70 million to tick research
A Scandinavian research project has been granted 70 million NOK to reduce the number of tick-borne infections in people and animals. The University of Agder is a partner in the collaborative project.
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Today, the Hospital of Southern Norway reports in a press release that the three-year project is called ScandTick Innovation, and is led by the Hospital of Southern Norway and the Ryhov Hospital in Jonkoping, Sweden.
The other partners in the collaborative project are the Norwegian Institute of Public Health, the University of Agder, and the Norwegian University of Life Sciences, in addition to six other partners in Denmark and Sweden.
“The project will increase the capacity and develop expertise in the research field of tick-borne diseases. We hope to innovate diagnostics and treatments,” says Vivian Kjelland. She is the project leader from Norway, and works as a researcher at the University of Agder and the Hospital of Southern Norway.
Vivian Kjelland, molecular biologist and tick researcher at the University of Agder.
The Largest in Scandinavia
ScandTick Innovation is the largest research project on ticks and tick-borne diseases in Scandinavia.
“In the project, specialists in veterinary medicine, ecology, molecular biology, microbiology, medicine, health economics, and climate modelling collaborate to solve the challenges. The goal is to reduce the number of tick-borne infections in humans and the tick’s host animals. Part of the research will also focus on developing good vaccines and better treatments,” says senior researcher Åshild Andreassen of the Norwegian Institute of Public Health.
Builds on network
ScandTick Innovation is a continued development of a former ScandTick project, where five of the partners worked to strengthen their research collaboration. They researched methods of diagnosing tick-borne diseases, and an extensive mapping of microbes in ticks began.
ScandTick Innovation will:
- Run preventive information work
- Develop an improved treatment of tick infections
- Work to develop a quick and certain diagnostics of humans and animals
The EU has allocated EUR 4.4 million to the project, and the participating partners from Norway, Sweden and Denmark contribute an equally large sum as co-financing. The project is also part of the EU’s Interreg Öresund-Kattegat-Skagerrak 2014-2020.