All eight of the researchers work in the Department of Clinical and Experimental Medicine (IKE). Four of them work in the Center for Social and Affective Neuroscience (CSAN).
The largest grant is to Professor Markus Heilig, who receives SEK 9 million for translational research into why some people continue to consume alcohol despite experiencing negative consequences. Professor Håkan Olausson has been awarded SEK 7.2 million for research into social touch and pain signalling in humans.
Two researchers received starting grants, each of SEK 6 million, to help them establish their own research group. Rebecca Böhme, postdoc at IKE, CSAN, who is studying how we experience the self through touch, has received one of the grants. She will study fundamental mechanisms and changes in the self, in both healthy individuals and people with schizophrenia. The second starting grant goes to Leah Mayo, principal research engineer at IKE, CSAN, who is studying the significance of some natural substances in the body that resemble cannabis, members of what is known as the “endocannabinoid” system, in post-traumatic stress disorder, PTSD.
Martin Hallbeck, associate professor in the Division for Neurobiology, receives SEK 4.8 million for research into how neurodegenerative diseases, such as Alzheimer disease and Parkinson’s disease, spread in the brain. Maria Jenmalm, professor in the Division of Neuro and Inflammation Sciences, has been awarded SEK 2.4 million for research into the possibility of preventing the development of allergy using microbial and dietary interventions in mothers-to-be and their children. Neil Lagali, senior lecturer in the same division, also receives SEK 2.4 million for research into the reactivation of blood vessels behind the retina. Another scientist to receive SEK 2.4 million is Huan Zhang, principal research engineer in the Division of Children’s and Women’s Health, for preclinical research into rheumatoid arthritis and the use of early and individualised treatment.
The research grants are for between three and five years. The Swedish Research Council has awarded nearly SEK 1.1 billion in this round of financing, in which the approval rate was 23% – somewhat higher for men than for women.
Translation by George Farrants
