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The Nordic EMBL Partnership Directors featured on EMBL.de

Partners in the North 20190411 EMBL Etc[2019-04-12] Leadership was not only changed at EMBL, when EMBL Director General Edith Heard succeeded Iain Mattaj in January 2019. Also the Nordic EMBL Partnership for Molecular Medicine welcomed new directors: Janna Saarela, became new director at NCMM, Mark Daly, started as new director at FIMM, and Oliver Billker succeeded Bernt Eric Uhlin in the directorship in October 2018. The leadership changes were a reason for EMBL to about on its largest partnership and discuss with the new directors about values of the Nordic collaboration.
(Photo: Massimo del Prete/EMBL, screen shot)
Read the article on EMBL.de (authors Annabel Darby and Plamena Markova)

From gut to space: How Candida albicans exploits lack of oxygen to cause disease

Neutrofils biofilmScientists from Umeå university have shown how the yeast Candida albicans can modulate and adapt to low oxygen levels in different body niches to cause infection and to harm the host. Studying adaption to hypoxic or anoxic niches is particularly fruitful, since it helps us to understand the pathogenicity of C. albicans and promotes the development of better therapy approaches. Details about the study can be found in a report recently published in the journal MBio, a publication of the American Society of Microbiology.

Read more: From gut to space: How Candida albicans exploits lack of oxygen to cause disease

Welcome! 2nd Arctic Meeting on Clinical Tuberculosis, Umeå 22 March 2019

Mycobacterium NIH NIAD 2nd Arctic Meeting on Clinical Tuberculosis, Umeå!

22nd March, University Hospital of Umeå, Lecture hall Betula and Common Ground

On behalf of the Tuberculosis Center Arctic we welcome  you to attend the 2nd Arctic Meeting on Clinical Tuberculosis.!


This is a joint meeting for clinical TB researchers and staff working hands on with TB on a daily basis. There will be lectures, discussions, mingle and team-building activities. The language of the meeting is English.

WTBD2017 Logo FullColor RGB

The 2nd Arctic Meeting on Clinical Tuberculosis is part of the WORLD TB DAY 2019.

This year’s topics are:

  • Tuberculosis in Migrants
  • Pediatric Tuberculosis – A Holistic Approach to TB in the Family
  • Treatment Strategies and Outcome Measures for MDR TB

Read more: Welcome! 2nd Arctic Meeting on Clinical Tuberculosis, Umeå 22 March 2019

The Nordic EMBL Partnership welcomes Oliver Billker

Oliver Billker mpn[2018-12-08] Annabel Darby, Communication Officer for the Nordic EMBL Partnership for Molecular Medicine, interviewed Oliver Billker a few weeks ago. Read about his visions for MIMS, his research and life in Umeå.

Interview with Oliver Billker on
www.nordicemblpartnership.org

Fernström Prize for research on bacterial cell walls

cava felipe Elin Berge 20172018 Fernström Prize awardee at Umeå University becomes Felipe Cava. His research group studies how bacteria can adapt the construction of the cell wall to different host environments, knowledge that may be important for the development of new antibiotics.

Felipe Cava will be honored for the Fernstrom Prize at Umeå University's annual festival on Saturday, October 20th. The actual award ceremony takes place during Research Day at Lund University in November.

Read more: Fernström Prize for research on bacterial cell walls

A new toxin in Cholera bacteria discovered by scientists in Umeå

[2018-06-21] Scientists affiliated with MIMS and UCMR describe their findings about a new toxin and its secretion mechanism from the major bacterial pathogen Vibrio cholerae in a recent publication in the journal Communications Biology (7 June 2018).

Dongre et al 2018 Communications Biology 3The bacterium Vibrio cholerae was discovered more than 150 years ago but remains as one of the main causes of bacterial infectious disease globally, especially in low-income nations where it occurs endemic, and outbreaks of cholera disease can lead to major epidemics.

In addition to causing cholera disease characterized by very severe watery diarrhea, different variants of V. cholerae can cause, for example, wound infections and infections in the ear canal (ear inflammation). If the infection is reaching the bloodstream, it can lead to blood poisoning. Such variants of Vibrio bacteria are common in brackish water, but can be found both in freshwater and saltwater and are also present in such environments in our country.

