.

Johanne Rinholm

Cellular mechanisms in stroke

Preclinical development of new stroke treatment

Ida Robertsen

Pharmacokinetics, pharmacology, drugs and the gut microbiome, clinical trials, kidney transplantation

Fahri Saatcioglu

Molecular and cell biology of stress signaling, Cancer biology - mechanisms, identification of biomarkers and novel therapies, Physiological and molecular/cell biological effects of mind/body practices

Biswa Sahu

Cancer epigenetics, gene expression control, enhancer malfunction and epigenome reprogramming by transcription factors, next-generation sequencing and single cell multomics

Understand the role of non-genetic mechanisms such as enhancer and epigenome reprogramming in cancer initiation, progression, metastasis and treatment resistance. Using high resolution enhancer landscapes in accessible chromatin and gene expression data from single cell analysis.

Dipak Sapkota

Biomarkers in white and red lesions in oral cavity and oral cancer; quality of life in patients with white and red lesions in oral cavity and oral cancer, development of in vitro models of oral mucosa/oral cancer for functional studies, drug testing

Nikolina Sekulic

chromatin, structural biology, cryoEM, protein engineering, drug discovery, mapping Ab-Ag interactions

We have experience in the purification and structural characterisation of proteins. We have technology for mapping protein-drug interactions and can assist in the development of protein targets and/or biologics with increased potency or binding affinity.

1. Innovative treatment of patients who lose their sense of smell and/or taste due to different causes. 2. Innovative treatment of patients with oral burning sensation. 3. Understanding how brain processes smell, taste and oral pain.

Koen Vervaeke

Neuroscience, microscopy, in vivo cellular imaging, mouse behavior and psychophysics, computational statistics, optogenetics, eye tracking, olfaction, visual and auditory physiology, learning and memory, Alzheimer's disease, brain tumours, sleep.