NEWS WCMM at Umeå University commences 2017 with three Wallenberg Molecular Medicine Fellows in place - Francesca Aguilo, Lars-Anders Carlson and Daniel Öhlund. Wallenberg Centre for Molecular Medicine is a long-term investment in tenure track positions for young researchers in molecular medicine and translational research. With the establishment of the first group leaders, the Centre proceeds to the next step towards building stronger medical research in Sweden.
Wallenberg Centre for Molecular Medicine at Umeå University is one of four national nodes in an investment for Sweden to regain its leading position in life science research. In Umeå, WCMM recruits young researchers on tenure track positions, Assistant Professor with or without clinical combination, in the areas cancer, infection biology, neurosciences and metabolism including diabetes. The first group leaders of the Centre are now in place. The first one to start October 2016 was Francesca Aguilo from Mount Sinai, New York, USA at the Department of Medical Biosciences, closely followed in November by Lars-Anders Carlson from UC Berkeley, USA at the Department of Medical Chemistry and Biophysics. Aguilo's research focuses on how the development of breast cancer is governed by epigenetics and RNA modifications. Lars-Anders Carlson investigates plus-stranded RNA virus replication complexes by cryo-electron microscopy and in vitro reconstitution. The Centre's third Wallenberg Molecular Medicine Fellow is Daniel Öhlund from Cold Spring Harbor, USA who started January 2017 at the Department of Radiation Sciences. Öhlund's research focuses on tumor-stromal interactions in pancreatic cancer, e.g. by using a three-dimensional organoid platform. His position is shared between research/education at UmU and specialist training in Oncology at the Västerbotten County Council.
Editor: Maria Israelsson Nordström