SRC investing SEK 12 million in the Department’s research

Associate Professor Lindon Moodie, researcher with a focus on Organic chemistry, receives SEK 3.84 million over 2023-2026 for his project Nedbrytning av bakteriella målprotein.

“Our group is interested in identifying and developing anti-infective drugs. Finding new antibiotics to counter antimicrobial resistance is a particular focus but its a tough challenge and conventional methods often fail. So sometimes its good to try some outside of the box strategies. One approach we are interested in is trying to trick bacteria into degrading their own essential proteins, and this funding from The Swedish Research Council will allow us to explore this,” states Lindon Moodie.

Professor Luke Odell is awarded SEK 3,6 million distributed over 2023-2026 for his project Nya och innovativa kemiska verktyg för avbildande masspektrometri, kemisk biologi och läkemedelsutveckling.

“With the development of a new class of chemical compounds, our research team has laid the foundation for Mass Spectrometric Imaging of the brain's neurotransmitters. This technique is currently used at universities and companies all over the world and is enabling important new discoveries. The Swedish Research Council's grant strengthens our resources to both develop new tools and to adjust our already existing compounds for new areas,” says Luke Odell.

Professor Anna Orlova receives SEK 4,8 million over 2023-2026 for her project Kombinerad målinriktad radionuklidavbildning och målinriktad terapi - ett sätt för precisionsbehandling av prostatacancer.

"When a prostate tumor begins to spread, the metastases are initially so small that they are not visible on magnetic resonance imaging. Thus, we need a way to visualise every tumor before they grow too big. Our main clue is two trace elements, GRPR and PSMA, which are formed during the early stages of prostate cancer. Now, our team has developed a substance that binds specifically to GRPR, and by attaching radionuclide to the substance, the smallest metastases can be located to where a SPECT or PET camera indicates increased uptake of radioactivity. We have also developed a molecule that binds to both trace elements during all phases of the tumor, and if only one of our two leads proves successful, we hope to provide healthcare the tools needed to help all men suffering from prostate cancer to longer and better lives,” says Anna Orlova.

FACTS

• The Swedish Research Council is awarding a total grant amount of more than SEK 2,4 billion within Medicine and health and Natural and engineering sciences throughout 2022-2027.

LEARN MORE

• Research in Drug Design and Discovery (Lindon Moodie)
• Research in Preparative Medicinal Chemistry (Luke Odell)
• Research in Theranostics (Anna Orlova)

CONTACT

Lindon Moodie, Associate Professor
Department of Medicinal Chemistry
lindon.moodie@ilk.uu.se

Luke Odell, Professor
Department of Medicinal Chemistry
Luke.Odell@ilk.uu.se

Anna Orlova, Professor
Department of Medicinal Chemistry
anna.orlova@ilk.uu.se

text: Magnus Alsne, photo: Mikael Wallerstedt a o