Illustration: iStock/koto_feja. This year's prestigious Segerfalk lecture will be given by Eero Castrén, Research Director at the Neuroscience Centre at the University of Helsinki. In his research on brain plasticity, he has discovered clues about which mechanisms in the brain are affected by antidepressants – and they could explain why these medicines work. Eero Castrén conducts research on brain

https://www.medicine.lu.se/article/brain-plasticity-and-link-depression - 2025-09-03

Obesity and excess weight increase the risk of developing type 2 diabetes, but individuals of normal weight can also develop the disease. Researchers at Lund University in Sweden have discovered that it is possible to identify at-risk individuals by measuring BMI in a new way. The authors of the study have identified metabolic changes associated with obesity that can increase the risk of developin

https://www.medicine.lu.se/article/metabolic-bmi-can-predict-risk-type-2-diabetes-normal-weight-patients - 2025-09-03

Gülsen Özkaya Sahin (Photo: Tove Smeds) At the end of March, the first cases of acute severe hepatitis of unknown origin in children were reported in the UK. Since then, the number has increased to more than 300 in around 20 countries; there are now reports of nine suspected cases in Sweden. The acute liver infection mainly affects otherwise completely healthy children under the age of 16, which p

https://www.medicine.lu.se/article/researchers-search-answers-increase-acute-severe-hepatitis-children - 2025-09-03

Charlotte Ling, Tina Rönn and Karl Bacos carry out research at Lund University Diabetes Centre. They summarise some of the most important advancements within the field of epigenetics and diabetes in a review article. Photo: Petra Olsson Epigenetics has become an important tool for researchers endeavoring to understand the causes and development stages of type 2 diabetes. In the future, epigenetic

https://www.medicine.lu.se/article/epigenetics-can-pave-way-individualised-treatment-type-2-diabetes - 2025-09-03

Inger Kristensson Hallström and Hanne Tønnesen, head of the WHO Collaboratoring Centre at Lund University. Photo: Jon Ulvsgärd. One in three patients is asked about their lifestyle habits when they visit the outpatient healthcare clinics. This figure really ought to be higher, according to Professors Hanne Tønnesen and Inger Kristensson Hallström, who are in charge of the WHO Collaborating Centre

https://www.medicine.lu.se/article/who-mission-creating-evidence-how-health-care-can-prevent-disease - 2025-09-03

Anita Wisén. Photo: Åsa Hansdotter. In order to be able to prescribe the appropriate dose of physical activity to patients, healthcare professionals need to consider a range of individual factors. There is a need to facilitate the assessment of aerobic capacity i. e. maximal oxygen uptake capacity (VO2max), as well as to calculate the intensity of training according to the WHO recommendations for

https://www.medicine.lu.se/article/my-aerobic-capacity-rpc - 2025-09-03

Sebastian Palmqvist. The Bundy Academy’s 2022 major prize amounting to SEK 3 million is awarded to Sebastian Palmqvist, Associate Professor of Clinical Memory Research at Lund University and Senior Physician at the Memory Clinic at Skåne University Hospital, for his research on improved diagnostics of Alzheimer’s disease. RationaleSebastian Palmqvist has published a large number of research papers

https://www.medicine.lu.se/article/awardees-2022-bundy-academy-major-prize - 2025-09-03

Paul Bourgine, researcher and Wallenberg Fellow in Molecular Medicine, has been awarded an ERC Proof of Concept, consisting of EUR 150,000. Photo: Kennet Ruona. By using cells isolated from cancer patients and mixing them with a new technology called “OssiGel”, it is possible to engineer human mini-bones. These miniaturized organs consist of mature bone and marrow tissue and can be used as model t

https://www.medicine.lu.se/article/miniature-bones-research-model-cancer - 2025-09-03

From left: Ewelina Golec, Ben King and Anna Blom, three of the researchers behind new findings on insulin secretion. Photo: Tove Smeds. Insulin secretion into the bloodstream requires a protein called CD59. New research led by Lund University shows that the two protein variants that are responsible for this function of CD59 are affected in diabetes. The study has been recently published in PNAS. I

https://www.medicine.lu.se/article/newly-discovered-protein-variants-are-key-insulin-secretion - 2025-09-03

Photo: iStock/Paul Campbell Researchers at Lund University in Sweden have developed a new method for studying age-related brain disorders. The researchers have focused on the neurodegenerative disorder Huntington’s disease and the results have now been published in the journal Brain. Basic medical research often faces the challenge of developing disease models that correspond to specific disease m

https://www.medicine.lu.se/article/researchers-reprogram-human-skin-cells-aged-neurons-study-neurodegenerative-disorders - 2025-09-03

