Funding for Nordic biomedical imaging network

Cell imaging: clinicians and researchers need to interact more.

The network, which will pull together the leading units on cellular and medical imaging in the Nordic region, aims to improve interdisciplinary training and cooperation between diverse imaging fields.

To date there has been little communication between the disciplines of clinical imaging, used on patients for disease monitoring and diagnosis and cellular and molecular imaging, used in research labs to dissect the underlying causes of disease and for drug development. But awareness of the benefits of increased interaction between these fields is emerging.

The network brings together  a diverse array of 38 prominent research groups from Åbo Akademi, the University of Turku, the Karolinska Institute, Stockholm, the Sahlgrenska Akademi, Göteberg), the Norwegian University of Science and Technology, Trondheim, the University of Bergen, the Danish Cancer Society ,Copenhagen, the Centre of Functionally Integrative Neuroscience, Århus, the Royal College of Surgeons in Ireland, Dublin, the Institute of Toxicology Federal Medico-Biological Agency of Russia, St Petersburg, and Finland’s University of Helsinki and University of Kuopio.

The grant extends the international reach of Turku Bioimaging, an initiative established in 2007 to foster cooperation between the science, engineering, computing and medical departments of the two universities and VTT, the Technical Research Centre of Finland.

“We are optimistic that the advantages derived from this network will ensure the establishment of a permanent network of medical imaging excellence in the Nordic area,” said network coordinator Eleanor Coffey. In the long term this initiative is expected to enhance the international competitiveness of the Nordic region in bioimaging.

Proteomics support

At the same time Turku’s Proteomics Facility, a unit jointly funded by the University of Turku and Åbo Akademi University, has been awarded NOK 900,000 from NordForsk to steer a Nordic network on quantitative proteomics, the study of how proteins change over time.

Levels of a particular protein are measured and compared at, for example, different time points, or between different patients. This is expected to provide new insights into biological function, lead to the identification of diagnostic or prognostic disease markers, and contribute to the discovery of proteins as therapeutic targets.

The network consists of a group of leading laboratories throughout the Nordic region applying advanced proteomics methods to molecular medicine and cell biology. Garry Corthals, who coordinates the Nordic network and heads proteomics research at the Turku Centre for Biotechnology, said, “The challenge we face as academic institutes is to match the pace of emerging innovation, teaching and applying these new techniques in a similar time scale.”

“We do not have the capacity to cover all areas of interest independently. NordForsk has recognised this as a potential shortcoming for the Nordic region, and by establishing this network on quantitative proteomics, aims to avoid any shortcomings in the future.”