Scientists from Umeå University have now discovered and characterised the structure and function of a so far unknown Vibrio toxin. A team led by Professor Sun Nyunt Wai at Department of Molecular Biology and MIMS used the worm Caenorhabditis elegans as a predatory host for the bacteria and identified by molecular genetic analysis the V. cholerae genes required for production and release of the new protein toxin, now called MakA.

Read more: A new toxin in Cholera bacteria discovered by scientists in Umeå

MIMS/UCMR Mini-Symposium, 29 May 2018

UCMR DAY 2018Welcome to the 3rd MIMS/UCMR-Mini-Symposium of this year!

29 May 2018, 9:00 - 11:50

Bergasalen, Umeå University Hospital (NUS), South Entrance
Presentations by the Oliver Billker, appointed new Director of MIMS from 1st October, Barbara Sixt, new MIMS Group Leader,  Gemma Atkinson and Linda Sandblad, recipients of UCMR Gender Policy Support. In the second session five Postdoctoral Fellows from the MIMS/UCMR Postdoctoral Programme will present: Christian Pett, Hiraku Takada, Ravendra Nagampalli, Dharmedra Kumar Soni, Rajender Kumar.

Hosts: Bernt Eric Uhlin, Maria Fällman, Elisabeth Sauer-Eriksson, Åke Forsberg

Please register here latest on 27 May:
https://kbc-forms.upsc.se/forms/75-ucmr-mims-minisymposium.html

Contact for questions: Eva-Maria Diehl, This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.

NOTE the programme is updated (Christian Pett's presentation has been cancelled)

pdfProgramme for download

Read more: MIMS/UCMR Mini-Symposium, 29 May 2018

Treatment of cancer could become possible with adenovirus

Adenovirus Mostphotos for webb[2018-04-19] An international team of researchers led by professor Niklas Arnberg at Umeå University, shows that adenovirus binds to a specific type of carbohydrate that is overexpressed on certain types of cancer cells. The discovery opens up new opportunities for the development of virus-based cancer therapy. The study is published in the latest issue of the scientific journal "Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of USA",  PNAS April 19, 2018.

Adenovirus is a common virus that causes infectious diseases of the respiratory tract, eyes and gastrointestinal tract in humans and animals. Researchers at Umeå University study molecular mechanisms of infection in order to understand how adenovirus causes disease.
The researchers in Umeå, together with research groups from Germany, the UK and Hungary, have now discovered a new type of mechanism used by a rare adenovirus type to attack cells.

Read more: Treatment of cancer could become possible with adenovirus

Carl-Henrik Heldin and Oliver Billker receive ERC Advanced Grants

Carl Henrik Heldin UU Oliver BillkerTwo ERC Advanced Grants which have recently been awarded by the European Research Council (ERC) have a close relation to MIMS.

One € 2.5 million grant for a period of 5 years will the chair of the MIMS Executive Board professor Carl-Henrik Heldin receive for his project "Pro-tumorigenic effects of TGFb - elucidation of mechanisms and development of selective inhibitors". The second grant was awarded to Umeå University and to the recently appointed new MIMS Director Dr. Oliver Billker for his project: ”Sex in malaria parasites - from genome scale functional gene profiling to transmission blocking intervention targets”. Billker will start his lab at MIMS from 1st of October 2018. Congratulations to both grantees!

More information:
The ERC Advanced Grant (Press Release by the ERC 2018-04-06)
Webpage of Dr. Oliver Billker's laboratory
Webpage of Professor Carl-Henrik Heldin
Press release of Umeå University (only published in Swedish)
(Pictures: Uppsala University and private)

Emmanuelle Charpentier took the Nobel Prize in Chemistry

Emmanuelle has been awarded jointly with Jennifer Doudna the 2020 Nobel Prize in Chemistry for discovering the groundbreaking CRISPR-Cas9 gene editing technology. She is a former group leader at MIMS, honorary doctor at Umeå University and former visiting professor at UCMR.

Movie by Knut and Alice Wallenberg Foundation (https://kaw.wallenberg.org/)

Battling antibiotic resistance

movie by Knut and Alice Wallenberg Foundation, with participation of scientists from MIMS and UCMR:
Or watch the original movie on:
https://kaw.wallenberg.org/

Research about infectious diseases:

Oliver Billker in movie of Knut and Alice Wallenberg Foundation:
Or watch the original movie on:
https://kaw.wallenberg.org/

footer all slides 2014-02-06


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