Orion Research Foundation has awarded grant of 100,000 EUR to Professor Mikko Niemi

Orion Research Foundation’s grant consists of a personal reward of EUR 10,000 and a research grant of EUR 90,000. Orion and Finland both celebrate their centennials in 2017. The grants are a gift to Finland by Orion, business partner in the Finland 100 project.

Professor has done research on the gene mutations linked to the response to cholesterol medicine and its side effects since the early 2000s. He has found a number of gene mutations that affect patient response to statins, lipid-lowering medications, or that increase their muscular side effects.

Last year, Professor Niemi received an ERC Consolidator Grant worth two million euro. With the grant, Niemi will design a systems pharmacology decision support algorithm which can aid in choosing the most suitable statin for each patient.

In the future, the model could also be applicable to other drug classes, and this research will open brand new possibilities for how medical treatment is chosen for each patient in the future.

Johanna Ivaska is an internationally distinguished researcher specialising in the role of intracellular changes in metastatic development in cancer.

Orion Research Foundation is also distributing EUR 800,000 in based on applications for 2017. Grants will be published at Orion Research Foundation Symposium February 10th 2017.