More than 25 years of translational research at the Center for Molecular Medicine – a dream that became a reality thanks to donations

In 1994 the Stockholm County Council instituted the Center of Molecular Medicine Foundation with the aim of building a translational research center which was finished in 1997. The research at CMM is driven by a close partnership between the Karolinska University Hospital and Karolinska Institutet and combines translational and basic science by providing a meeting place for university and hospital-based researchers. Donations from foundations, companies and patient organizations formed the basis for the establishment of the CMM foundation, the purpose-built research building and associated research infrastructures.

By organising a half-day event with presentations, a tour and a networking dinner, the CMM Foundation wished to thank the donors, and show them, as well as other stakeholders, some examples of what CMM has achieved so far and where the research center is heading. Among the guests, were representatives from Swedish public and private funding agencies, several large pharma companies, policy-makers and patient organisations. A specially invited guest speaker was Siv Andersson, professor at Uppsala University and Head of Basic Research at the Knut and Alice Wallenberg’s Foundation (KAW), who held a much-appreciated presentation about Knut and Alice Wallenberg Foundation’s initiatives in life science.

The event started off with an introduction by Liselotte Jansson, chair of the CMM Foundation, where she guided the listeners through the vision, mission and history of CMM. Michael Sundström, the director of CMM, then presented where the research center is at today and the way forward. Siv Andersson, provided the listeners with insights into the current strategic initiatives of KAW, one of the largest private funders of research in Europe. The scientific highlights consisted of talks from the CMM faculty: Maja Jagodic, Peder Olofsson and Ingrid Lundberg, who talked about MS genetics, neural regulation of inflammation, and patient benefit of myositis research, respectively. One of Ingrid Lundberg’s patients, Gunilla Billing, was invited to take part in the presentation. For several years she had suffered from at treatment-resistant form of myositis and could now share with the audience how myositis research at CMM had led to the finding that she belonged to a subgroup of patients characterized by a specific type of antibodies. This permitted the testing of a treatment that she would finally respond to and that has lead to a significant reduction of the myositis-related symptoms and disabilities.

After a tour of CMM consisting of four ‘stations’ where former CMM Directors together with scientific experts were hosts, the event participants crossed the Solna Road (Solnavägen) to Aula Medica and Restaurant Svarta Räfven where the evening was concluded with buzzing scientific and non-scientific conversations, while enjoying a buffet dinner and a beautiful night view of Stockholm from the 7^th floor.

One more time, the CMM Foundation wishes to thank all the donors for enabling more than 25 years of constructing a flourishing translational research environment. CMM is an example of a success story built through collaboration. We hope that we can continue working together towards an even brighter future of patient benefit based on cutting-edge translational research.

Text: Magdalena Lindén

Photos: Petter Stahre, Birdy Communications.