Prizes for our group at the UiB’s Faculty of Medicine Day!

Kristin Greve-Isdahl Mohn, Anders Madsen and Rebecca Cox, © Paul André Sommerfeldt

On April 19, a Faculty Day at the Faculty of Medicine, UiB took place. The event started with the Dean Per Bakke’s welcome speech with the focus on the faculty’s most recent achievements. Next, several education and research prizes were awarded to researchers with particularly outstanding achievements in 2022.

It was a very successful day for our group as two prizes went to the Influenza Centre – the Prize for PhD Work for Anders Madsen who defended his PhD in March 2022, and the Prize for Research environment of the year for Bergen COVID-19 Research Group.

Anders received a prize for his PhD thesis on “Antibody responses to influenza viruses: Lessons for universal influenza vaccine development”. His supervisors were Professor Rebecca Cox (main supervisor), Associate Professor Kristin Greve-Isdahl Mohn, UiB, and Professor Ali Ellebedy, Washington University Hospital in St. Louis, USA.

In his research, Anders examined blood samples from vaccinated healthcare personnel 5 years after vaccination with the enhanced vaccine in 2009. The influenza antibodies persisted at least five years after vaccination which highlights the possible importance of using boosters in future vaccine development. Moreover, Anders found that antibodies against the influenza protein neuraminidase could recognize a number of different influenza viruses and that this protein is an prospective target for antiviral and/or therapeutic antibodies.

 

The Bergen COVID-19 Research Group led by Professors Rebecca Cox and Nina Langeland is an interdisciplinary team of dedicated researchers who focus on basic and clinical COVID-19 research. The group was established exceptionally quickly at the outbreak of the pandemic and brought together outbreak researchers, infectious disease physicians, laboratory-based virologists and immunologists. They represent different institutions, including the University of Bergen, Western Norway University of Applied Sciences, Bergen Municipality, Haukeland University Hospital, Stavanger University Hospital, and Haraldsplass Deaconess Hospital.
The group’s research has contributed significantly to the development of the pandemic preparedness and infection control by providing real-time data for Norway throughout the pandemic. This provided new knowledge relevant for the health authorities’ response to the pandemic’s impact on public health. As the first group to research COVID-19 in Norway, we have built a unique biobank and published scientific results in highly ranked international peer-reviewed journals.

 

We are very happy and grateful for these awards and acknowledgement of the group’s research work, and would like to congratulate all awardees.
Read more about the event and other awards.