A word from Acting Head of Department
|
|
Dear colleagues,
As you might have heard, Sten Linnarsson has taken on a new assignment as Dean for Campus Solna. My name is Björn Högberg and I am a professor of Biophysics and has taken on the role as Acting Head of Department of MBB until a new Chairman is appointed. Acting as Deputy Head of Department is Gonçalo Castelo-Branco, professor of Glial Cell Biology.
We will run the steering of the department together during this phase. We have worked together before in the steering group during Sten’s tenure and I look forward to continue to work with Gonçalo.
I am very proud to be temporarily heading our department, which is the best department at KI. I hope we continue to make it even better, but Sten sure has made a magnificent job in laying the foundation for new institutions and traditions at the department, the Faculty, the Senate, the MBB Frontier Grants and more, which I think has considerably strengthened the department and the internal culture of MBB for the better.
Recently we finished the second round of recruitment of new PIs within the framework of the MBB Frontier Grants and hope that we will soon be able to announce the new recruit(s).
|
|
|
|
We have also recently seen the start of the activities of the MBB PhD & Post-Doc Board. They had their first seminar and social event which was very well attended on 8 February. Look out for more events from them in the future!
|
|
|
|
The recruitment of a new Head of Department at MBB
|
|
The period for nominating candidates for a new Head of Department at MBB has ended and the group for recruitment thank you for the nominations. Interviews will take place in the beginning of March and after that we will invite you all to participate in open hearings.
András Simon (chairman of the recruitment group and Head of Department of Cell and Molecular Biology), Nils-Göran Larsson (Professor at MBB), Onur Dagliyan (PI at MBB), Håkan Andersson (GUA MBB) and Carina Hammarström (Head of Administration at MBB).
|
Survey regarding our work environment
|
|
On 26 February all employees at MBB will have the opportunity to answer some questions regarding our work environment. The survey will be about Commitment, Equality, Harassment and discrimination, Management and leadership. We will follow up the result at the department/unit meeting.
About the survey:
| • | The system used is called HR pulse and has been developed by the central HR department and is a tool in the work with the systematic work environment.
| | • | The result should be seen as a basis for discussion for further discussions and work for managers and employees and help in decision-making.
| | • | The questions and results should focus on development, not evaluation.
| | • | The survey will be sent out by e-mail and you answer via a link in the e-mail.
| | • | Be aware that the e-mail may end up under "Other" in the inbox.
| | • | The e-mail will be sent from hr-puls.KI@mail.quicksearch.se The answers are completely anonymous.
| | • | The survey will be open for two weeks and if you do not complete the survey, there will be sent two reminders.
| | • | The survey takes only a few minutes to answer. |
|
Research group pages now migrated
|
|
The research group pages are now migrated to RIMS.
For you who have a research group page, have a look at the Members and contact tab and Publications tab, which you now manage by yourself. RIMS gathers information automatically to these tabs. Read here how to manage the information on your group page by making necessary adjustments in KI RIMS.
If you need assistance or support in KI RIMS, you can turn to the University Library, KIB: kib@ki.se
|
Supervisors for Summer research school for high school students wanted
|
Prize for Internationalisation in Teaching and Learning
|
|
Sweden’s medical faculties have set up a joint prize for the internationalisation of first and second-cycle education in order to encourage their teachers and teaching teams to actively raise the level of internationalisation in higher education by bringing an international dimension to their teaching and by improving the students’ global perspective.
Read more about the prize and how to nominate here
|
|
|
|
Find the news potential in your research and write for The Conversation
|
|
The international news platform The Conversation arranges, in collaboration with the Communications Office at KI, a training session for researchers on how to find the news potential in your own research and write for the public.
Read more about the ws and registrate here
|
|
|
|
|
|
DNA construction led to unexpected discovery of important cell function
|
|
Ioanna Smyrlaki and Björn Högberg
|
|
Researchers at MBB have used DNA origami, the art of folding DNA into desired structures, to show how an important cell receptor can be activated in a previously unknown way.
The result opens new avenues for understanding how the Notch signalling pathway works and how it is involved in several serious diseases. The study is published in Nature Communications.
|
|
|
|
“This is a technique that allows us to place molecules of the Jag1 protein at very small distances from each other in different patterns, and then we have exposed these patterns to stem cells with Notch receptors,” says Björn Högberg, professor at MBB, who led the study together with KI researcher Ioanna Smyrlaki, also at MBB.
Read the article at ki.se here
|
|
|
|
Nasal spray with antibodies could prevent COVID-19
|
|
Researchers at Karolinska Institutet have shown that nasal drops with IgA antibodies can protect mice from SARS-CoV-2 infection. The results imply a new way to protect individuals at high risk from different variants of the SARS-CoV-2 virus and possibly other infections. The study is published in PNAS.
“We believe that this will be a very promising strategy, not only for COVID-19 and the new variants, but also for other infectious diseases, including influenza and other respiratory infections and gastric mucosal infections such as Helicobacter pylori, where there is no vaccine available at the moment”, says Qiang Pan-Hammarström, professor at the same department and last author of the paper.
Read the article at ki.se here
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Editor-in-chief:
Carina Hammarström
Editor:
Sara Lidman
|
|
|
|
If you have comments about the newsletter or relevant news, contact Communications Officer Sara Lidman
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
