GU-Journal 2-2018

After all, female applicants should not have to use male pseudonyms to be judged fairly.

GUJournal MALIN HERNEBRING PAGE 8

INDEPENDENT JOURNAL FOR THE STAFF AT THE UNIVERSITY OF GOTHENBURG #2 MAY 2018

NEWS

Avoid the GDPR panic NEWS

Fewer flights to Stockholm REPORT

Henrik Zetterberg – top scientist in London

RESEARCHER WITH A CHILD’S GAZE HENRY ASCHER CARES FOR THE MOST VULNERABLE

VICE-CHANCELLOR Striving for better working environment

We will be strong in that preventive work.

AY HAS ARRIVED with spring blossoms and with that begins a rather intense but jubilant season.

I was honoured to speak to the students in the Garden Society of Gothenburg and thus for the first time to take part in the Valborg celebration here. That was great fun!

Later in May, the annual inauguration of new professors will be held, where we will not only honour our 43 new professors, but also highlight educational role models who will be appointed excellent teachers and awarded with pedagogical prizes. Before that, it will also be time for our first “diplomeringsceremoni” (student diploma ceremony), where we acknowledge important student representatives who have contributed to the University with their commitment.

DURING SPRING WE have taken additional steps to improve our effort on the working environment; the Human Resources Unit has for instance developed a new management system for this purpose. Also a new model for the annual follow-up of the working environment work has been developed. One result of that effort will be a report that can be considered as a measuring tool, which will help to identify preconditions and challenges, so that managers and management can make the right priorities. The core of the working environment work is that it must be run by managers, by administrative support and within departments and units; but it is also dependent on dedicated staff members. The

management can help build a solid foundation and provide preconditions, and I feel confident that the work from now on has a firm construction. The long-term goal is to have working environment activities that are one step ahead. We will be strong in that preventive work.

I BELIEVE THAT laying a foundation for a good and systematic working environment work can be extra important and valuable at this point, as many new deans and head of departments are beginning their assignments. If we have visualised the working environment work and its tools, it’s just for the taking!

Strongly linked to the working environment issues is the work with gender mainstreaming. Pro-Vice-Chancellor Mattias Goksör and the coordinator of the work, Martin Thulin, together head an important internal effort. To me as Vice-Chancellor, working environment and gender equality are important prerequisites for conducting high quality education and research.

Spring is here at last! But first we have hectic weeks in May. Take it easy and take care of yourselves!

EVA WIBERG

Photo: JOHAN WINGBORG

MASTHEAD IN THIS ISSUE of GU Journal we

present Malin Broberg, new dean of the Faculty of Social Sciences.

Giving the employees opportunities to grow are among her priorities, as well as continuing to strengthen internationalization and mobility.

We have also spoken to Göran Hilmersson and Ingela Dahllöf, new deans of the Faculty of Science, who stress the importance of strengthening collegial cooperation.

The School of Business, Economics

2 GUJOURNAL MAY 2018RI

Time for new deans

and Law has chosen to reelect Per Cramér, dean since 2010. In the interview, he emphasizes the enormous challenge of digitalisation, both for society and for the universities.

In this issue we also write about the pediatrician Henry Ascher who describes how the Holocaust peaked his interest in refugees.

And Alzheimer’s researcher, Henrik Zetterberg, explains how he divides his time between Gothenburg and

London, and how collaboration can be the key to success.

The General Data Protection Regulation has caused quite a lot of concern among the University’s staff.

The reason for the EU to introduce this law is to give all member states the same protection for personal data, and make it possible for data to be freely transferred between EU countries. In the article, we hope most question marks are corrected.

THE EDITORIAL STAFF

16

Henry Ascher at the Angered hospital.

Warszawa, Anna Bikonts hemstad.

