Workshop 27 February 2025

List of people who will participate at workshop for convergence environments. Will be updated.

Open life sciences

Name	Research topic(s) of interest and/or competence	Title or short description (2-3 sentences) of initial project idea
Luiza ANGHELUTA-BAUER	Physical modelling of biological systems, Complex systems, Active matter, Biophysics
Melinka Butenko	Signalling systems, toxins, structural biology, peptide activity, plant pathogen interactions.
Stig Ove B?e	Advanced light microscopy, cell migration, tissue dynamics, biomechanics, active matter physics, developmental biology, tissue regeneration	Bridging Active Matter Physics with Gene Regulation and Biological Evolution
Anna Chaimani	evidence synthesis, comparative effectiveness research, networks of studies, complex interventions, sparse data, automation tools, knowledge translation	Development of new methods and software that will allow a) integrating data from diverse sources to reduce waste in research, b) taking into account societal and environmental factors in healthcare, c) promoting accessibility, transparency and open science.
Athanasios Chatzitakis	microbial proteins, solar foods, CO2 capture and utilization, green hydrogen production, bio-hybrid energy conversion systems	CO2-containing industrial waste gasses and green hydrogen from water photoelectrolysis are converted to proteins through bioengineered microbial cultures with no additional lands needs. To achieve this goal a socially placed bio-hybrid energy conversion system is proposed. The following disciplines must be converged to ensure the applicability of this groundbreaking system/approach: electrochemistry, semiconductors physics, biochemistry and biotechnology, engineering and social sciences.
Rafal Ciosk	cellular dormancy, suspended animation, neuroprotection, longevity, gene regulation, C. elegans
Alexandre Corthay	Cancer immunotherapy, immunology, macrophages, T cells, tumor on chip, cell biology	Development of novel strategies for cancer immunotherapy. T cell-based immunotherapies have revolutionized cancer treatment, but most patients with advanced cancer do not respond to current treatments or relapse. We propose to develop alternative strategies for cancer immunotherapy by taking advantage of other types of immune cells with anti-cancer activity such as macrophages. The ability of macrophages to eliminate invading bacteria may potentially be used to fight cancer, and vice versa.
Svend Davanger	Brain lipids, Synapse, Nutrition, Cognitive health	Omega-3 Fatty Acids in Brain Health: Converging Nutritional Science, Molecular Medicine, and Neurobiology for Cognitive Aging
Dag Kristian Dysthe	mechanobiology, cellular and tissue motion, mechanics and dynamics, morphogenesis, sports physiology and biomechanics, novel imaging methods, traditional and AI-based image analysis, biosensor data collection and modeling.
Camila Esguerra	disease models, drug discovery, drug and environmental toxicology, rare diseases	in vivo exposome biology - identifying molecular triggers and pathways that trigger disease and progression
Anders Martin Fjell	Lifespan; Brain development and aging; Aging; Brain disease	Determinant of brain health and cognition - societal, genetic and behavioral moderators
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
Victor Greiff	Immunology
Gunnveig Gr?deland	Pandemics, viruses, vaccines	Modeling of viral spread by digital twins, factoring in vaccine efficay
Johannes Espolin Roksund Hov	Liver/biliary disease. Microbiome. Metabolomics. Gnotobiotic mouse models. Clinical biomarkers. Clinical trials.
Marit Inngjerdingen	Extracellular vesicles, immunology, intestinal organoids, pharmacology, nanotherapy
Kjetill S Jakobsen	comparative genomics, biodiversity genomics, cell and molecular biology, environmental biology	A One Health perspective on the ecological crisis in the Oslofjord - a transdisciplinary collaboration between OUS/Medical Faculty and MN Faculty in LVB
