Collaboration Between The Feinstein And Sweden's Karolinska Institute

Main Category: Medical Students / Training
Also Included In: Infectious Diseases / Bacteria / Viruses;  Biology / Biochemistry
Article Date: 11 Apr 2008 - 5:00 PDT

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As part of its global mission of advancing science, The Feinstein Institute for Medical Research has announced that it has signed a collaborative agreement with the renowned Karolinska Institutet in Sweden. The agreement paves the way for Karolinska graduates to conduct post-doctoral research in New York and scientists from The Feinstein to study at the Karolinska's laboratories in Stockholm.

"The Karolinska Institutet is always looking for outstanding training environments for their graduates," said Kevin J. Tracey, MD, director and chief executive of The Feinstein. "And we want the students of our Elmezzi Graduate School of Molecular Medicine to have a challenging post-doctoral career as well. It couldn't be a better fit."

According to the agreement, both institutes have "established joint programs to enhance the training and research of each institute's students and post-doctoral researchers." The collaboration will mean that as many as half a dozen scientists may be able to study abroad and that Feinstein scientists can host an equal number of Karolinska's post-doctoral students. They will still have to apply for a seat in the lab - in New York or abroad, and a joint admissions committee from both institutes will review the applications and make the selections.

"Our mission is translational research, and we offer a progressive basic and clinical training environment," added Dr. Tracey, an immunologist who collaborated with Karolinska's Jan Andersson, M.D., the head of infectious diseases, studying cytokines and inflammation. Dr. Andersson was also the first invited lecturer for The Feinstein Institute's Marsh lecture in 2005. His research includes the study of the potential role of regulatory T-cells in HIV/AIDS. He has discovered that HIV infection is associated with an increase of regulatory T-cells that negatively affect the capacity to mount a fully functional CD8 T-cell response against the infection. These regulatory T-cells could become a target for future treatments to reconstitute the immune system damaged by HIV infection.

The graduate students at the Karolinska and The Feinstein are medical doctors who have gone on to obtain a doctoral degree in research. "The faculty leadership is always looking for the best and brightest post-doctoral students," said Dr. Tracey. "These students are the heart of the lab."

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The Karolinska is one of the most prestigious research centers in the world - the home of the Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine. Alfred Nobel, the inventor of dynamite, made it clear in his final will that the Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine should be administered at the Karolinska Institutet. Over a period of 100 years, five scientists from the Karolinska met the strict criteria for pioneering achievements in medicine or basic science and were awarded this highest honor in science.

The Elmezzi Graduate School of Molecular Medicine is part of the North Shore-LIJ Health System and is administered through The Feinstein Institute.

Source: Jamie Talan
North Shore-Long Island Jewish (LIJ) Health System

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