Research grants support more personalized healthcare

In total, 22 researchers at Sahlgrenska Academy have been awarded SEK 115.3 million in the Swedish Research Council's major 2026 funding call for medicine and health. The funded projects cover a broad range of research, from brain disorders and cancer to metabolism, inflammation, and cardiovascular disease.

Several projects focus on precision medicine, which aims to understand differences between patients and use that knowledge to improve diagnosis and treatment. Three projects show how researchers are approaching this challenge from different angles.

How aging affects cancer

Volkan Sayin, Associate Professor of Experimental Surgery at the Institute of Clinical Sciences, has received a consolidator grant of SEK 10 million. He will investigate how biological aging influences lung cancer growth and spread.

Most cancer patients are older adults, yet current treatments rarely account for how aging changes tumors and their surrounding environment. Sayin's research group has previously shown that aging can activate a stress response controlled by the protein ATF4, helping cancer cells survive, evade the immune system, and spread.

“We want to understand the mechanisms behind tumor spread in an aging body and identify vulnerabilities in cancer cells that treatments could target. In the long term, we hope to contribute to more personalized cancer care,” says Volkan Sayin.

The researchers will use studies in aged mice, genetic analyses, and patient samples to investigate how aging influences tumor development.

Finding the right medication for bipolar disorder

Lina Jonsson, Associate Professor of Pharmacology at the Institute of Neuroscience and Physiology, has received SEK 3 million to investigate how genetic differences affect drug treatment for bipolar disorder.

Currently, there are no reliable methods for predicting which patients will respond to a particular treatment, who may experience side effects, or who may respond poorly to medication.

By identifying genetic markers and combining them with clinical information, the researchers hope to improve the ability to select the most appropriate treatment for each patient.

More reliable Alzheimer's diagnosis

Andrea Lessa Benedet, a researcher in clinical neurochemistry at the Institute of Neuroscience and Physiology, has received a starting grant of SEK 6 million. She will examine how well blood tests for Alzheimer's disease work across different populations.

Blood tests could make it easier to detect changes associated with Alzheimer's disease. However, previous research has shown that certain blood protein patterns vary across populations. This raises questions about the reliability of these tests for patients from different backgrounds.

With the new funding, Benedet can expand her analyses to include populations in Africa, South America, North America, and Europe. The researchers will examine how lifestyle factors and other medical conditions influence test results.

The goal is to understand which factors need to be considered to ensure reliable test results for a broader range of patients.

Next generation of research leaders

This year's awards include five starting grants totaling SEK 30 million and two consolidator grants totaling SEK 18 million. Together, the grants provide SEK 48 million to researchers building and expanding independent research programs.

“It’s particularly encouraging to see several starting and consolidator grants awarded to our researchers. This shows that we have a strong new generation of research leaders who can continue advancing our research for years to come,” says Jenny Nyström, Dean of Sahlgrenska Academy.