Photo: JOHAN WINGBORG

CONTENTS NEWS 04–15

04. GDPR, not so big a change as some believe.

06. Less air travel.

08. Women scientists protest against male domination.

09. New board for research.

10. Malin Broberg is the top competitive athlete who became a dean.

12. It should be fun to work, believe the deans in the Faculty of Science.

14. Per Cramér on our changing times.

PROFILE 16–19

16. The Holocaust caused Henry Ascher to become involved with refugee children.

PEOPLE 26–28

26. Visiting researcher to sea.

28. Totally new picture of Jupiter.

REPORT 20–25

20. Henrik Zetterberg is researching Alzheimer’s in England.

MAY 2018 GUJOURNAL

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NEWS

Unnecessary anxiety for new law The new data protection regulation enters into force on 25 May. In fact it is large­ ly based on laws and rules that applied previously, but there is an important diffe­ rence: It will be considerably ­SHARPENED UP! So why is GU only infor­ ming its employees at the last minute?

WHEN THE NEW General Data Protection Regulation enters into force, all EU countries will have joint legislation, the purpose of which is to give better protection to personal integrity. In Sweden it will replace the Data Protection Act which for the last 20 years has controlled how Swedish companies and authorities collect, store and disseminate personal data.

So what does the change involve?

In legal terms, not so much in fact. It will largely be the present laws and rules that will apply after 25 May, explains Kristina Ullgren, university lawyer and personal data representative at GU. “The Data Protection Act and the data protection directive on which it is based are incorporated in the data protection regulation. The main difference in fact is that clearer requirements are set for compliance with the rules.”

Things were previously much less clear. Quite simply, we have not had to bother too much about it because no general personal data has really been any kind of hot potato. Today the situation is different. Personal

4 GUJOURNAL MAY 2018

Illustration: ANDERS EURÉN

data is a market, something you can live on, which has been in the news recently since the analysis company Cambridge Analytica came across around 50 million Facebook users’ data via a personality test, information that was then sold. So it is high time to start applying the laws and rules that exist.

“THE IMPLEMENTATION that should have occurred when the Data Protection Act was introduced in 1998 never happened; instead it occurred little by little in an attempt to catch up when needed. So we are now in a position where we shall actually implement both the Data Protection Act and the General Data Protection Regulation. We got them both at the same time,” says Kristina Ullgren.

What is new above all is that the EU has linked monetary sanctions to the data protection regulation.

“As a personal data representative, I think that is good. Money talks, as they say. If you don’t toe the line, the fines can be expensive.”

Another thing that is new: “document that you are doing the right

If you don’t toe the line, the fines can be expen­ sive.

KRISTINA ULLGREN

thing, otherwise by definition you are wrong”.

“Yes the burden of evidence is the other way around, you could say. If a registered person comes to us and says ‘you are processing my personal data in the wrong way’ it is our responsibility to show that we are doing the right thing. Previously, the one making the complaint had to show that we were doing wrong.

So that is a big difference.”

“This is actually already in the nature of the case now. Anyone who sets up a research project and intends to process a lot of people’s data must do this according to the rules. Reasons must be given for why personal data is to be processed in a certain way.”

Kristina Ullgren believes that as long as GU sticks to the rules that apply today there will be no problem. And when it comes to processing students’ and employees’ personal data, this works well. Like other universities, GU has a rather poorer grip on research.

“We have researchers who are very familiar with the rules and

NEWS employees who do nothing without first making sure that it is correct.

But we also have some who can’t be bothered.”

Does that mean that some re­ search which is currently going on must be stopped?

“It may be that we are devoting ourselves to illegal research, and that is something we cannot do.

GENERALLY SPEAKING, it is a matter of making sure that everything matches the applicable rules. For this reason, GU is creating a completely new organisation that will work on data protection issues and integrity issues in all parts of the university. The present personal data representative will be replaced with a data protection representative with a larger mandate and with a staff.

“This data protection group will have all the different competences that are needed to support the data protection representative. This will be an ongoing activity, a process of the same type as work on equality and the environment. We already have a website where we publish material as it arises. We will also hold three general information meetings in the spring and in the autumn there will be special lectures.”

But will the information come in time? People in many parts of the organisation do not think so.

