15 BRIDGE fellows ready to tackle clinical challenges from asthma to breast cancer
Over the next two years, the 2025 BRIDGE fellows will engage in projects that combine excellent research with clinical insights to advance translational medicine and benefit patients.
Each year, BRIDGE offers selected PhDs a two-year postdoctoral fellowship in translational medicine. The BRIDGE programme is funded by the Novo Nordisk Foundation and offers unique postdoctoral fellowships designed to give early-career researchers the skills and experience needed to translate life science discoveries into clinical applications. The programme is based on mentoring, research, and education through 15 tailored courses.
Vice-Dean for ResearchHans Bräuner says: "BRIDGE Translational Excellence Programme plays an important role in the thriving Danish translational ecosystem where basic scientists and physicians collaborate to bring basic biomedical discoveries into clinical practice, hereby shaping the future of medical therapies. The programme is especially valuable in giving young research talent a launchpad into their careers as translational scientists.
Together with their basic, clinical and industry mentors, this year’s cohort brings an array of exciting research projects promising insights into cancer treatment, fertility, cardiometabolic health and more. I am very much looking forward to seeing the results of these collaborations".
The 2025 BRIDGE fellows’ projects cover a variety of topics, from childhood obesity, inflammatory bowel disease, asthma to breast cancer brain metastases.
See the full list of the 2025 BRIDGE fellows, their projects and mentors below.
Anne Quistgaard Nissen
Project title: Premature aging in long-term survivors of pediatric hematopoietic stem cell transplantation
Department: BMI
Basic mentor: Claus Desler Madsen
Clinical mentor: Klaus Gottlob Müller
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Bernadette Chimera
Project title: Tailoring Dietary Composition to Glycemic Patterns: Implications for Long-term Cardiometabolic Health and Advancement in Precision Medicine
Department: CBMR
Basic mentor: Ruth Loos
Clinical mentor: David Ludwig
3rd mentor (Basic/clinical/industry): Kees Hovingh
4th mentor (Basic/clinical/industry): Jordi Merino
……………
Carolina Brito Lobato
Project title: The mystery of neuro-pancreatic regulation: Why is GLP-1 safe from hypoglycaemia?
Department: BMI
Basic mentor: Jens Juul Holst
Clinical mentor: Carsten Dirksen
3rd mentor (Basic/clinical/industry): Tricia Tan
…………….
David Horner
Project title: Redefining Childhood Obesity: Multi-Omics Profiling for Early Identification of High-Risk Endotypes and Targeted Interventions
Department: BMI
Basic mentor: Thomas Jepps
Clinical mentor: Rikke Beck Jensen
3rd mentor (Basic/clinical/industry): Morten Arendt Rasmussen
4th mentor (Basic/clinical/industry): Ruth Loos
………………………..
Emilie Dalbram Kellezi
Project title: Elucidating the Role of NAD Metabolism in Adult- Onset Mitochondrial Myopathy Using Stable Isotope Tracing
Department: CBMR
Basic mentor: Jonas Thue Treebak
Clinical mentor: John Vissing
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Ho Yan Yeung
Project title: Nature-derived hormone-mimicking peptides as novel cardiometabolic therapeutics
Department: CBMR
Basic mentor: Zachary Gerhart-Hines
Clinical mentor: Asger Bach Lund
3rd mentor (Basic/clinical/industry): Helena Safavi-Hemami
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Johanna Gassler
Project title: Uncovering maternal and environmental contribution of high BMI pregnancy to early embryo development
Department: reNEW
Basic mentor: Jan Jakub Żylicz
Clinical mentor: Henriette Svarre Nielsen
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Lars Hvass
Project title: Pre-targeted Radioligand Therapy of Breast Cancer Brain Metastases
Department: ILF
Basic mentor: Matthias M. Herth
Clinical mentor: Andreas Kjær
3rd mentor (Basic/clinical/industry): Francesco Sergi-Lindell
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Liang Chen
Project title: Maternal Interventions to Reduce Asthma (MIRA): Targeting Novel Endotypes in Early Life
Department: IVH
Basic mentor: Camilla Hartmann Friis Hansen
Clinical mentor: Bo Chawes
3rd mentor (Basic/clinical/industry): Morten Danielsen
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Liudmyla Lototska
Project title: Targeting the mitotic DNA damage response in cancer
Department: ICMM
Basic mentor: Andrew Blackford
Clinical mentor: Kim Theilgaard-Mønch
…….
Luiza Moraes Holst
Project title: REPAIR-IBD: In vivo characterization of human colonic mucosal healing in inflammatory bowel disease
Department: ISIM
Basic mentor: William W. Agace
Clinical mentor: Jakob Seidelin
3rd mentor (Basic/clinical/industry): Lars Rønn Olsen
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Nathalie Friis Wang
Project title: Predictive value, Efficacy, and Safety of Preimplantation Genetic Testing (PGT) in human embryos
Department: ICMM
Basic mentor: Eva Hoffmann
Clinical mentor: Anja Pinborg
3rd mentor (Basic/clinical/industry): Antonio Capalbo
4th mentor (Basic/clinical/industry): Kristine Løssl
……………..
Rasmus Hasselbalch
Project title: DETECT/REACT: Detection of subclinical atherosclerosis – preparation for a future nationwide screening and early intervention against atherosclerosis
Department: CBMR
Basic mentor: Simon Rasmussen
Clinical mentor: Henning Bundgaard
3rd mentor (Basic/clinical/industry): Ruth Frikke-Schmidt
4th mentor (Basic/clinical/industry): Kees Hovingh
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Sara Marthedal Jørgensen
Project title: Unravelling the role of the IGF system in carotid artery disease and its potential for therapeutic intervention using ex vivo plaque culture and multi-omics methods
Department: BMI
Basic mentor: Michael Jonathan Davies
Clinical mentor: Jonas Peter Eiberg
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Thora Wesenberg Helt
Project title: Glucose regulation, GLP-1 secretion, and intestinal barrier function in children with liver transplantation and fibrosis
Department: BMI
Basic mentor: Hannelouise Kissow
Clinical mentor: Vibeke Brix Christensen
3rd mentor (Basic/clinical/industry): Filip Knop