Finn-Eirik Johansen	vertebrate immunology, aquaculture	Comparative studies of immune responses in mammals, fish and fish with evoutionary losses of immune genes important for function of the mammalian adaptive immune system (e.g. MHC class II locus lost in Atlantic cod). An emphasis on evolution of antibody responses in vaccinated (or infected) induviduals (i.e. days and weeks) as well as in evolutionary time (million years), by comparison between species.
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.
Ingvild Garmo Nilsson	microbial proteins, solar foods, CO2 capture and utilization, green hydrogen production, bio-hybrid energy conversion systems
Terje N?rland	Child development, Translational research, Brain development, Autism spectrum disorders, Language, Social function, Genetics, immunology, Etichs in biological research.	Normal and abnormal development. Our K.G. Jebsen centre on neurodevelopmental disorders have access to substantial amount of clinical and biological data on normal and abnormal development from infancy to adult. The centre is already highly interdisiplanary but a convergence cente could add more emphasis on research in language, history, social aspects and ethics.
John N. Parker	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.
Cinzia Progida	Intracellular traffic, organelle homeostasis, cell migration, mechanobiology
Simon Rayner	Precision Health, Science and Society	With the growth of misinformation, there is growing mistrust in science. I would like to integrate data from social media with metrics from scientific publications to investigate the interactions between science and society. For example, which scientific publications generate the most interest on social media? Which ones are associated with positive discussions?which ones are most misrepresented.?This would be a good opportunity for collaborations involving clinicians, life scientist and social sciences
Judith Reindl	Radiotherapy, Radiation protection, Radiobiology, Accelerator physics
jerome ruzzin	* Sarcopenia / skeletal muscle aging * Environmental pollutants and their impacts on metabolic diseases * Cancer cachexia We perform basic research studies (molecular biology)	No concrete project idea right now, but should be on thematic related to * Sarcopenia / skeletal muscle aging * Environmental pollutants and their impacts on metabolic diseases * Cancer cachexia
Janna Saarela	Rare diseases, Genetics, primary immune deficiencies, inborn errors of immunity, neuroimmunology	From variant to function. Improving understanding of how human coding and non-coding variants contribute to molecular, cellular and organismal phenotypes, particularly in immune system.
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	Center for stress research
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.
Geir Kjetil Sandve	Global health, AI, climate resilience, early warning	Several ideas at this stage, including "Early warning and decision support for cost-effective reponse to climate-influenced health impacts". Using machine learning/AI to learn how to forecast climate-sensitive disease incidence as part of early warning and response systems, perhaps including a focus on cost effectiveness as part of decision support. Also include socio-technical aspects.
Olav Skarpaas	Biodiversity, ecology, biogeography, spatial modelling, ecological climatology, population biology, experimental ecology, urban ecology, conservation biology, invasive species	Statistical ecology; biodiversity monitoring and management
Dagim Tadele	Cancer drug discovery, Drug resistance, Game theory, Data analysis	Understanding of immune-healthy-cancer dynamics on 3D spheroids.
Magne Thoresen	Precision nutrition; Machine learning for small data; Data integration; Biomarker discovery; Statistical variable selection
Stine Marie Ulven	Precision nutrition, omics technologies, dietary interventions	I am part of Magne Thoresen's project idea regarding Precision nutrition