“I think in general terms we need to be better informed about what applies. I have noticed many question marks among colleagues. I think perhaps the greatest problem is anxiety,” says Peter Korp, deputy head of department at the Department of Food and Nutrition and Sport Science and a member of the regional Ethical Review Board.

“WE HAVE NOT received the informa-

tion we need. It is too late to come with this a month before the law comes into effect, but I take the view that if this is as serious a change as many people believe, then GU would have acted in a different way,” says Ingemar Skoog, professor of psychiatry and director of Agecap.

“It would have been good if the

information had come earlier. As I understand it, there is not very much that is new; perhaps it is more about relieving the anxiety. So there could have been a revision, an update of what we have, saying that it will still apply but the difference is that the application of the rules has been sharpened up,” says Jesper Lundgren, head of department at the Department of Psychology and a member of the regional Ethical Review Board.

Kristina Ullgren does not buy into the criticism. As has been said the General Data Protection Regulation does not contain much that is new and information about what applies has been on the website for six months.

“How you twist and turn on this can make you an open goal for criticism. We are a small organisation working on these questions and we are working in a forward-looking way. If we went round to see all the people who want us to go and talk in staff meetings, we would get nothing done,” she says.

“THE GREAT CHALLENGE is to raise

the level of awareness among all employees. And that of course is something the data protection group can work on, but it is something that every individual must take responsibility for. Nobody can get around this,” says Kristina Ullgren.

“All members of today’s society must check up on their own personal data.”

So what advice can you give to employees who are anxious about the change?

“Think about what personal data processing you do in your work.

How do you process it? Do you follow the rules? Of course becoming familiar with and confident about this is not the work of one day. But you can always ask yourself the question: What would I think if my own personal data was being handled in this way? Would it feel OK? If your answer is yes, then it is probably entirely OK.

Facts GDPR The GDPR (General Data Protection Regulation) enters into force on 25 May and replaces the present Data Protection Act. The GDPR, which is valid throughout the EU, covers all types of enterprises and bodies that collect and save personal data.

Much of the GDPR is similar to the rules that are already found in the Data Protection Act, but some things are new: Because all EU member countries have the same protection for personal data, the data can be freely transferred between EU countries. As regards countries outside the EU, transfer of data can only occur if the protection there is sufficiently good.

Another important innovation is that the Data Protection Authority can impose monetary sanctions on those who break the rules of the regulation. The amount of the fine will be judged on the basis of how serious the infringement is, whether or not it occurred with intent, what measures have been taken to reduce the damage, whether there was financial gain from the infringement and other circumstances.

If a security incident occurs, for example a data intrusion or an unintended loss of data, this must be reported to the Data Protection Authority within 72 hours.

Anyone who is included in a register also has, with certain exceptions, the right to inspect his or her data, to have the data moved or to have the data erased. The register holder has one month to comply with such a request, but can be given an extra month in some cases.

Another reason for producing a new data protection regulation has been to modernise the rules of the data protection directive of 1995 and to adapt them to the new digital society.

Authorities must also appoint a data protection representative. At the University of Gothenburg, Kristina Ullgren, who is currently personal data representative (a role that will be scrapped), has this role.

Source: Data Protection Authority

LARS NICKLASON MAY 2018 GUJOURNAL

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NEWS

Fewer people flying to Stockholm For ten consecutive years, apart from the crisis year of 2009, the number of flights hit new records. From 2016 to 2017 the increase was as much as 10 per cent, but last year the number of flights fell somewhat. Breaking the trend or just a one-off improvement?

I DEN NYA hanIn its new action plan for 2017-2019, the University of Gothenburg has 11 targets for environmental and sustainable development, based on promoting sustainable development in both research and teaching in line with Vision 2020 and Agenda 2030. Most of these targets are pointing in the right direction, with the exception of waste that is to be reused or composted.

“WE HAVE CHANGED some of the

measurement methods. We no longer put travel and energy together in a joint carbon dioxide target but instead have a separate target for reduced energy consumption in kWh/ m2 and a target for reducing carbon dioxide emissions from travel, counted in kilos of carbon dioxide per FTE,” says durability controller Marianne Dalbro.

