Anette Weyergang awarded the Researcher of the Year prize at ICR for 2024
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.
“For cancer drugs to work, they must reach the right place inside the cancer cells. In our research, we study how drugs are transported intracellularly. This knowledge can help us understand how to make the drugs work better”, says Weyergang.
Weyergang is educated as a pharmacist and has pursued her career at ICR, working with intracellular delivery of targeted drugs. She received her PhD in Photochemical Internalization (PCI) in 2009, where she used visible light to deliver targeted drugs into cancer cells. Her postdoc, funded by the Cancer Society, was a collaboration with MD Anderson Cancer Center, Houston, Texas, where she acquired knowledge and skills in genetic design, recombinant production, and purification of protein-based drugs. She has led several projects where new drugs have been designed, produced, and tested in combination with PCI. This work has mainly been funded through a career grant from the Cancer Society and a research grant from Radforsk. The work has been highly recognized in her field, and in 2023 she was awarded a research prize from the International Photodynamic Association for “Basic Research Excellence.”
The last years, Weyergang has expanded her research to antibody-drug conjugates (ADCs). This is a new type of targeted chemotherapy transported directly to the patient’s cancer cells. Treatment with ADCs is currently decided based on whether the drugs will bind to the patient’s cancer cells. Weyergang was the first to show that intracellular drug transport varies between patients and impacts the efficacy of ADC function. Weyergang started her work on ADCs in cell cultures and later validated these findings in three patient studies. The findings have gained recognition and led to collaborations with key opinion leaders in the ADC field.
In addition to her mechanistic studies on the intracellular transport of ADCs, Weyergang has worked to ensure that her findings benefit patients. Therefore, alongside her research, she has pursued an educational path to commercialize the idea, first through the Health Innovation School and later through the SPARK Norway program, where she also won the Vaccibody Prize for Best Innovation Project 2023. In collaboration with Oslo Cancer Cluster Incubator and Radforsk, Weyergang established Rab Diagnostics AS in 2023 with her co-founders Kristian Berg and Olav Engebråten. The company is seeking funds to develop its first product and has achieved the Seal of Excellence from the European Innovation Council. Weyergang won this year’s DNB NXT pitch competition (Norway’s largest) as part of this process.
Through her activities, Weyergang has shown how an academic project can be developed towards commercialization and has become a role model for how this can be done. She is invited to both large international conferences and smaller national meetings to talk about her research and has used this momentum to establish collaborations with several pharmaceutical companies.
“It means a lot to receive this recognition. Around me, I have a fantastic project group of skilled and dedicated people who also benefit greatly from collaboration both within and outside the institute. The close contact with Oslo Cancer Cluster and SPARK has allowed me to develop basic cancer research into innovation and possible commercialization. This is great fun but also a lot of work, and it feels very good that the Institute’s board recognizes this work” says Weyergang.
Links:
Media coverage:
Medwatch:
Rab Diagnostics-gründer kåret til årets forsker
Healthtalk:
Anette Weyergang kåret til årets kreftforsker på OUS
Dagens Medisin
Hun er Årets forsker ved IKF (requires subscription)
Farmatid.no
Farmasøyt Anette Weyergang ble Årets forsker 2024
Anette Weyergang (ous-research.no)
LinkedIn: (19) Anette Weyergang | LinkedIn
Weyergang project group homepage: OUH - Recombinant Light Activated Therapeutics
Rab Diagnostics AS: https://www.rabdiagnostics.com
From the ceremony on December 11th 2024:
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Photos: Per Marius Didriksen