One health

Name	Research topic(s) of interest and/or competence	Title or short description (2-3 sentences) of initial project idea
Luiza ANGHELUTA-BAUER	Physical modelling of biological systems, Complex systems, Active matter, Biophysics
Lorena Arranz	Stem cells, stem cell niches, cancer, development	The project focusses on women fertility from various innovative angles.
Stig Ove B?e	Advanced light microscopy, cell migration, tissue dynamics, biomechanics, active matter physics, developmental biology, tissue regeneration	Bridging Active Matter Physics with Gene Regulation and Biological Evolution
Anna Chaimani	evidence synthesis, comparative effectiveness research, networks of studies, complex interventions, sparse data, automation tools, knowledge translation	Development of new methods and software that will allow a) integrating data from diverse sources to reduce waste in research, b) taking into account societal and environmental factors in healthcare, c) promoting accessibility, transparency and open science.
Alexandre Corthay	Cancer immunotherapy, immunology, macrophages, T cells, tumor on chip, cell biology	Development of novel strategies for cancer immunotherapy. T cell-based immunotherapies have revolutionized cancer treatment, but most patients with advanced cancer do not respond to current treatments or relapse. We propose to develop alternative strategies for cancer immunotherapy by taking advantage of other types of immune cells with anti-cancer activity such as macrophages. The ability of macrophages to eliminate invading bacteria may potentially be used to fight cancer, and vice versa.
Camila Esguerra	disease models, drug discovery, drug and environmental toxicology, rare diseases	in vivo exposome biology - identifying molecular triggers and pathways that trigger disease and progression
Yael Friedman	Philosophy of medicine; Philosophy of science in practice.	Knowledge gaps and epistemic injustice in medical research.
Paul Wenzel Geissler	toxicology, environmental pollution, environmental health, occupational health Africa agriculture, agrochemicals, pesticides
Gunnveig Gr?deland	Pandemics, viruses, vaccines	Modeling of viral spread by digital twins, factoring in vaccine efficay
H?vard Haugen	material-bacteria adhesion, sustainable materials, patient care	material-bacteria adhesion, sustainable materials, patient care
Johannes Espolin Roksund Hov	Liver/biliary disease. Microbiome. Metabolomics. Gnotobiotic mouse models. Clinical biomarkers. Clinical trials.
Rene Huster	Cognition, Cognitive electrophysiology, MR imaging, Sleep
Ketil Hylland	Marine ecology, Ecotoxicology	One health in a toxic world: consequences for ecosystems, biodiversity and human health
Kari Tvete Inngjerdingen	Immunomodulating polysaccharides, medicinal plants, gut microbiota, prebiotics
Marit Inngjerdingen	Extracellular vesicles, immunology, intestinal organoids, pharmacology, nanotherapy
Kjetill S Jakobsen	comparative genomics, biodiversity genomics, cell and molecular biology, environmental biology	A One Health perspective on the ecological crisis in the Oslofjord - a transdisciplinary collaboration between OUS/Medical Faculty and MN Faculty in LVB
Sandip Kanse	Inflammation, Innate immunity, Stroke, Thrombosis, Vascular biology, Organoids, Risk factors, Treatment Animal models, Proteases, Biochemistry
S. Petter Lyngstadaas	quality of life in dentistry, tooth loss, biomaterials, periodontology
John N. Parker	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.
Fernanda Cristina Petersen	Resistome, microbiome, AMR	This project idea is to focus on harnessing the potential of microbiota modulation to combat antimicrobial resistance (AMR) within the framework of the One Health approach. By leveraging interventions such as probiotics, prebiotics, and microbiome-targeted therapies, we aim to restore microbial balance and reduce the spread of resistant pathogens across humans, animals, and the environment.
Simon Rayner	Precision Health, Science and Society	With the growth of misinformation, there is growing mistrust in science. I would like to integrate data from social media with metrics from scientific publications to investigate the interactions between science and society. For example, which scientific publications generate the most interest on social media? Which ones are associated with positive discussions?which ones are most misrepresented.?This would be a good opportunity for collaborations involving clinicians, life scientist and social sciences
Judith Reindl	Radiotherapy, Radiation protection, Radiobiology, Accelerator physics
jerome ruzzin	* Sarcopenia / skeletal muscle aging * Environmental pollutants and their impacts on metabolic diseases * Cancer cachexia We perform basic research studies (molecular biology)	No concrete project idea right now, but should be on thematic related to * Sarcopenia / skeletal muscle aging * Environmental pollutants and their impacts on metabolic diseases * Cancer cachexia
Janna Saarela	Rare diseases, Genetics, primary immune deficiencies, inborn errors of immunity, neuroimmunology	From variant to function. Improving understanding of how human coding and non-coding variants contribute to molecular, cellular and organismal phenotypes, particularly in immune system.
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.
Geir Kjetil Sandve	Global health, AI, climate resilience, early warning	Several ideas at this stage, including "Early warning and decision support for cost-effective reponse to climate-influenced health impacts". Using machine learning/AI to learn how to forecast climate-sensitive disease incidence as part of early warning and response systems, perhaps including a focus on cost effectiveness as part of decision support. Also include socio-technical aspects.
Bano Singh	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.
Dagim Tadele	Cancer drug discovery, Drug resistance, Game theory, Data analysis	Understanding of immune-healthy-cancer dynamics on 3D spheroids.
Helle Wangensteen	Natural products, plants, biodiversity, microbiome
Hanne Winther-Larsen	Molecular microbiology, antimicrobial resistance, vaccine development, One health, animal health.	Antimicrobial resistance is one of the major global health threats. Our research groups is interested in approaching this problem on different ways from to understand basic biological mechanisms to drug use and new antimicrobial strategies.

