Astrid Sissel Jørgensen receives the EliteForsk Travel Grant
PhD student Astrid Sissel Jørgensen from the research theme “Molecular Pharmacology” has received an Elite Research Travel Grant. The coveted scholarship supports Astrid's trip to the research institution Roswell Park Comprehensive Cancer Center in Buffalo, New York, USA.
Every year, the Danish Ministry of Higher Education and Science awards travel scholarships to young researchers from the country's universities in the prestigious support program Elite Research initiative. Astrid Sissel Jørgensen is one of 20 young researchers in the country who have received a travel grant in 2022. The grants are DKK 200,000 and support stays at foreign research institutions.
Research into the signaling molecules that guide immune cells to the lymph nodes
Through her research, Astrid has identified a molecule that increases the activity of the signal that shows immune cells the way to the lymph nodes. In her PhD project, she is investigating whether it is possible to increase the movement of immune cells to the lymph node with this molecule. If she can do that, it can make the immune system more effective, thereby improving current immunotherapies, such as cancer immunotherapies. The scientific title of the research project is "Immune boosting peptides for improved migration and lymph node homing of professional antigene presenting cells".
“Going to the United States is a unique opportunity for me to take the results I have from cell studies and demonstrate them in a complex physiological system. In the US, I will collaborate with some of the world's leading researchers in cell-based immunotherapy. This is a unique opportunity for me personally to expand my network, but also an opportunity for the future of the project and the possibility to later on take the results to clinical trials." says Astrid Sissel Jørgensen.
Read more about the travel grants and see all recipients on the Elite Research website (Danish).
For the third year in a row, a BMI researcher receives an EliteForsk travel grant
With Astrid's receipt of the scholarship, it is the third year in a row that a young BMI researcher receives an Elite Research travel grant. In 2021, Jonas L Isaksen (from the research theme "Physiology of Circulation, Kidney and Lung") received a grant, and in 2020, Katrine Douglas Galsgaard (from the research team "Endocrinology and Metabolism") received a grant.