Bjarne Johannessen to lead a project team under SPARK Norway
In January, the UiO:Life Science board decided to include five new teams into the SPARK Norway innovation program. This program is designed to facilitate the transformation of research ideas into tangible solutions in the health-related life sciences sector. Since its inception in 2017, it has successfully fostered the creation of several businesses and companies, all grounded in fundamental and translational life science research. Notably, the ProClass project, a key component of the prostate cancer research portfolio within the Department of Molecular Oncology, is among the projects selected to join the SPARK innovation program for 2025.
The full title of the project is "ProClass – A patient-specific molecular classifier independent of heterogeneity in primary prostate cancer". The innovation consists of a six-gene molecular classifier that has the potential to facilitate a more precise risk stratification for a large group of prostate cancer patients. Johannessen, with his team and project, will be part of the SPARK program for a two-year period, starting April 1, 2025.
SPARK Norway is led by UiO:Life Science and supported by UiO's top management, Inven2 and OUS to promote ideas within health-related life sciences for the benefit of patients and society. Members of the SPARK Norway management team include representatives from Oslo Cancer Cluster, The Life Science Cluster, Nansen Neuroscience Network, Norwegian Inflammation Network and Norway Health Tech as well as the Association of Pharmaceutical Industry in Norway (LMI), ShareLab, Aleap, Center for Digital Life Norway, and The Norwegian Medicines Agency.
Links:
News story about the recently admitted SPARK teams at the UiO website:
https://www.uio.no/english/research/strategic-research-areas/life-science/news-and-events/news/2025/new-spark-norway-teams.html
Bjarne Johannessen – research interests and publications
Genome biology group – headed by Rolf I. Skotheim