This page in Swedish

Research projects

NORDTREAT

About this project

Project information

Project status

In progress 2019 - 2023

Contact

Jonas Halfvarson

Research subject

Research environments

IBD is a disease entity of unknown origin, characterized by a chronic inflammation in the gastrointestinal tract. The disease course varies from an indolent course to an aggressive, treatment refractory disease, with need of repeated hospital admissions, surgery and increased risk of comorbidity including cancer. Thus, IBD have severe consequences for many affected individuals. Current IBD treatment is expensive and lacks in therapeutic precision. NORDTREAT aims to selectively identify patients with a poor prognosis based on a novel objective protein signature and adapt the treatment in these patients to minimize disease-induced damage on the gastrointestinal tract and to improve quality of life.

NORDTREAT exploitation plan includes the development of this protein signature into a diagnostic application and to explore potential additional novel biomarkers in collaboration with the Nordic biomedical industrial sector and especially biomarker manufacturers. In parallel with the treatment, the researchers will, among other things, analyze the importance of the bacteria in the gut and the genetic material in the context. In this way, it is hoped to be able to further develop the method that will now be used to identify which persons with IBD are at risk of developing a serious disease course.

Overarching aims
Improve treatment outcomes in IBD patients, by implementing a personalised medicine-based treatment strategy trial, built on a novel serum protein signature, and treating patients with a high risk of poor disease course according to a top-down algorithm.

Develop an exploitation plan that will focus on the development of the protein signature into a diagnostic application and to explore potential additional novel biomarkers in collaboration with the Nordicbiomedical industrial sector.

NORDTREAT website

Research funding bodies

  • NordForsk
  • Vinnova

Collaborators

  • Asle W.Medhus, MD, PhD, Head of the Department of Gastroenterology, OUH
  • Associate professor at the University of Oslo (UiO) Marte Lie Høivik
  • Associate professor at UiO Randi Opheim, nurse specialist, PhD
  • Assosiated Professor David Ellinghaus
  • Linköpings universitet
  • Molecular biologist Mads Thomassen
  • Morten Isaksen, PhD
  • Nordic Bioscience A/S
  • Oslo University Hospital and University of Oslo
  • PhD student Kristian Andersen
  • Post Doc Signe Bek Sørensen
  • Professor at UiO Bjørn Moum, is Head of the research section at Department of Gastroenterology, OUH
  • Professor at UiO Johannes R Hov at Norwegian PSC Research Center (NoPSC) and Senior consultant at Section of Gastroenterology
  • Professor Berit l. Heitmann
  • Professor Robin Christensen
  • Professor, consultant in gastroenterology Jens Kjeldsen, Odense University Hospital
  • Professor, consultant in gastroenterology Vibeke Andersen, Hospital of Southern Jutland
  • Senior researcher Joachim Høg Mortensen
  • The National University Hospital of Iceland
  • Vendel A. Kristensen, MD, PhD, senior consultant and postdoctoral researcher at the Department of Gastroenteorlogy, OUH