SPARK Norway projects

UiO:Life Science's innovation programme SPARK Norway for health related life sciences has a portfolio of 18 active teams and 29 alumni teams.

Logo SPARK Norway.

Active teams

ProClass – A patient-specific molecular classifier independent of heterogeneity in primary prostate cancerSPARKee Bjarne Johannessen.

  • Project leader: Bjarne Johannessen, Department of Molecular Oncology, Institute for Cancer Research, Oslo University Hospital
  • Team members: Rolf I. Skotheim, Karol Axcrona, Ragnhild A. Lothe, Ulrika Axcrona, Tor ?ge Myklebust, Susanne G. Kidd, Anne Cathrine Bakken, Lise R?dsten

Wearable Electrophysiology Mobility Solutions in Parkinson’s Disease [WEBSPD]SPARKee Tarun Arora.

  • Project leader: Tarun Arora, Researcher, Department of Neurology, Oslo University Hospital

  • Team members: Mathias Toft (UiO), Christian Tronstad (OUH), Kristian Bernhard Nilsen (OUH), Lasse Pihlstr?m (OUH)

Small molecules targeting FoxP3+ Regulatory T cells for cancer immunotherapySPARKee Qian Wei.

  • Project leader: Qian Wei, Postdoctoral researcher, Department of Cancer Immunology, Institute for Cancer Research, Oslo University Hospital
  • Team members: Professor Kjetil Taskén (UiO/OUH), Professor Rafi Ahmad (INN University), Postdoc Nuria García-Díaz (OUH) and UiO Growth House

Blocking pancreatic cancer by small-molecule inhibitorsSPARKee Bj?rn Dalhus.

  • Project leader: Bj?rn Dalhus, Researcher, Department for Medical Biochemistry, Institute of Clinical Medicine, University of Oslo 
  • Team members: Professor Lars Eide, Department for Medical Biochemistry, UiO, Pernille Blicher, UiO and Marte Eikenes, UiO

Advanced Technology for Identifying and Detecting RNA Modification-Based Cancer MarkersSPARKee Yanjiao Li.

  • Project leader: Yanjiao Li, Postdoctoral researcher, Oslo University Hospital 
  • Team members: Arne Klungland, Professor and Director CRESCO - Centre for Embryology and Healthy Development, Institute of Clinical Medicine, University of Oslo


Autologous cell-based therapy for coagulation factor deficiencySPARKee Giacomo Roman.

  • Project leader: Giacomo Roman, Department of Haematology, Institute of Clinical Medicine, University of Oslo and Oslo University Hospital
  • Team members: Maria E. Chollet (UiO/OUS), Anindita Bhattacharya (UiO/OUS), Knut Lauritzen (UiO/OUS), Christian Qvigstad (UiO/OUS), Gareth Sullivan (OUS), Per Morten Sandset (UiO/OUS), Benedicte Stavik (OUS)

Blood-based test for solid cancer early detectionSPARKee Carmen Herrera.

  • Project leader: Carmen Herrera, Section for Biochemistry and Molecular Biology, Department of Biosciences, University of Oslo
  • Team members: P?l Falnes (UiO) and UiO Growth House

Ligament balancing in total knee arthroplasty - a systematic approach to Bellemans techniqueSPARKee Lars Engseth

  • Project leader: Lars Engseth, Department of Orthopaedics - Ullev?l, Institute of Clinical Medicine, University of Oslo and Oslo University Hospital 
  • Team members: Stephan R?hrl (OUS/UiO), J?rgen Gr?nsund (UiS/Moreld Capnor)

EvoMab: germinal center guided affinity maturation of therapeutic antibodiesSPARKee Johanne Tracey Jacobsen

  • Project leader: Johanne Jacobsen, Department of Immunology, Institute of Clinical Medicine, University of Oslo
  • Team member: Valgerdur Bj?rnsdottir (UiO)

Mathematical biomarkers to predict treatment response in breast cancerSPARKee Leonard Schmiester.

  • Project leader: Leonard Schmiester, Department of Biostatistics Institute of Basic Medical Sciences, University of Oslo
  • Team members: Alvaro K?hn-Luque (OUS), Arnoldo Frigessi (UiO/OUS), Aleix Prat (Hospital Clinic Barcelona), Fara Brasó-Maristany (Hospital Clinic Barcelona), Vessela Kristensen (OUS/UiO), Youness Azimzade (UiO)

PharmaChipSPARKee Steven Wilson.

  • Project leader:Steven Ray Wilson, Section for Chemical Life Sciences - Biomolecules, Bio-inspired Materials and Bioanalytics, University of Oslo
  • Team members: Fr?ydis Sved Skottvoll (SINTEF), Aleksandra Aizenshtadt (UiO), Stefan Krauss (UiO/OUS), Stig Pedersen-Bjergaard (UiO), Michal Mielnik (SINTEF)

DUCT chip – An artificial bile duct on a chip recapitulating immune functionsSPARKee Henry Hoyle

  • Project leader: Henry Hoyle, Division of Surgery, Inflammatory Diseases and Transplantation, Oslo University Hospital and Institute of Clinical Medicine, UiO
  • Team members: Anna Katharina Frank (OUS), Espen Melum (OUS/UiO), Stefan Krauss (UiO/OUS), Mathias Busek (UiO), Aleksandra Aizenshtadt (UiO) and Kayoko Shoji (UiO)

Novel vaccine platform for animal healthSPARKee Hanne Winther-Larsen

  • Project leader: Hanne Winther-Larsen, Institute of Pharmacy, UiO
  • Team members: Saranya Subramani (UiO) and Aina Rengmark (Inven2)

Experimental-computational platform for antibody-target designSPARKee Puneet Rawat

  • Project leader: Puneet Rawat, Institute of Clinical Medicine, Dept. of Immunology, UiO
  • Team members: Professor Victor Greiff (UiO/OUS), Professor Jan Terje Andersen (UiO/OUS), Dr. Fridtjof Lund-Johansen (OUS/UiO)

Development of engineered NK-EVs for Targeted Therapy in Breast CancerSPARKee Marit Inngjerdingen.

  • Project leader: Marit Inngjerdingen, Dept. of Pharmacology, Institute of Clinical Medicine, Faculty of Medicine, UiO
  • Team members: Amanda Sudworth (UiO) and J?rgen Wesche (OUS/UiO) 

Personalized Rapid Ex vivo Determination of Immunotherapeutic Cancer Treatment (PREDICT)SPARKee Audun Kvalvaag

  • Project leader: Audun Kvalvaag, Institute for Cancer Research, Oslo University Hospital
  • Team members: Dr. Ieva Ailte (OUS) and Professor Harald Stenmark (OUS/UiO)

Novel targets for attenuating disease progression in Parkinson’s diseaseTanima SenGupta

  • Project leader: Nicola Pietro Montaldo, Dept. of Microbiology, Division of Laboratory Medicine, University of Oslo
  • Team members: Prof. Hilde Nilsen, Francisco G Naranjo, Kulbhushan Sharma, Swapnil Gupta, Torkild Visnes

Cancer Stem Cell Prognostics in Patient Prostate Tumor OrganoidsAdam Filipczyk

  • Project leader: Adam Filipczyk, Div. of Laboratory Medicine, Oslo University Hospital
  • Team members: Carsten Marr, Arne Klungland, Kyrre Eeg Emblem, Rune Ougland
Published Feb. 1, 2019 5:56 PM - Last modified Feb. 5, 2025 12:51 PM