- Start
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Research supported
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Research environments
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Strong research environments
- Combating brain disease
Combating brain disease
Lund has a long tradition of research on diseases affecting the brain. Five research groups are now concerting their efforts.
‘ We aim to prevent diseases that kill brain cells and develop new treatment methods,´ says Professor Patrik Brundin, who heads one of the Lund University research groups.
Research at Lund focuses on three diseases that break down the brain´s nerve cells: Parkinson´s disease, Huntington´s disease and stroke (bleeding or blood clots in the brain).
‘ The five research groups that form the consortium have teamed up to tackle three issues: degeneration, plasticity (adaptability) and repair,´ Patrik Brundin relates.
All the research groups now work within a 75-metre radius at LundUniversity. For now, however, there are five separate research environments.
‘ That´s why we´re keen to try and make it a shared intellectual environment in which younger researchers, in particular, socialise and go to seminars together. The people we recruit for the project will also work in at least two different teams.´
Funds will be used partly to create a good scientific culture, Patrik Brundin explains.
‘ It should be a culture in which the quality of research findings comes first and there´s less of an emphasis on where they´re published. We´ve got to change that.´The young researchers will also get guidance on how to establish a new research group.
‘ We want to serve as mentors for the next generation of neuroresearchers in Lund.´
For Patrik Brundin, a strong research environment is one that endures.
‘ If a research environment depends entirely on one person, it´s the researcher --— not the environment — that´s strong. We want to ensure that on the day we retire or are run over by a bus, there´ll be something left behind.´
WallenbergNeuroscienceCenter, LundUniversity (www.wnc.lu.se
)
‘ We aim to prevent diseases that kill brain cells and develop new treatment methods,´ says Professor Patrik Brundin, who heads one of the Lund University research groups.
Research at Lund focuses on three diseases that break down the brain´s nerve cells: Parkinson´s disease, Huntington´s disease and stroke (bleeding or blood clots in the brain).
‘ The five research groups that form the consortium have teamed up to tackle three issues: degeneration, plasticity (adaptability) and repair,´ Patrik Brundin relates.
Topics studied by the researchers include how and why brain cells die. They explore ways in which the brain changes in response to disease. They are also trying to devise new methods of repairing the brain. This can be done by transplanting new cells into the brain or letting its own stem cells give rise to healthy new cells.
Shared environment
All the research groups now work within a 75-metre radius at LundUniversity. For now, however, there are five separate research environments.
‘ That´s why we´re keen to try and make it a shared intellectual environment in which younger researchers, in particular, socialise and go to seminars together. The people we recruit for the project will also work in at least two different teams.´
Funds will be used partly to create a good scientific culture, Patrik Brundin explains.
‘ It should be a culture in which the quality of research findings comes first and there´s less of an emphasis on where they´re published. We´ve got to change that.´The young researchers will also get guidance on how to establish a new research group.
‘ We want to serve as mentors for the next generation of neuroresearchers in Lund.´
Springboard
For Patrik Brundin, a strong research environment is one that endures.
‘ If a research environment depends entirely on one person, it´s the researcher --— not the environment — that´s strong. We want to ensure that on the day we retire or are run over by a bus, there´ll be something left behind.´
A portion of the funds is to be spent on appointing someone who, on a half-time basis, will enable the five research groups to apply for more grants.
‘ We see this move as a springboard for getting more research funding,´ says Patrik Brundin.
Peter Tillhammar
Read more:
WallenbergNeuroscienceCenter, LundUniversity (www.wnc.lu.se
)
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Updated: 2009-08-27
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