07 February 2020

A private donation of SEK 100 million will strengthen research into children’s medicine at Linköping University.

The donation is one of the largest from a private individual to a university in Sweden, and the largest ever for research at Linköping University.Professor Johan D Söderholm, dekan, Medicinska fakultetenJohan Dabrosin Söderholm. Photo credit Magnus Johansson

“A donation of this importance will bring substantial and long-term advances in research in children’s medicine and is a significant addition to research in children’s medicine at Linköping University. It makes it possible for us to conduct more research projects and to recruit leading researchers in the field”, says Johan Dabrosin Söderholm, dean of the Faculty of Medicine and Health Sciences, Linköping University.

Linköping University is currently conducting research into several serious diseases and conditions that affect children. Among the successful projects can be mentioned are those in child diabetes, preterm infants, asthma and allergy, and child psychiatry.Vice-chancellor Helen Dannetun and Johan Dabrosin Söderholm, dean of the Faculty of Medicine and Health Sciences, present the donation. Photo credit Magnus Johansson

“The donation is intended for use within a broad field of children’s medicine, and secures the future for research here. It will give us better opportunities to develop new diagnostic methods and new treatments for children affected by serious disease. We are extremely grateful for this amazing gift to medical research”, says Johan Dabrosin Söderholm.

This initiative into children’s medical research has been made possible through the “Joanna Cocozza Foundation for Children’s Medical Research”. The foundation was formed with a donation from Catharina Högbom and Michael Cocozza in December 2019, on the 35th anniversary of their daughter’s death.

“The past ten years have been good for us who own property and equities: values have risen markedly while taxes on capital are very low in Sweden. We can and we should share wealth in various ways, and in this way justify the system based on a mixed economy that Sweden follows”, says Michael Cocozza.Vice-Chancellor Helen Dannetun, Linköping University.Vice-Chancellor Helen Dannetun. Photo credit Thor Balkhed

“Private donations are becoming an increasingly important part of research finance at universities in Sweden, and Linköping University is no exception. The donation will create the conditions required for us as institution of higher education to take on contemporary challenges in the field of children’s medicine. We are extremely proud and grateful for the confidence shown in us by the benefactors”, says Helen Dannetun, vice-chancellor of Linköping University.

The Joanna Cocozza Foundation for Children’s Medical Research is led by a board of six members, who take decisions about the award of research grants from the foundation. Three members of the board are appointed by Linköping University, two by Region Östergötland, and one by the Cocozza family.

The foundation will be able to award at least SEK 5 million per year during the three first years, followed by a 10-year period in which at least SEK 10 million per year will be awarded. When compared with current financing, SEK 10 million kronor is essentially a doubling of the annual free project grants for children’s medical research at Linköping University.

The benefactors kindly request that no questions about the donation are presented to them.

Translation by George Farrants


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