Photo: iStock/33karen33. The environment in which breast cancer arises –the interplay between the patient’s BMI, tumour size and cancer-specific proteins –is of importance for the prognosis. This is shown in a study from Lund University in Sweden. The knowledge could further enhance precision medicine in breast cancer. Major advances in diagnostics and treatment have improved survival rates among

https://www.medicine.lu.se/article/tumour-environment-can-affect-breast-cancer-prognosis - 2025-09-03

Sandra Lindstedt, Snejana Hyllén, and Leif Pierre, Skåne University Hospital and Lund University. A large amount of lungs donated yearly cannot be used for transplantation. Researchers at Skåne University Hospital and Lund University have conducted an animal study with results that give hope that more donor lungs could be used to save lives in the future. The researchers have started a pilot study

https://www.medicine.lu.se/article/new-treatment-can-result-access-more-donor-lungs-and-fewer-complications-after-transplantations - 2025-09-03

Photo: Kennet Ruona. In November 2021, a private foundation was established to promote scientific research in pancreatic cancer, gastroenterology, and pain management at Lund University. The foundation will be endowed with a total of SEK 40 million and will be managed by Lund University. Earlier this spring, the first grants from the foundation were distributed – approx. SEK 3 million will support

https://www.medicine.lu.se/article/sek-40-million-donation-faculty-medicine - 2025-09-03

Malin Parmar. Photo: Kennet Ruona. The Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences has elected two new members of the Academy’s class for medical sciences. One of them is Malin Parmar, Professor of Cellular Neuroscience at Lund University. Together with her research group, Malin Parmar has conducted several groundbreaking studies on stem cells that have led to the development of new treatments for patients

https://www.medicine.lu.se/article/malin-parmar-elected-royal-swedish-academy-sciences - 2025-09-03

Rita Charon, M.D. PhD, Professor and Executive Director of Columbia Narrative Medicine at Columbia University. Narrative medicine provides tools for clinicians to read patients better. 2022 Sandblom Prize Lecture will be given by pioneering Professor Rita Charon of Columbia University on the discipline that uses the arts to improve understanding. Clinicians trained in narrative medicine are more a

https://www.medicine.lu.se/article/sandblom-prize-expanding-creativity-clinical-worlds-through-narrative-medicine - 2025-09-03

Enming Zhang is measuring insulin secretion in islets of Langerhans from healthy human donors where the expression of Piezo1 has been blocked. Photo: Petra Olsson Impaired insulin secretion is closely associated with type 2 diabetes, but the process is not yet fully understood. A new study by researchers at Lund University shows that the Piezo1 ion channel regulates insulin secretion, which means

https://www.medicine.lu.se/article/study-shows-piezo1-ion-channel-plays-important-role-insulin-secretion - 2025-09-03

B cells and the antibodies they produce play an important role in our immune system, protecting us from the microscopic enemies that make us ill. Uncovering how they form and are ‘programmed’ during development is key to better understanding the immune response to infections and vaccinations. A new study by researchers from Lund University in Sweden provides new insights into the origin and develo

https://www.medicine.lu.se/article/how-b-cells-are-programmed-early-life-can-impact-long-term-immune-health - 2025-09-03

Göran Jönsson, Professor of Molecular Oncology, has been granted SEK 31 million from the Knut and Alice Wallenberg Foundation to improve the effect of immunotherapy in the treatment of cancer patients. About 30 percent of melanoma patients with metastatic disease benefit from immunotherapy. At the same time, this means that 70 percent of all melanoma patients still lack effective treatment options

https://www.medicine.lu.se/article/sek-31-million-more-effective-immunotherapy-cancer-treatment - 2025-09-03

Photo: iStock/eyepark Locked fingers, known as trigger finger, are more common among people with diabetes than in the general population. A study led by Lund University in Sweden shows that the risk of being affected increases in the case of high blood sugar. The study has been published in Diabetes Care. Trigger finger means that one or more fingers, often the ring finger or thumb, ends up in a b

https://www.medicine.lu.se/article/hands-people-diabetes-more-often-affected-trigger-finger - 2025-09-03

The four medical students and the professor outside the cathedral. From left: Olha Zhurakivska, Oksana Tymoshchuk, Dariia Hrynevych, Viktoriia Bedei and Khrystyna Zhyhalo. Photo: Private. Professor Oksana Tymoshchuk came to Lund with her children as soon as the opportunity arose. She also wanted to help students from her home university escape the ongoing turmoil in Ukraine. Now four medical stude

https://www.medicine.lu.se/article/ukrainian-medical-students-arrive-lund-after-lightning-fast-application-process - 2025-09-03