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Grant: Can the remains of prehistoric viruses in the form of vaccines be used for cancer treatment?

Associate Professor and PhD Magdalena Janina Laska from Aarhus University and Aarhus University Hospital receives DKK 500,000 from the NEYE Foundation for her research into endogenous retrovirus. The goal is to develop a vaccine that can be used in the treatment of cancer.

Prehistoric residues of viruses, known as endogenous retrovirus, are hidden in our DNA. Magdalena Janina Laska from the Department of Biomedicine and the Department of Clinical Medicine at Aarhus University conducts research into the interaction between the endogenous retrovirus and the immune system. She examines how endogenous retrovirus can be used in completely new vaccine technologies and thus be utilised as a treatment strategy for certain types of cancers.

In the research project that is receiving DKK 500,000 in support from the NEYE Foundation, Magdalena Janina Laska is working to produce a new and effective antigen which can elicit an immune response in the body, and in this way fight the cancer cells from the inside. Her ambition is to develop what is known as a recombinant vaccine that makes this possible.

Contact

Associate Professor, PhD Magdalena Janina Laska
Aarhus University, Department of Biomedicine and Department of Clinical Medicine and
Aarhus University Hospital, Department of Rheumatology
Mobile: (+45) 4010 5543
Email: laska@biomed.au.dk