Just as previously, there are concrete targets for reducing energy consumption, for using fewer chemi-

6 GUJOURNAL MAY 2018

cal products and for the reduction of emissions from travel. Emissions from flights have been reduced for the first time for many years. For long distance flights the reduction is 1 per cent and for flights of less than 500 km the reduction is 3 per cent.

“Emissions from both long and short distance flights have been reduced somewhat. We are down to pre-2016 levels and that is the first time for many years. But the level is higher than 2015 and we do not know the reason for this. The good news is that flights between Gothenburg and Stockholm, the most used route, fell by 14 per cent. This means that more people are taking the train, which has negligible emissions,” says Marianne Dalbro.

THE OFFICIAL explanation is that the

increasing number of flights is due to the university having a “general objective of increasing internationalisation”. At the same time, GU has

Marianne Dalbro

the objective of reducing carbon dioxide emissions from business travel (measured as kilos of carbon dioxide per FTE) for 2019, compared with 2015. This target has hitherto proved to be difficult to attain, since there is a conflict of objectives between, on one hand, promoting internationalisation in which flying is seen as a necessity, and on the other hand the ambition of reducing emissions.

ACCORDING TO Marianne Dalbro,

another explanation may be that travel-free meetings, using new meetings technology, have increased from 10,000 hours to 14,000 hours in the last year alone.

“It is difficult to speculate in uncertainties, but we are working on these issues the whole time and reducing the climate impact from flying is a tough target, given our habitual routines. But one trend that is clear is that digital meetings are increasing every year.

NEWS Photo: JOHAN WINGBORG

But one trend that is clear is that digital ­meetings are increasing ­every year.

MARIANNE DALBRO

Facts The total emissions of carbon dioxide from business travel amounted to 849 kg per person (FTE), which is a reduction of 5 per cent compared with 2016. But flying is the big environmental culprit and accounts for 70 per cent of the total carbon dioxide emissions from business travel, electricity and heating combined. To put it another way, flying generates four times the emissions of district heating in all GU buildings combined.

In 2016, GU was in the Environmental Protection Agency’s list of national authorities that emit the most carbon dioxide from flights longer than 500

kilometres. Last year’s figures may indicate that the trend has been broken.

Emissions from both long and short distance flights have been reduced somewhat.

In total, GU employees travelled 50,628,180 km in 2017. Per employee that is about 8,000 km, or approximately the distance from Gothenburg to Bangkok.

Nothing beats the train as an environmentally friendly alternative. Flying from Gothenburg to Stockholm means 30,000 times the emissions of travelling by train.

Some other results: • The number of scholarly articles on sustainable development increased by 6 per cent compared with 2016.

• The quantity of waste has fallen by 5 per cent since 2016.

• Consumption of electricity and heating is at the same level as in 2015.

• In 70 per cent of framework agreements (16 out of 23) and in 30 per cent of procurements (18 out of 60) there have been sustainability requirements for the goods or services.

• The number of sustainability labelled courses increased from 217 to 369 in one year.

Another way of taking responsibility is to climate compensate all travel, which is something that GU has done since 2011, the principle being that the one who makes things dirty must also pay for the actual emissions that arise from the flight.

The money goes to an internal fund from which project funds can be applied for. The requirement is that the project involves or leads to reduced climate impact. SEK 2.3 million has been allocated in the last year.”

“THIS IS A GOOD way for employees and students to actively participate in the university’s climate work. By the beginning of 2018 40 applications had been received and 19 projects had been granted funding.

And it is encouraging that we can see a wide range in the projects,” says Marianne Dalbro.

ALLAN ERIKSSON MAY 2018 GUJOURNAL

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NEWS

Network for women who have had it “When I was young, I was convinced that, even if it would take time, one day the academia would be gender equal. Now I do not think so anymore.”

So says Anne Farewell, associate professor of micro­ biology.

