OUS awards outstanding research articles twice a year. Winning articles must have achieved international impact, be of particularly high quality, and communicate important findings.
The award for articles published in the fall of 2025 was presented at Rikshospitalet on June 12.
Several of the Institute’s research groups are behind the award-winning articles. Among them are new targets for immunotherapy against cancer, better methods for pain relief in prehospital emergency medicine, and a large Nordic study that changes the use of beta-blockers after heart attacks.
A common mutation in cancer cells can be used as a target for the body's immune system for targeted treatment
PhD candidate Maria Stadheim Eggebø and colleagues won the award for the article "TCR-engineered T cells targeting a shared β-catenin mutation eradicate solid tumors", published in Nature Immunology.
Mutations have proven to be promising targets for cancer treatment because they are specific to cancer cells and not found in healthy cells. These mutations can form unique peptides that are displayed on the surface of cancer cells and can be recognized by T cells via their T-cell receptor. The problem is that the patient's own T cells often do not recognize these neoantigens.
T cells from healthy donors, on the other hand, have been shown to be better at this, and T cells modified to express T-cell receptors are a promising treatment strategy.
“It’s very exciting that our work has been awarded the OUS article prize! We wish to thank the research committee and the committee for this recognition,” Eggebø says. She is part of Professor Johanna Olweus' group at PRIMA, a centre for excellent research at UiO and OUS.
Read more about the study here: New immunotherapy gives hope against lung cancer and prostate cancer
Drug trials in acute prehospital settings
PhD candidate Randi Simensen and colleagues won the award for their article “Comparison of inhalational methoxyflurane, intranasal fentanyl, and intravenous morphine for treatment of prehospital acute pain in Norway (PreMeFen): a randomised, non-inferiority, three-arm, phase 3 trial”, published in The Lancet.
Acute pain is among the most frequent challenges in prehospital acute medicine, yet it is still often inadequately treated. There is therefore a great need for effective, non-intravenous alternatives, to enable earlier pain relief and to simplify treatment in situations where intravenous access is difficult or time-consuming.
Drug trials in acute prehospital settings are very rare, and the PreMeFen study has therefore attracted considerable international attention. The study shows that advanced clinical research can also be carried out under demanding prehospital conditions.
“It’s a great honour to receive this recognition for our work, and that prehospital research is recognized at a high level. It’s inspiring to be able to contribute to knowledge development through studies conducted where the laboratory is on wheels in an operational environment,” Simensen says.
(The researchers behind the PreMeFen study at UiO and OUS. From left, researcher Jostein Hagemo, Professor Marius Rehn, PhD candidate Randi Simensen, and researcher Fridtjof Heyerdahl. Photo: Marit Bekkevold.)
Re-evaluation of beta-blocker treatment among 5500 patients with myocardial infarction
Professor Dan Atar, along with Professor John Munkhaugen, convened the entire Norwegian heart research community for a comprehensive randomized national study. The resulting article "Beta-Blockers after Myocardial Infarction in Patients without Heart Failure", published in the New England Journal of Medicine, was among the winners.
The BETAMI study has investigated whether treatment with beta-blockers after a myocardial infarction is still indicated. The study shows that beta-blockers reduce the risk of another heart attack in patients with no or mild damage to the heart. The findings have direct implications for international clinical guidelines, and they influence treatment choices for a large group of patients.
“I am deeply honoured to receive the award from OUS. It would not have been possible without the great support from the Department of Clinical Medicine at UiO. This was a great team effort, and I would like to take this opportunity to thank the outstanding staff at OUS and UiO, John Munkhaugen and the entire Norwegian cardiology community, as well as the excellent partners in Denmark,” Atar says.
Read more about the study here: Should everyone get beta-blockers after a heart attack?
Award-winning articles
- TCR-engineered T cells targeting a shared β-catenin mutation eradicate solid tumors
Maria Stadheim Eggebø, Johanna Olweus and colleagues, published in Nature Immunology - Comparison of inhalational methoxyflurane, intranasal fentanyl, and intravenous morphine for treatment of prehospital acute pain in Norway (PreMeFen): a randomised, non-inferiority, three-arm, phase 3 trial
Randi Simensen, Fridtjof Heyerdahl, Jostein Hagemo, Marius Rehn and colleagues, published in The Lancet - Beta-Blockers after Myocardial Infarction in Patients without Heart Failure (BETAMI-DANBLOCK)
Dan Atar, John Munkhaugen and colleagues, published in the New England Journal of Medicine - Placenta-Derived Proteins in Preeclampsia: A Human In Vivo Study
Ane C Westerberg, Trond Melbye Michelsen and colleagues, published in Hypertension - Reevaluating the role of education on cognitive decline and brain aging in longitudinal cohorts across 33 Western countries
Anders M Fjell and colleagues, published in Nature Medicine - Fecal Microbiota Transplantation Versus Vancomycin for Primary Clostridioides difficile Infection: A Randomized Controlled Trial
Frederik Emil Juul, Michael Bretthauer and colleagues, published in Annals of Internal Medicine