Department of Clinical Molecular Biology

EpiGen conducts basic and translational research through its academic faculty. The overarching goal of our research is to advance knowledge of the clinical molecular underpinnings of complex civilization diseases with a focus on healthy aging and improved quality of life for patients.

EpiGen also provides service, infrastructure and support to clinicians at Akershus University Hospital (Ahus) and other researchers at the HelseSørØst region to carry out high-quality translational research.

The research environment at EpiGen is interdisciplinary and consists of researchers, clinicians, study nurses, technicians, PhD fellows and postdoctoral fellows.

Read more about research at EpiGen here (external site).

Projects

Ongoing projects:

• Aging and molecular mechanisms of mitophagy – Principal Investigator, Associate Professor Fei Fang

• Obesity and metabolic syndrome - Principal Investigator, Professor Yvonne Böttcher

• Cancer - Principal Investigator, Professor Anita Göndör

• Transcriptional rewiring in cancer - Principal Investigator, Associate Professor Harri Itkonen

• Use of advanced mathematical methods to solve problems in cancer biology - Principal Investigator, Researcher Junbai Wang

Recently finished projects:

• DNA repair/Genome stability - Principal Investigator, Professor Hilde Loge Nilsen

• Cancer Genome Variation - Principal Investigator, Professor Vessela N. Kristensen

External research groups using the EpiGen facilities:

• Breast Cancer

• Clinical and Molecular Oncology in ColoRectal Cancer (CMOR)

• GastroMedicine (IBSEN)

• Cardiovascular Research Group (CRG)

• Clinical Neuroscience Research Group (CNG)

• Microbiology and Infectious Medicine

• Orthopedic Research Group

• Pediatric Research Group (PAEDIA)

How we can help you:

The research laboratory at EpiGen has equipment and personnel with broad experience in a number of molecular biological methods.

We offer equipment that can be used to answer a wide range of biomedical questions and assistance on collaborative projects.

See list of equipment and techniques.

Stem Cell Facilities at EpiGen

Ahus stem cell facility (ASCF) is physically located at EpiGen and is managed by researcher Kulbhushan Sharma. The facility offers services within research in stem cell biology.

We have expertise in generating patient-specific induced pluripotent cells (iPSCs) for disease modelling and potential therapies, as well as differentiating iPSCs and embryonic stem cells (ESCs) into specialized cell lines (e.g. different types of neurons, microglia, monocytes, macrophages, hepatocytes, cardiomyocytes, retinal pigmental epithelium etc.).

We also offer highly efficient, full genome editing services (knock-in, knock-out, SNP correction, reporter generation, etc.) using CRISPR technology on collaboration basis.

We are active participants of two COST programs related to genome editing: CorEuStem, CA20140 and GenE-HumDi, CA21113. Read more about CorEuStem (external site) and GenE-HumDi here (external site).

We can help with experiment planning/design, provide technical support and consultation to researchers and clinicians at Ahus as well as external users by agreement.

Stem cell facility offers:

• Patient fibroblast expansion
• Reprogramming for the generation of iPSCs using integration-free methods and their characterization
• Differentiation of iPSCs/ESCs into specialized cell types using proprietary differentiation protocols for disease modelling and drug screening
• Genome editing of human iPSC cells

Should you require assistance or wish to explore collaboration opportunities in the aforementioned research endeavors, please feel free to reach out to:

Kulbhushan Sharma, PhD  
Leader, Stem Cell Facility, Ahus  
Email: kulbhushan.sharma@medisin.uio.no / kulbhushan.sharma@ahus.no

Unit for Precision Medicine

Overview

The Unit for Precision Medicine at the Department of Clinical Molecular Biology (Ahus) is a research team established with the vision of employing molecular biology and bioinformatics to advance diagnostics and therapies for patients. By integrating basic and translational research, the unit is dedicated to identifying biomarkers, developing functional assays, and supporting the implementation of scalable technologies for personalised medicine. The knowledge generated in the unit is meant to benefit patients across cancer and other diseases.  

Aims

Discovery Research: 
We use preclinical models to understand molecular changes at DNA, RNA, and protein levels that have an impact in diagnostics or treatment of the diseases. These findings can lead to the development of new tools and techniques with translational impact.

Translational Research:
This modality of the unit allows the investigation of the efficiency and feasibility of new discoveries generated from basic research. This topic is focused on working with patients’ samples and data.

Collaborations

The unit is designed to strengthen interdisciplinary collaboration between molecular biologists, bioinformaticians, and clinicians. In addition, the unit aims to build partnerships with clinical groups, academic research groups, diagnostic labs, within and outside Ahus.

Ongoing research projects

• Experimental diagnostics using next generation sequencing for InPreD-Norway.  
• Functional Homologous Recombination Deficiency (HRD) testing. 
• Kinase activation profile for targeted therapy.  
• Systematic characterisation of variants of uncertain significance (VUS) of DNA repair genes. 
• Application of Multiplex Functional Assays for Variant Effect (MAVE) data for variant interpretation in precision oncology. 

Clinical trials supported by the Unit for Precision Medicine 

• METIMMOX trial.  Read more about the study (external site in Norwegian) 
• PALM trial.  Read more about the study (external site in Norwegian) 
• Tailoring Treatment in Colorectral Cancer (TargetCRC). Read more about the study (external site)

Contact information:

Team leader: Diana Lilian Bordin.
Email: d.l.bordin@medisin.uio.no / diabor@ahus.no