She is one of the initiators of Gothenburg Women Scien­ tists, a network that has as its goal to strengthen women in the academy.

THE INSPIRATION comes from the

network 500 Women Scientists, an American grassroots movement that started in November 2016 after Donald Trump’s victory in the presidential election. Since then the movement has grown very quickly.

“Today, the network is supported by more than 19,000 female researchers from more than 100 countries,” explains Anne Farewell. “Here in Gothenburg, we have chosen to start our own network. Most members come from GU but we have also supporters from Chalmers and AstraZeneca. At the same time as we are enthusiastic about the network, we also consider it a shame that this movement is needed at all. Despite decades of work for gender equality, development seems not only to have stopped, but even to go backwards.”

Contrary to what many may believe, sexual harassment is common, also within the academy, something not least the #metoo movement has shown. ”When there is an accident in the lab, there are clear instructions for what to do. But when it comes to sexual harassment, the victim often does not know where to turn. Why not formulate as clear rules in these cases as in the case of accidents?”

8 GUJOURNAL MAY 2018

Twenty years ago, Agnes Wold and Christine Wennerås published their well-known study of how men are favored within medical research.

Because of the study, Swedish research financiers have, among other things, started to grant funding to female researchers in proportion to the number of female applicants.

Malin Hernebring

”BUT THEY SHOULD do more than

that and, for example, investigate why women so often refrain from applying for funding at all,” says Anne Farewell. “For example, what do the announcement texts look like? Another thing to scrutinize is how much time different employees spend on other tasks than research. My impression is that women, among other things, often do more education and administration than men do. And even though it is a good thing that today’s committees and boards must consist of both sexes, in areas where women are strongly underrepresented, they risk getting so many assignments that there is no time left for research.”

Women are still considered less competent than men – by both men and women, points out Malin Hernebring, researcher at the Department of Neuroscience and Physiology.

“IN THE APPLICATION papers for

research grants, there is often a box to tick in what gender you have. To create a more fair assessment, both such boxes and the names of the applicants should be hidden. After all, female applicants should not have to use male pseudonyms to be judged fairly!”

Discrimination is often due to unconscious structures, says Malin Hernebring.

“The public still thinks of a researcher as a man. That is one reason

Anne Farewell

Women are still consi­ dered less competent than men – by both men and women.

MALIN HERNEBRING

that female role models are important. Gothenburg Women Scientists have therefore put together five different working groups where the task for one group is to visit schools and inspire young girls to get interested in science. Another group will work to find mentors for young female researchers and a third will communicate with the public. We also have a group that collects data about women in science and a group responsible for seminars and other events.”

WHEN THE NETWORK held its first meeting in October, some fifty women turned up, says Anne Farewell.

“In December the Besatta teatern performed the play Scandal for us, a fantastic piece about women who did not receive the Nobel Prize; the audience consisted of about a hundred people. And this spring Agnes Wold gave a lecture on the theme: Do women have a future at the academy?”

EVA LUNDGREN

Gothenburg Women Scientists A network that aims to identify and visualize structural gender inequalities in the scientific community. The network aims to: create a network and facilitate mentorship for women scientists

gender inequalities in science

encourage and inspire young women in scientific interests shed light on

For more info and registration: https://gowosci.se/ events.

On 22 May at 06:00 p.m. professor Pernilla Wittung-Stafshede, Chalmers, will speak on the topic Female faculty: Why so few and why care?

NEWS

New board for research A new forum for strategic research questions is how Göran Landberg ­describes the new research board, initiated at GU on 1 January.

“We will be discussing general research policy issues and preparing­­cases of research and collaboration, with especial focus on ­infra­structure,­internationalisation, equality and ethics.

FORCREATING A research board was one of Eva Wiberg’s priorities when she took over as Vice-Chancellor.

“Collaboration in research is a priority area for the board. This is about internal and external collaboration, both nationally and internationally,” explains Göran Landberg, Deputy Vice-Chancellor of research and chair of the research board.

