People involved in MIST
EMMET MC CORMACK (PhD) is a professor in Pharmaceutics and Pharmaceutical Technology, and the leader of MIST. He has built up, and is leading the small animal optical imaging platform at the University of Bergen. The imaging platforms at UiBs Haukeland campus, in addition to state-of-the-art preclinical facilities provides an exciting environment for research and development in the area of small animal molecular imaging. In addition Mc Cormack is CSO of the biotech company KINN Therapeutics, which perform preclinical testing of anti-cancer drugs on mouse xenograft models.
Technological advances have identified differentially expressed proteins and genes unearthing many new targets in a wide variety of cancers. However, the methods employed to authenticate these targets in vivo tend to be protracted with preclinical validation remaining the rate-limiting step. Preclinical molecular imaging of specific disease processes in clinically relevant animal models provides more intuitive data of all aspects of drug pharmacology. Thus, our group activities are to aid acceleration of new drug validation through application of novel formulations and imaging agents that provide better contrast between normal and disease pathologies. This will be achieved through the development of more relevant preclinical models of cancer and employment of different imaging modalities.
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LINE BJØRGE, MD, PhD, MBA holds the position as the Medical Director in Gynaecologic Oncology at the Department of Obstetrics and Gynaecology at Haukeland University Hospital, Bergen, Norway, and is responsible for treatment of gynaecological cancer for the Norwegian western region (a population of approximately 1 100 000). She is also a professor in Obstetrics and Gynaecology at the University of Bergen. Bjørge earned her medical degree from the University of Bergen (1992), her PhD degree from the University of Bergen and University of Helsinki (1996) and MBA degree from ESSEC, Paris and Mannheim Business School, Mannheim (2010). She did her training in Obstetrics and Gynaecology at Haukeland University Hospital and her post-doctoral fellowship in cancer immunology at Haartman Institute, University of Helsinki and Institute für Hygiene und Sozialmedizin, University of Innsbruck.
Bjørge’s present research activities and field of interest cover gynecological oncology (ovarian cancer, immune therapy, targeted therapy, epigenetics, animal models, early phase clinical trials), complex genetic disorders, and reproductive health, and late phase clinical trials. Her staff consists of 7 PhD students, 1 medical student researcher, 5 medical students, 2.5 research nurses and 4.5 consultants.
She holds grants from different national sources and is partner in the two H2020 founded projects FORECEE and ISPIC. She has published almost 100 scientific publications.
Here is a presentation on improved surgery in ovarian cancer (in Norwegian).
AURORA BRØNSTAD, Chief Veterinarian/ Researcher University of Bergen
Research interest: Research Animals Ethics, interpretation, compliance and application of guidelines. Brønstad is a veterinarian educated from Oslo 1995. After 3 years in pet practice she went to the UiB and completed her PhD entitled: Interstitial fluid pressure and transcapillary fluid and solute flux in acute inflammation: Modulation by cytoskeletal fixation, supervised by professor Rolf K. Reed. From 1999 Brønstad functions as the head for the animal facilities at UiB.
Brønstad is a Board member of Scand-LAS, the Norwegian Animal Research Authority, norecopa, COST B24, President elect ESLAV, AAALAC Council member, Co-Chair of the AALAS-FELASA Working Group of Harm-Benefit analysis.
BENGT ERIK HAUG (PhD) is professor in medicinal chemistry at the Department of Chemistry. He holds a PhD in organic chemistry from the University of Tromsø (June of 2002). During his PhD he worked on the design and synthesis of cationic antimicrobial peptides (CAP’s) and synthetic antimicrobial peptidomimetics (SAMP’s). Before moving to Bergen, he was a post doc in the research group of Professor Daniel H. Rich at the School of Pharmacy, University of Wisconsin-Madison, USA (2003-2004) and worked as a scientist for Lytix Biopharma AS (2005-2006).
Current research activities include design and synthesis of biologically active peptides and peptidomimetics and synthesis of marine natural products and analogs. Homepage
LARS HERFINDAL (PhD) is a professor in pharmacology at the Centre for Pharmacy, Department of Clinical Science. Besides being responsible for pharmacology teaching for pharmacy students, Herfindal has build up a laboratory dedicated to the delivery of anti-cancer drugs by nano-sized drug delivery systems. His aim is to increase druggability of novel drug candidates, decrease toxicity of cytostatics, and to facilitate drug development and repurposing using nanocarriers. His group use both liposomes, polymeric nanoparticles, and lately also cyclodextrins and graphene nanoparticles to deliver drugs. Herfindal has also worked with bioprospecting since 2000, and examined the potential of marine microorganisms as producers of anti-cancer compounds. This has resulted in the identification of several novel compounds, and one drug candidate which led to a NRC-funded grant to perform preclinical documentation. Homepage
OLA MYKLEBOST (MD, PhD) is a professor in molecular oncology at the Department of Clinical Science. He recently started in Bergen, associated to the Research Group for Precision Oncology, but still supervise projects in the old group at the Norwegian Radium Hospital in Oslo. There he focuses on sarcomas, tumours of connective tissues. From Bergen he is leading the two national projects, Norwegian Cancer Genomics Consortium (NCGC) and Norwegian Sarcoma Consortium (NoSarC).
Member of medical advisory board of the Liddy Shriver Sarcoma Initiative and editorial board of their
SPIROS KOTOPOULIS (PhD) is a researcher at Haukeland University Hospital. His work focused on the use of ultrasound and microbubbles to enhance the therapeutic effect of chemotherapy. His competence include design and fabrication of ultrasound transducer, fabrication and characterisation of novel microbubbles, in vitro and vivo experiments and pre-clinical trials.