Two SUND-researchers receive the Jahre Award for Young Researchers

Each year, the University of Oslo awards the Anders Jahre Awards for excellent research within basic and clinical medicine to researchers from the Nordic countries. One of the awards is earmarked for young researchers and comes with a personal prize of NOK 400,000.

This year's Anders Jahre Award for Young Researchers is shared between the two recipients, Associate Professor Nicholas Taylor and Associate Professor Nicolai J. Wewer Albrechtsen.

Membrane transporters and bacterial movement    

Nicholas Taylor receives the award for his excellent studies giving structural insights into molecular mechanism of membrane transporters and bacterial motility. His research focuses on how molecules move in and out of cells through their membranes. This movement occurs via specific proteins made by the cell or by protein complexes from viruses. Nicholas Taylor and his group study these mechanisms using structural biology techniques, particularly cryo-electron microscopy, which can visualize these molecules in great detail.

“I am very grateful to the committee for awarding this prestigious prize. I would like to thank all the mentors and colleagues I had during my scientific career, for their support along the way. I would like to thank as well the members of my research group which deserve a lot of the credit for this prize,” says Associate Professor Nicholas Taylor.

 “Finally, I would like to acknowledge all current and former colleagues at the Novo Nordisk Foundation Center for Protein Research and the University of Copenhagen. It is a privilege to help uncover nature’s beautiful secrets and it would not be possible without the support of all these people.”

Peptides and proteins for the treatment of cardiometabolic diseases

Nicolai J. Wewer Albrechtsen conducts research on measuring and utilizing peptides and proteins in the body for the diagnosis and treatment of cardiometabolic diseases. He is receiving the award for his contribution to the identification of a new physiological concept called glucagon resistance, which increases the risk of diabetes and other metabolic diseases.

“Becoming a recipient of The Anders Jahre Award for Young Researchers is not only a tribute to me as clinical scientist but is also a major recognition of my team and what we have gained of new insight in physiology and medicine,” says Associate Professor Nicolai J. Wewer Albrechtsen.

“The award is a major life achievement, and I can’t wait to celebrate with all those that have and are making our scientific adventures possible. Being recognized with the Anders Jahre Award for Young Researchers for living out my scientific dreams is an underscoring of why persistency and not giving up in science is important.”