The board of UiO:Life Science decided on 30 January to admit six new teams to SPARK Norway. This decision is based on the results from the evaluation process.
The new teams:
- BePREPAReD: Bedside PREvention of critical illness in Preterm infants using Artificial intelligence and eNose Devices
Project leader:??sbj?rn Schumacher Westvik, Department of Neonatal Intensive Care, Oslo University Hospital and Faculty of Medicine, University of Oslo
Team members: Dr. Sissel Jennifer Moltu (PI, Oslo University Hospital), Prof. Oliver Tomic (Machine Learning & Chemometrics, NMBU), Dr. Alexander Rowe (Bioinformatics, Oslo University Hospital), Prof. Charlotte Tscherning (Neonatologist, University of Oslo) - Nexus - Transforming Patient Care with a Novel Endoscopic Stent Solution
Project leader: Magnus L?berg, Faculty of Medicine, University of Oslo
Team member: Christer Julseth T?nnesen ? - A new antibody technology tailored for killing of antibiotic-resistant bacteria and cancer cells
Project leader: Mirjam Dürkoop, The Laboratory of Adaptive Immunity and Homeostasis, Centre of Excellence, Precision Immunotherapy Alliance (PRIMA), Department for Pharmacology, University of Oslo and Department for Immunology, Oslo University Hospital?
Team members: Professor Jan Terje Andersen, Stian Foss, Peter Skorpil (Inven2) and Kirsten Stangebye (Inven2) - Finalization and Testing of an Integrated Illumination Lightguide Prototype for Cryo-Retinal Surgery
Project leader: Goran Petrovski, Department of Ophthalmology and Center for Eye Research and Innovative Diagnostics, University of Oslo and Oslo University Hospital
Team member: Eirik Albert Torheim (Inven2) - Drug discovery for assisted amyloid beta peptide clearance
Project leader:?Tormod Fladby, Department of Neurology, Akershus University Hospital?(Ahus)
Team members: Marianne Wettergren (Senior biotechnician, Ahus), Berglind Gisladottir (Senior biotechnician, Ahus), Bj?rn-Eivind Kirsebom (Biostatistician, University Hospital of Northern Norway), Peter Mikael Arnesen (Bioinformatician, Ahus) and Panpan You (Researcher, Ahus) - Resolving bacterial infections
Project leader:?Professor Trond Vidar Hansen, Department of Pharmacy, University of Oslo
Team members: Associate professor Osman Gani (Dept. of Pharmacy), Post. Doctoral-Fellow Dr. Amalie F. Reinertsen (Dept. of Pharmacy), PhD-student Daniel H. Hasselstr?m (Dept. of Pharmacy) and Beate Rygg Johnsen (UiO Growth House).
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SPARK Norway has currently 19 active teams. Since the start 34 projects have graduated and are now SPARK Norway Alumni.
Mentors and milestone plans next
UiO:Life Science received 16 applications in the last open call which was announced ? in August 2025.
Each of the admitted projects will be assigned a mentor, advisors and project coordinator who is responsible for following up individual projects. The projects start with setting up milestone plans that respond to the challenges identified by the review panel.?
The applications were evaluated based on the criteria in the call
- Unmet medical need/need in the market
- Novelty/uniqueness of the new solution
- Strength of Proof-of-Principles
- Market potential and fit
- IP strategy
- Strength and motivation of the team
- Fit with SPARK Norway?
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