To make the collaboration task even more evident, Fredrika Lagergren Wahlin, Deputy Vice-Chancellor of collaboration, has been appointed as deputy chairman.

Otherwise, the board is made up of representatives of all faculties, mostly pro-deans or vice-deans of research, as well as student representatives. On 20 February, the board held the first of its three meetings this semester and discussed important issues for the faculties, research strategies and infrastructure.

“VR’S GREAT national initiatives are very important for the university, but we must also jointly handle our own infrastructure,” says Göran Landberg. “It is therefore important to map out existing collaboration and plan for future initiatives. Quality assurance and quality development of research will be some of the board’s most important tasks, as will stimulating interdisciplinary projects and supporting the internationalisation of research. Ethics will also be an important issue.”

As research board secretary Sigríður Beck explains, one of the most relevant items for discussion is the research evaluation RED 19.

“According to this year’s appro-

priation directions from the government, with effect from this year, universities and colleges must report how equality is maintained in the distribution of research funding. Obviously, it is also appropriate to take up and prepare such questions here.”

ON 6 APRIL, the Swedish Higher Education Authority and the Swedish Research Council presented a proposal for how quality assurance should be performed on university research. A further assignment that was discussed on 6 April was about producing indicators for the research policy goals, such as equality, international contacts, collaboration and effects on society.

“These reports too are of interest to us. Quite simply, the board will provide an opportunity for longer discussions between people who are thoroughly involved in the faculties’ research work and it will be a link between administration and academia,” says Göran Landberg.

Text: EVA LUNDGREN Foto: JOHAN WINGBORG

Facts The University of Gothenburg’s research board was initiated on 1 January 2018 and held its first meeting on 20 February. The chair is Göran Landberg, Deputy Vice-Chancellor of research, and the deputy chair is Fredrika Lagergren Wahlin, Deputy Vice-Chancellor of collaboration. All faculties are represented, as well as the University Library and the students.

MAY 2018 GUJOURNAL

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NEWS

Enjoying the success of others Malin Broberg, elite sailor and professor of psychology, takes over at the head of the Faculty of Social Sciences on 1 July 2018.

She will greatly strengthen internationalisation, ­equality and equal treatment.

10 GUJOURNAL MAY 2018

NEWS

I know that the basis for success is enjoyment, motivation and hard work, in just the right mix.

ultimate responsibility, I intend to work with the heads of department so as to endeavour to find agreement and endorse matters and decisions.”

Malin Broberg Profession: ­Professor of psychology.

Age: 47 years.

Lives: In Mölndal.

Why did you accept the job of dean?

“I have been pro dean for about a year and have made a good start on the work together with Birger Simonson. I think being able to discuss general and strategic issues is amazingly interesting and exciting.

I have worked as professor for a number of years, supervised many doctoral students and have been director of studies for third-cycle courses, so I think that the time is ripe for new challenges.”

“The academic world attracts skilled people who compete for limited resources, so this is about giving many people the opportunity to grow. As dean you are not on your own, you have a staff around you and a group of specialists who can provide support. Although I have

Family: Children Julia and Joel.

What you didn’t know about ­Malin: She competes in sailing and has raced in world championships 12 times in various classes (best result second in RS 500).

“I will keep the ­interest in sailing up because it e ­ ngages both mind and body.”

The new deans received 92 per cent of the votes in the election.

What benefits do you gain from your background as an elite athlete?

“I know that the basis for success is enjoyment, motivation and hard work, in just the right mix. The prerequisite for an individual’s stamina and motivation is an inspiring and supportive environment. Seeing others succeed is a great spur; we all need role models to identify with and as support to find strength and take risks. This applies to sport and work alike.”

What should a good leader be like?

“Being reasonably predictable is a good quality, listening to people around you and trusting them. Being clear, transparent and accessible is also very important, I believe.

People should be able to rely on the boss being there when needed.”

What are the most important ­issues that you will take up?

“Basically I am a social scientist and in Vision 2020 I will primarily be promoting active social responsibility. I am particularly keen on questions of equal treatment and equality of opportunity. The more perspectives we have within the academic community, the better we can illuminate social issues.”

