In October, the Collaboration in Science conference attracted approximately 450 registered participants to Campus Flemingsberg to learn about research being conducted at Karolinska Institutet and Karolinska University Hospital.

“I’m impressed by the excellent turnout – this creates a large number of interactions and collaborations. It’s especially important that we strengthen opportunities for clinical research, which have declined in recent years,” says Bengt Winblad, Professor of Geriatrics at the Department of Neurobiology, Care Sciences and Society.
Winblad was one of the keynote speakers at Collaboration in Science 2022. He gave a look back at his impressive research career and an insight into recent advances in the development of new drugs to treat Alzheimer’s.
The two-day conference had a very broad programme that focused on much of the research being conducted at Campus Flemingsberg. This included everything from research in aging to cell biology and transplantation, sepsis, covid and nursing. Participants could also visit an exhibition of approximately 140 research posters.

A joint initiative
The conference itself was a joint initiative between Annika Bergquist, Site Manager at Karolinska University Hospital, and Maria Eriksdotter, Dean of KI Syd.
“We’ve long felt the need to build bridges between more researchers and research groups, and this is one way to do it. And the day really lived up to our expectations. The halls were full of people interacting, and several participants have asked whether we should make this an annual event from now on,” says Bergquist, who is also Director of the Center for Innovative Medicine, CIMED, which helped to bring the conference to fruition.
“This is completely in line with CIMED’s goal of strengthening the research environment, and this happens best when people have the opportunity to meet,” she says.
“It’s also important that our core facilities are in place to make visible what resources and opportunities for collaboration exist in the area – theses are daily bridge builders,” she adds.

Measuring brain activity
Core facilities shown during the conference included uMOVE, which offers support for the use of different systems for motion analysis. Various technologies were demonstrated including one for measuring brain activity using near-infrared light.
“We use a wireless fNIRS system to measure brain activity during various types of movement and activity. This is a relatively new technology that makes it possible to measure everyday activities,” says Lucian Bezuidenhout, Postdoctoral Researcher at Karolinska Institutet.
uMOVE is currently conducting a study comparing brain activity between people with Parkinson’s and healthy subjects.
“We offer our equipment and analysis capabilities to researchers and businesses. For example, we’ve helped companies that manufacture so-called exoskeletons to evaluate their technologies.”