Institute for Cancer Research has since its foundation in 1954 played a central role within the field of cancer research both in Norway and internationally. The Institute has seven research departments and more than 380 employees. About 70% of the employees and projects are externally funded. Read more
See introductory video with welcome to the ICR
The European doctoral network Mac4Me (Macrophage Targets for Metastatic Treatment) is a 48-month project that addresses both technical and social challenges in cancer metastasis, focusing on three tumour types that show poor response to current immunotherapies: neuroblastoma, breast, and prostate cancer. Mac4Me is a Horizon Europe MSCA (Marie Sklodowska-Curie Actions) Doctoral Network. The network will train 18 Doctoral Candidates to study the tumour microenvironment at metastatic sites. The project is led by a consortium of 14 partners, that includes Oslo University Hospital.
Tero Aittokallio, leader of the Computational Systems Medicine research group at the Institute for Cancer Research, is one of the supervisors, who were selected for their exceptional academic qualifications. The doctoral researcher at OUS will apply multi-modal AI algorithms to define new targets for improved immunotherapy.
Drug resistance remains a major challenge in chronic lymphocytic leukemia (CLL). A study led by Martina Seiffert (German Cancer Research Center) in collaboration with Sigrid S. Skånland (Institute for Cancer Research) suggests that alterations in the proteasome activity drive resistance to the BTK inhibitor ibrutinib, and that proteasome inhibitors are effective in ibrutinib resistant or refractory CLL.
Treatment with ibrutinib can induce remissions for several years, yet development of drug resistance represents a major challenge. Mutations in BTK and the downstream protein PLCG2 are commonly detected in resistant disease, while mechanisms of resistance that are not explained by these mutations have not yet been understood.
Oslo University Hospital hereby announce research awards in the following two catagories for 2025:
Closing date for nominations: March 7th 2025.
Anette Weyergang – project group leader at Institute for Cancer Research (ICR), Oslo University Hospital - is on December 11th awarded the prize Researcher-of-the-Year from the leadership at ICR for her groundbreaking scientific contributions. The award of 100,000 NOK is financed by the Radium Hospital Foundation (Radiumhospitalets legater) and is a personal scholarship for stimulating further excellence in research.
The leadership group highlights the important work Weyergang has done to characterize the role of Rab proteins in the intracellular transport of antibody-drug conjugates such as for example trastuzumab-derukstekan (Enhertu®). This work has been published in Nature Communication and led to the establishment of Rab Diagnostics AS.
Chief administrative officer, Kari Aalrust Berger at the Institute for Cancer Research, was awarded the 2024 Employee of the Year prize on December 11th. The award was presented by the institute’s leadership team in recognition of Berger's outstanding contributions to the institute and its staff.
Kari Aalrust Berger was nominated by the Division of Radiation Biology, which highlighted her exceptional ability to tackle challenges with calmness, insight, and innovative solutions—always accompanied by a smile. The section describes her as a steadfast supporter who excels in managing both large, complex issues and smaller everyday challenges.
Dr. Casado is shared 1st author on the paper “Immune microniches shape intestinal Treg functions” published in Nature. This work was conducted during her postdoc stay in Professor Sarah Teichmann’s lab (Wellcome Sanger Institute, Cambridge, UK), in collaboration with Professor Fiona Powrie’s lab (University of Oxford, UK).
Dr. Casado has spent several years working in Norway with gut immunology in the Jahnsen lab at Dept. of Pathology, and was recently recruited to the Lothe lab at Institute for Cancer Research to pursue her academic career and combine research interests in gut immunology with translational research on colorectal cancer.
