MIMS - News/Events

News

NCMM Director to join Institute for Cancer Research at Oslo University

57 Kjetil Tasken speaker news [2017-11-09) Director of NCMM, Professor Kjetil Taskén, has been appointed as the Head and Director of Institute for Cancer Research Oslo University Hospital (OUH). Professor Taskén will start his new position on 1 January 2018. Kjetil is the founding Director of NCMM, and until September 2017 also held the speaker position for the Nordic EMBL Partnership for Molecular Medicine. Since starting as the Director of the Biotechnology Centre of Oslo in 2003, and becoming Director of NCMM in 2008, he has overseen the growth, evolution and merging of the two organisations into the highly successful research centre that exists today.

MIMS and UCMR PI:s receive funding from the Swedish Research Council

[2017-11-03] Several Researchers at MIMS and UCMR are among 40 people at Umeå University who will receive funding from The Swedish Research Council (VR). In total VR funded 569 application out of 2904 applications for both for Medicine and Health and for Natural and Engineering Sciences. The Swedish Research Council published its decision on the two calls on October 26th and October 31st on the research council’s website (www.vr.se).

Lessons from bacteria: Novel antimicrobial strategies based on interspecies metabolic cooperation

MIMS- scientist publish in the high-impact Journal of the International Society for Microbial Ecology, ISME.

An important survival strategy in bacteria is the release of toxic substances, which can attack and kill cells and other bacteria. One of these substances are D-amino acids, which are secreted to the environment at high concentrations by very diverse bacteria. D-amino acids interfere with the growth of neighboring competitors thereby improving the chances of producer species to colonize an specific niche. Felipe Cava's research group at The Laboratory for Molecular Infection Medicine Sweden (MIMS) studied the biological effects caused by distinct D-amino acids released by the causative agent of cholera, Vibrio cholerae. The study was performed in collaboration with Miguel A de Pedro, a former visiting professor at Umeå University and investigator at the Centro de Biología Molecular ‘Severo Ochoa’, CSIC in Madrid, Spain.

The scientists found that D-Arginine is a very potent and very broad growth inhibitor of many diverse bacterial species, including pathogenic ones such as Burkholderias, well known for their implication in pulmonary infections and their broad antibiotic resistance.

Anna Överby Wernstedt receives Hagberg prize

Overby [171015] Karolinska Institutet informed today that the Ebba-Christina Hagberg Foundation decided to award Anna Överby Wernstedt with the foundation's award for 2017 for her biochemical studies of viral infections.
According to Sven and Ebba-Christina Hagberg Foundation's motivation, Anna Överby Wernstedt receives the award for "her biochemical studies of viral infections. Her work is fundamental for our understanding of how the body defends itself against invading viruses."
"It's wonderful to get this prize and I feel deeply honoured", says Anna Överby Wernstedt. "The prize is a welcome additional funding of my research"

Emmanuelle Charpentier is one of the Albany Prize Awardees of 2017

Albany Prize EC [2017-09-27] The Albany Medical College awarded today during an awards ceremony in Albany, N.Y., Emmanuelle Charpentier together with Jennifer Doudna, Luciano Marraffini, Francisco J.M. Mojica, and Feng Zhang with the "America's most distinguished prize in medicine", as the Albany Medical College says on its website.

Read the news on the webpage of the Albany Medical College

Membrane vesicles released by bacteria may play different roles during infection - MIMS PhD defence Svitlana Vdovikova

Membrane Vesicle Akemi Takade Kyushu University Japan [2017-09-22] Bacteria release membrane-derived vesicles (MVs), which are small particles that can transport virulence factors to neighbouring bacteria or to the cells of a mammalian host. This special MV-based system for delivering toxic proteins and nucleic acids in a protected manner to the target cells may have different specific functions depending on whether the bacterium acts as an extracellular or intracellular pathogen. This is according to a doctoral thesis from MIMS-PhD studen Svitlana Vdovikova, Umeå University.

New Speaker announced for the Nordic EMBL Partnership

Professor Bernt Eric Uhlin, Director of MIMS, will replace Professor Kjetil Taskén, Director of NCMM. The Nordic EMBL Partnership for Molecular Medicine is delighted to announce that Professor Bernt Eric Uhlin has been named as the Partnership’s new Speaker.

[20170919] Professor Uhlin is the Director of Molecular Infection Medicine Sweden (MIMS), and is also a professor at the Department of Molecular Biology at Umeå University. He was elected by the Partnership’s Steering Committee at the 8th annual Nordic EMBL Partnership meeting, hosted by the Institute for Molecular Medicine Finland (FIMM) in Helsinki in September 2017.

Felipe Cava honoured at the 7th Congress of European Microbiologists

Felipe Cava Closing with a microbial bang

Felipe Cava at FEM 2017 picture private

[2017-07-16] Congratulations to MIMS- Group leader Felipe Cava! The Jaime Ferran Awardee and best young microbiologist in Spain 2017, was honoured at the 7th Congress of the Federation of European Microbiological Societies (FEMS) in Valencia. He closed the biggest conference of the European Microbiologists with his lecture entitled "The MUREINome: exploring cell wall diversity and plasticity in kingdom Bacteria".

The Jaime Ferran Award, is offered from the Spanish Society for Microbiology (Sociedad Española de Microbiología, SEM) to recognize the outstanding achievements of a young microbiology researcher. On the FEMS 2017, the award was presented by Antonio Ventosa, chairperson of the organizing committee, during the Closing Ceremony on Thursday, July 13 in Valencia.

(pictures FEMS 2017)

Link to the FEMS 2017 Congress of European Microbiologists, July 9-13, Valencia, Spain
Spotlight on… SEM Jaime Ferran Awardee Felipe Cava (Webpage of FEMS)
Webpage of the Cava lab
More about the Jaime Ferran Award 2017

Internationally renowned researchers become 2017 honorary doctors at the Faculty of Medicine

Professor Emmanuelle Charpentier, director at the Max Planck Institute for Infection Biology in Berlin, and Dr. Paul Jenkins, Head of Statistics at Bassett Healthcare in New York, will receive 2017 honorary doctorates at the Faculty of Medicine, Umeå University.

Emmanuelle Charpentier and Paul Jenkins, both of whom have had a long term relationship with Umeå University, will be promoted to medical honorary doctors at Umeå University's annual celebration on 21 October.

Felipe Cava is SEM Jaime Ferran Awardee - best young microbiologist in Spain 2017

cava felipe Elin Berge 2017 [2017-05-02] The Spanish Society for Microbiology (SEM) awarded MIMS group leader Felipe Cava as best microbiologist in Spain for 2017. The Jaime Ferran Prize is the most prestigious recognition to a microbiologist in Spain, and is awarded to young scientists for their outstanding achievements in microbiology. The Federal European Microbiological Societies (FEMS) highlighted the awardee in a Spotlight interview on the 28 April 2017.

The prize is called after the Spanish physician Jaime Ferran who developed the first cholera vaccine in 1885. It consists of € 2000 and Felipe Cava is also invited to talk at the closing ceremony of the FEM congress in July this year.

Link to the FEMS spotlight about Felipe Cava (17-04-28)

Link to the FEMS 2017 Congress of European Microbiologists, July 9-13, Valencia, Spain

Link to the webpage of the Cava lab at MIMS

Link to the webpage of the Cava lab's own website

(picture: Elin Berge)