“For the faculty, it is also about continuing to pursue active quality assurance in both education and

research, as well as continuing with strong internationalisation and versatility.”

What challenges do you foresee for GU as a whole and for the Faculty of Social Sciences in particular?

“GU is one of Sweden’s leading universities and I see no risk of our losing our competitiveness. I also think we are in a good position within the faculty. We have successfully recruited top researchers and promising young employees. It isn’t hard to find people who want to come to Social Sciences at GU! I focus on the positive. I leave being a prophet of woe to others.”

“We have had a steady growth in staff in recent years and in a few years’ time this might lead to problems with premises and lack of space, so we need forward thinking to find solutions. Even today, we already have a shortage now and then of teaching premises, both large and medium sized group rooms.”

Will there be any big changes when you and pro dean Kristian Daneback take over on 1 July?

“We haven’t started yet, but we must discuss and arrive at what targets we shall have. But I do not think there will be any great change in the courses, we will continue along the path that has been marked. Otherwise there is a risk of wanting to do too much, which can lead to frustrated expectations.”

Text: ALLAN ERIKSSON Photo: JOHAN WINGBORG MAY 2018 GUJOURNAL

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NEWS

No good results without cooperation More collegiality is one of several important issues for Göran Hilmersson and Ingela Dahllöf who will take over the leadership of the Faculty of Science on 1 July.

“We will work closely with the heads of department and hope to create an atmosp­ here where employees look forward to going to work.”

WHEN GÖRAN HILMERSSON was asked whether he wished to become dean, he certainly thought it was a little early in his career, after only three years as head at the Department of Chemistry and Molecular Biology.

12 GUJOURNAL MAY 2018

“But on the other hand it would have been a pity not to take the chance if they wanted to have me, so I said yes.”

Ingela Dahllöf was more doubtful, since she had just got a research grant and become part of the UGOT Challenges centre FRAM. “BUT SINCE I had previously been critical of things at the faculty, it felt wrong not to take the responsibility.”

Collegial collaboration is one of the areas that the new leadership will be focusing on.

“All research shows that you cannot lead unless you have the people with you,” explains Göran

Hilmersson. “A university is a rather special phenomenon, with both the responsibility of an authority and a number of research leaders who function as separate entrepreneurs.

It is all about gathering together the different ideas and wills and supporting the heads of department in their work.”

Ingela Dahllöf points out that collaboration takes time but is worth it in the long run.

“I HAVE BEEN A researcher in

Denmark, where they say that the Swedes take a long time in making decisions but when these are done, they are done. In Denmark,

decisions are made quickly but then things get changed little by little, so that in the end they take just as long as us. I am more Swedish, but I appreciate the Danish expression ‘ombesluta sig’, make decision and then redecide. It is no big deal changing your mind if you are mistaken; in research we do it as soon as we get new insights.”

ONE BIG CHANGE that the Faculty of Science has decided on is a new building at Medicinareberget that will house the Department of Biological and Environmental Sciences, the Department of Chemistry and Molecular Biology and the Department of Marine Sciences.

“At the moment we have about a dozen addresses,” says Göran Hilmersson. “Having one building will make life easier for employees who wish to work together. Many research groups are quite small, but if you are physically close to others then you have more people to discuss with, which can also lead to unexpected collaboration.”

But there are those who are critical and think, for example, that a new building will be expensive for the faculty.

“AND OF COURSE that is true. But on

the other hand, if we are together perhaps we can use the premises more effectively. If one group grows in size while another is shrinking, it is not so difficult to reallocate the space. Employees at Sahlgrenska Academy are also anxious because the actual building process will affect them, which means it is important to give them special consideration. During the building period, and also when the new building is finished, premises will be made available in the Lundberg lab, which will give Sahlgrenska Academy expansion opportunities.

It is worth reminding why we wish to have this building: to extend the faculty’s profile, strengthen life sciences in Gothenburg and provide an opportunity for other activities to join in and improve their development.”

