Victor Greiff has been awarded the prestigious Consolidator Grant from the European Research Council (ERC). Greiff is an Associate Professor at the Institute of Clinical Medicine at the University of Oslo.
His project, "AB-AG-INTERACT," is on understanding the rules of how antibodies bind to antigens. These rules are the basis for biomedical breakthroughs such as therapeutic antibodies and vaccines.
An opportunity to work on his dream project
"I am relieved that it worked out! This grant will enable me to finally work on my dream project, which is to understand antibody binding," says a thrilled Victor Greiff.
"I am looking forward to expanding my expertise, into antibody-based biotechnology, structural biology and machine learning, together with my collaborators," he says.
He cites a strong academic community and close collaborators as crucial to his success on the European research arena.
"I couldn't have done it without my fantastic research team as well as my close collaborators Fridtjof Lund-Johansen, Geir Kjetil Sandve, Gunnveig Grødeland, Jan Terje Andersen, Nikolina Sekulić, Tuula Nyman, and the entire Department of immunology," Greiff says.
How do antibodies bind to antigens?
Antigens are substances such as bacteria, viruses, allergens, or substances produced by the body itself. These substances activate the body's immune system, which in turn produces antibodies. Antibodies bind to antigens, thereby helping to fight infections in the body.
"If we could learn the rules of antibody-antigen binding, we would be able to design in silico therapeutics and vaccines at a much faster rate than currently possible," says Greiff.
"This could potentially revolutionize how we think of and predict antibody recognition," he adds.
Will develop different methods to better understand this interaction
The project addresses decade-old problems in both immunology and antibody biotechnology, including prediction of antibody and antigen interaction and in silico antibody and antigen design.
"In this project, we will develop experimental, computational, and AI-methods to start understanding the rules of antibody-antigen binding," he says.
This will be done in collaboration with the Fridtjof Lund-Johansen's lab.
"Together with them, we will develop novel technologies for large-scale antibody profiling," he says.
Greiff is one of two researchers from the University of Oslo selected by the ERC
The ERC Consolidator grant funds excellent research across Europe. The prestigious grant is awarded to researchers with 7-12 years of experience since completion of their PhD, with a scientific track record showing great promise. The award provides Euro 2 million for up to five years.
The Dean of Research at the Faculty of Medicine, Jan Bjaalie, is delighted with another success from ERC.
"We are very pleased that Victor Greiff has received this grant in fierce competition on the European research arena. The ERC Consolidator grant supports mid-career level researchers and gives them the opportunity to establish or strengthen their own independent research group”, he says.
"With this award, Greiff has shown that he is an outstanding researcher with the potential to become part of the top tier in his research field. Our heartfelt congratulations to Victor Greiff!
Out of 2,130 candidates, the ERC has selected 308 researchers for this year’s Consolidator Grants. Greiff is one of two researchers from the University of Oslo, with a total of four from Norway.
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