Three of Denmark's six best neuroscience professors come from Health

Nanna Brix Finnerup, Søren Riis Paludan and Per Borghammer receive three of the six 'LF Professorships' awarded by the Lundbeck Foundation in 2021. Together, the three researchers from Health will receive more than DKK 94 million towards their neuroscience research which the foundation believes has ground-breaking potential.

[Translate to English:] Professorerne Nanna Brix Finnerup, Søren Riis Paludan og Per Borghammer får bevillinger på hhv. ca. 36 mio. kr., ca. 28 mio. kr. og ca. 30 mio. kr. til deres neurovidenskabelige forskningsprojekter. Foto: Martin Gravgaard for Lundbeckfonden.

21 December 2021 by Sabina Bjerre Hansen

Every other year, the Lundbeck Foundation awards major grants to neuroscience researchers at professor level who are employed at a non-commercial Danish research institution. The projects span six years or longer and researchers can apply for up to DKK 40 million. This year, six neuroscientists will share the foundation's total grant amount of DKK 177 million, with three of them coming from Health.

Professor Nanna Brix Finnerup, who is affiliated with the Department of Clinical Medicine – The Danish Pain Research Centre, receives a research grant of DKK 36,175,638 to investigate molecular mechanisms in connection with pain triggered by nerve damage (neuropathic pain). Nerve damage may e.g. occur in connection with strokes or spinal cord injuries, and this type of pain can be difficult to treat with medicine. In her research project, Nanna Brix Finnerup will investigate genetic factors that can increase the risk of developing neuropathic pain in connection with nerve damage, with the aim of contributing to the development of precision medicine in the long term.

Søren Riis Paludan, professor at the Department of Biomedicine, receives a grant of DKK 28,232,500. He will use the grant in his research into disease prevention and the immune system, including defence mechanisms in the brain which prevent viral infections from causing damage to the brain. Søren Riis Paludan has discovered a new type of defence mechanism against viral attacks in the brain, and this is what he will examine in his project. He will also examine any correlations between viral infections in the brain and neurodegenerative diseases such as e.g. Alzheimer's disease.

Professor Per Borghammer from the Department of Clinical Medicine – Nuclear Medicine & PET Centre, receives DKK 29,984,865 for his research into the neurodegenerative disease Parkinson's disease and other Parkinson-like diseases. Per Borghammer investigates where Parkinson's disease begins, and his hypothesis is that the disease can either begin in the brain and from there move down into the body, or that it can begin in the digestive system and work its way up towards the brain. In his project, Per Borghammer will conduct a wide range of studies, including PET scans of patients, sleep research, analyses of urine and faeces, and studies of brains from the deceased.

This coverage is based on press material from the Lundbeck Foundation.