Grant strengthens research into pandemic viral infections
Associate Professor Christian Kanstrup Holm from Aarhus University receives almost ten million kroner from the Novo Nordisk Foundation towards his research into the treatment of viral infections which cause respiratory problems and have the potential to develop into pandemics.
While the coronavirus pandemic continues to rage in many parts of the world, Christian Kanstrup Holm and his research team at the Department of Biomedicine are already investigating how to combat future pandemics. Among the techniques they use are analysis of the immune system's reaction and resistance to viruses that result in respiratory infections and – in the worst-case scenario – can develop into pandemics.
The researchers' hypothesis is that yet unseen genes and processes in human cells have the potential to prevent the growth of SARS-CoV2 – the virus that causes Covid-19. And that the same genes and processes can be utilised to develop new anti-viral therapies to treat the disease.
The Novo Nordisk Foundation supports the research with a Hallas-Møller Ascending Investigator Grant of DKK 9,978,838.
Contact
Associate Professor & PhD Christian Kanstrup Holm
Aarhus University, Department of Biomedicine
Mobile: (+45) 20 96 87 54
Email: holm@biomed.au.dk