KIRI-Fellow postdoc project grants with an interdisciplinary focus

Aim of KIRI

KIRI aims to create a dynamic environment for early career researchers that promotes creative and innovative research projects with a focus on strengthening interdisciplinary collaborations across all research fields at KI. KIRI is funded through KI:s operational planning budget (VP-medel). The Committee for Research has now made postdoc funding available for joint projects among the KIRI Fellows.

Purpose and description of the call

The purpose of the call is to support groundbreaking interdisciplinary research based on the collaboration between KIRI Fellows. The grant will fund the salary for a postdoctoral fellow for 2 years in a collaborative project that includes two or more KIRI Fellows.

Projects were evaluated based on their interdisciplinary nature and collaborative potential, including integration of unique competencies, technologies, and methods from two or more KIRI Fellows.

List of awarded projects 2023

• Prenatal antidepressant treatment: from maternal serum signature to fetal brain response to ADHD risk and resilience (Cristiana Cruceanu, FyFa, and Donghao Lu, IMM)
• Method to identify human virus-specific CD8 T cells irrespective of haplotype and virus (Carmen Gerlach, MedS, and Sara Gredmark-Russ, MedH)
• Tracing the origin of skin, Maria Kasper, CMB, and Emma Andersson, CMB)
• Dissecting the molecular basis for the unusual antigen specificities of γδT cells (Joanna Rorbach, MBB and Taras Kreslavskiy, MedS)
• Gene-regulatory networks of the early human conceptus (Fredrik Lanner, CLINTEC and Simon Elsässer, MBB)
• Psychedelic therapies for depression: A translational study (Juan Pablo Lopez, Neuro and Johan Lundberg, CNS)
• Revealing the enteric-sympathetic networks regulating pancreatic secretion – relevance for metabolic control and obesity treatment (Ulrika Marklund, MBB and Alessandro Furlan, Neuro)

List of awarded projects 2022

• Circular RNAs– a key component in human brain development and disorders (Kristiina Tammimies, KBH, and Katja Petzold, MBB)
• Connecting biological scales – atomic-level interpretation of genetic variants in rare diseases (Laura Orellana, OnkPat, and Giedre Grigelioniene, MMK)
• Immune-mediated mechanisms of impaired epithelial regeneration:  Modeling such interactions in a dish (Eduardo Villablanca, MedS, and Pekka Katajisto, CMB)
• Developing cell-type specific nanoparticles to prevent fetal programming by dysfunctional placenta (Deng Qiaolin, FyFa, and Georgios Sotiriou, MTC)
• Revealing the mechanisms of lipid storage diseases by combining multi-omics and biophysics (Erdinc Sezgin, KBH, and Claudia Kutter, MTC)
• Single-cell multiomics in one-pot reactions (Björn Reinius, MBB, and Marcus Buggert, MedH)
• Investigations of brain signal variability and rapid plasticity during approach-avoidance of fear: experiments of humans and zebrafish (Kristoffer Månsson, CNS, and Konstantinos Ampatzis, Neuro)
• A human-mouse chimeric brain model to study the role of genetics in traumatic brain injury outcome (Elham Rostami, Neuro, and Carl Sellgren, FyFa)
• Neuroprotective effects of Statins in Alzheimer’s disease: An Interdisciplinary Study combining Neuroimaging, Biochemistry and Epidemiology (Joanna Pereira, NVS, and Sara Garcia-Ptacek, NVS)           
• Development of microsampling devices for immunomonitoring and miniaturized diagnostic tests (Onur Parlak, MedS, and Petter Brodin, KBH
• The crosstalk of innate and adaptive immunity in cancer - Dissecting the role of SAMHD1 in cutaneous T-cell lymphoma (Hanna Brauner, MedS, and Nikolas Herold, KBH)