A sustainable life span

Name	Research topic(s) of interest and/or competence	Title or short description (2-3 sentences) of initial project idea
Luiza ANGHELUTA-BAUER	Physical modelling of biological systems, Complex systems, Active matter, Biophysics
Lorena Arranz	Stem cells, stem cell niches, cancer, development	The project focusses on women fertility from various innovative angles.
Athanasios Chatzitakis	microbial proteins, solar foods, CO2 capture and utilization, green hydrogen production, bio-hybrid energy conversion systems	CO2-containing industrial waste gasses and green hydrogen from water photoelectrolysis are converted to proteins through bioengineered microbial cultures with no additional lands needs. To achieve this goal a socially placed bio-hybrid energy conversion system is proposed. The following disciplines must be converged to ensure the applicability of this groundbreaking system/approach: electrochemistry, semiconductors physics, biochemistry and biotechnology, engineering and social sciences.
Rafal Ciosk	cellular dormancy, suspended animation, neuroprotection, longevity, gene regulation, C. elegans
Alexandre Corthay	Cancer immunotherapy, immunology, macrophages, T cells, tumor on chip, cell biology	Development of novel strategies for cancer immunotherapy. T cell-based immunotherapies have revolutionized cancer treatment, but most patients with advanced cancer do not respond to current treatments or relapse. We propose to develop alternative strategies for cancer immunotherapy by taking advantage of other types of immune cells with anti-cancer activity such as macrophages. The ability of macrophages to eliminate invading bacteria may potentially be used to fight cancer, and vice versa.
Diana Domanska	Ageing, Machine learning, AI, multi omics, longitudinal data	Healthy ageing �C Prevention is better than cure. Using clinical data and biomaterial we want to define signatures in the general population that characterises ageing driven DNA damage.
Camila Esguerra	disease models, drug discovery, drug and environmental toxicology, rare diseases	in vivo exposome biology - identifying molecular triggers and pathways that trigger disease and progression
Anders Martin Fjell	Lifespan; Brain development and aging; Aging; Brain disease	Determinant of brain health and cognition - societal, genetic and behavioral moderators
Osman Gani	Computer-aided drug design (CADD). Molecular Modeling
Johannes Espolin Roksund Hov	Liver/biliary disease. Microbiome. Metabolomics. Gnotobiotic mouse models. Clinical biomarkers. Clinical trials.
Rene Huster	Cognition, Cognitive electrophysiology, MR imaging, Sleep
Erik Knain	Open schooling collaboration, transformative change, Oslofjorden environmental crisis, knowledge co-creation and adaptation for action	Life science, education and arts for transformative change (LifeArts) aims to create and investigate the conditions and resources necessary for bridging the gaps between knowledge and transformative action towards sustainability through interdisciplinary, inter-sectoral social innovation. LifeArts will build on existing partnerships exploring the use of expressions of art and art processes to explore future thinking, narratives of change, and humans ability to make sense. Shapes of knowledge will be analyzed as representational means across time and settings as traces of learning and emergent knowledge and new practices. The open schooling collaboration is built around the urgent need to address the environmental crises in the Oslofjord.
S. Petter Lyngstadaas	quality of life in dentistry, tooth loss, biomaterials, periodontology
Hilde Loge Nilsen	Ageing, Machine learnring, AI, Multi-omics data, Longitudinal, Age-related diseases	Age is the primary cause and risk factor for the majority of diseases, slowing down aging has huge personal and societal benefits by minimizing the disease burden that comes with aging process. We aim to develop a framework for personalised healthy aging interventions using machine-learrning to intergrate longitudinal clinical data and multiomic data.
Ingvild Garmo Nilsson	microbial proteins, solar foods, CO2 capture and utilization, green hydrogen production, bio-hybrid energy conversion systems
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.
John N. Parker	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.
Judith Reindl	Radiotherapy, Radiation protection, Radiobiology, Accelerator physics
jerome ruzzin	* Sarcopenia / skeletal muscle aging * Environmental pollutants and their impacts on metabolic diseases * Cancer cachexia We perform basic research studies (molecular biology)	No concrete project idea right now, but should be on thematic related to * Sarcopenia / skeletal muscle aging * Environmental pollutants and their impacts on metabolic diseases * Cancer cachexia
Janna Saarela	Rare diseases, Genetics, primary immune deficiencies, inborn errors of immunity, neuroimmunology	From variant to function. Improving understanding of how human coding and non-coding variants contribute to molecular, cellular and organismal phenotypes, particularly in immune system.
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	Center for stress research
Bano Singh	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.
Hanne Winther-Larsen	Molecular microbiology, antimicrobial resistance, vaccine development, One health, animal health.	Antimicrobial resistance is one of the major global health threats. Our research groups is interested in approaching this problem on different ways from to understand basic biological mechanisms to drug use and new antimicrobial strategies.

Biodiversity

Name	Research topic(s) of interest and/or competence	Title or short description (2-3 sentences) of initial project idea
Luiza ANGHELUTA-BAUER	Physical modelling of biological systems, Complex systems, Active matter, Biophysics
Alexandre Corthay	Cancer immunotherapy, immunology, macrophages, T cells, tumor on chip, cell biology	Development of novel strategies for cancer immunotherapy. T cell-based immunotherapies have revolutionized cancer treatment, but most patients with advanced cancer do not respond to current treatments or relapse. We propose to develop alternative strategies for cancer immunotherapy by taking advantage of other types of immune cells with anti-cancer activity such as macrophages. The ability of macrophages to eliminate invading bacteria may potentially be used to fight cancer, and vice versa.
Torbj?rn Ergon	Statistical ecology (hierarchical state-space modelling, spatio-temporal models, causal inference), demography, life-history theory, evolutionary responses, quantitative genetics, species interactions, population dynamics, epidemiology, biodiversity, monitoring, management, decision theory.	Statistical ecology; biodiversity monitoring and management
Camila Esguerra	disease models, drug discovery, drug and environmental toxicology, rare diseases	in vivo exposome biology - identifying molecular triggers and pathways that trigger disease and progression
Johannes Espolin Roksund Hov	Liver/biliary disease. Microbiome. Metabolomics. Gnotobiotic mouse models. Clinical biomarkers. Clinical trials.
Ketil Hylland	Marine ecology, Ecotoxicology	One health in a toxic world: consequences for ecosystems, biodiversity and human health
Kari Tvete Inngjerdingen	Immunomodulating polysaccharides, medicinal plants, gut microbiota, prebiotics
Kjetill S Jakobsen	comparative genomics, biodiversity genomics, cell and molecular biology, environmental biology	A One Health perspective on the ecological crisis in the Oslofjord - a transdisciplinary collaboration between OUS/Medical Faculty and MN Faculty in LVB
Erik Knain	Open schooling collaboration, transformative change, Oslofjorden environmental crisis, knowledge co-creation and adaptation for action	Life science, education and arts for transformative change (LifeArts) aims to create and investigate the conditions and resources necessary for bridging the gaps between knowledge and transformative action towards sustainability through interdisciplinary, inter-sectoral social innovation. LifeArts will build on existing partnerships exploring the use of expressions of art and art processes to explore future thinking, narratives of change, and humans ability to make sense. Shapes of knowledge will be analyzed as representational means across time and settings as traces of learning and emergent knowledge and new practices. The open schooling collaboration is built around the urgent need to address the environmental crises in the Oslofjord.
S. Petter Lyngstadaas	quality of life in dentistry, tooth loss, biomaterials, periodontology
John N. Parker	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.
Simon Rayner	Precision Health, Science and Society	With the growth of misinformation, there is growing mistrust in science. I would like to integrate data from social media with metrics from scientific publications to investigate the interactions between science and society. For example, which scientific publications generate the most interest on social media? Which ones are associated with positive discussions?which ones are most misrepresented.?This would be a good opportunity for collaborations involving clinicians, life scientist and social sciences
Geir Kjetil Sandve	Global health, AI, climate resilience, early warning	Several ideas at this stage, including "Early warning and decision support for cost-effective reponse to climate-influenced health impacts". Using machine learning/AI to learn how to forecast climate-sensitive disease incidence as part of early warning and response systems, perhaps including a focus on cost effectiveness as part of decision support. Also include socio-technical aspects.
Olav Skarpaas	Biodiversity, ecology, biogeography, spatial modelling, ecological climatology, population biology, experimental ecology, urban ecology, conservation biology, invasive species	Statistical ecology; biodiversity monitoring and management
Helle Wangensteen	Natural products, plants, biodiversity, microbiome

No topic specified

Name	Research topic(s) of interest and/or competence	Title or short description (2-3 sentences) of initial project idea
Paul Wenzel Geissler	toxicology, environmental pollution, environmental health, occupational health Africa agriculture, agrochemicals, pesticides
J?rgen Sugar	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.