Ingela Dahllöf believes that the

new building can also make a contribution to equality.

“Men often have more networks than women do. A common building, in which it will be natural for employees to become involved in different contexts, could therefore be especially valuable for female researchers.”

Otherwise, equality is something that the Faculty of Science is not so good at.

“We have many female students, but the higher up you go, the fewer there are,” explains Ingela Dahllöf.

“It is obvious that we must do something about this. We need for example to take a look at the wordings we use in advertisements and avoid expressions such as ‘excellent’, which few women feel comfortable with. And with appointments there could for example be anonymous applications, with investigation of references done separately.”

“ONE PROBLEM IS that all the

teaching staff we recruit must have external funding,” explains Göran Hilmersson. “For example, my department has received many ERC grants, Wallenberg Academic Fellows and other major grants, but these have only gone to men.

Perhaps GU centrally should set aside some millions for appointing the foremost female researchers in some areas?”

Ingela Dahllöf points out that equality is also about creating a good work environment.

“The work environment in general is an important area in which we should be better at using the knowledge we have, such as the different work environment barometers. If people go to work without thinking about the work environment, that is a sign that the work environment is good.”

Göran Hilmersson believes that one way of improving employees’ well-being is to encourage physical activity. His department has long been organising yoga on Tuesdays and he joins in the running on Thursdays.

“Plenty of studies show that physical activity is good for the brain.

Plenty of studies show that physical acitivity is good for the brain.

GÖRAN HILMERSSON

But it is even more important that activity is fun. So I would really like to see all employees making good use of their health and fitness hours and their SEK 2,000 in health and fitness contributions.”

Göran Hilmersson sees the step up from head of department to dean as a little scary.

“For one thing, it’s a big step, for another I don’t entirely know what it will involve. As a head of department you have a pretty good idea of what is happening in the department. Being the dean of a large faculty with a turnover of almost a billion and a great variety of activities is something very different.

The faculty board is important and personally I might have wished that someone other than me was chair of the faculty board while I had operational responsibility, something like the vice-chancellor’s role in the university board.”

“We must also be able to work with others: other faculties, companies and authorities,” says Ingela Dahllöf. I think that alumni can play an important role in this. Also free­ standing courses can contribute to cooperation and, in the long run, a higher search pressure for ordinary courses.”

Text: EVA LUNDGREN Photo: JOHAN WINGBORG

Facts Göran Hilmersson is professor of organic chemistry and head of department at the Department of Chemistry and Molecular Biology. From 1 July he will be the new dean at the Faculty of Science.

Ingela Dahllöf is professor of environmental science, specialising in exotoxicology and from 2012 to 2015 was head at the Department of Biological and Environmental Sciences. From 1 July she will be the new pro-dean at the F ­ aculty of Science.

The new deans received approximately 80 per cent of the votes in the election that ended on 12 April. Unfortunately voter participation was very low: 46 per cent.

MAY 2018 GUJOURNAL

13

NEWS

Dean with a global focus The research must be extended and the sustainability aspects integrated while the internationalisation process is going on. But that is not enough, according to Per Cramér who has been trusted with leading the School of Business, Economics and Law for another six years.

“The effects of digitalisation represent an enormous challenge. We are in a situation where the professional roles we educate are changing at an increasing pace.”

ON 4 APRIL, Per Cramér was appoin-

ted by the Vice-Chancellor as Dean of the School of Business, Economics and Law for a further period.

To date, he has been in the position for eight years, a time he describes as an immense journey.

“We have pursued the conscious strategy of expanding the research activities while educational activities have remained constant. A large part of the School of Business, Economics and Law has been strongly educationally dominated, but to maintain quality there must be a link to research. We want to have teachers who research.”

With more external contributions and more state grants it has also been possible to recruit younger skilled researchers - in recent years the average growth has been eight full-time positions per year.

Another important part of the School of Business, Economics and Law’s journey is the process that began in 2012 to integrate a sustainability perspective into all educational programmes.

“Many of the students we educate will move on into positions of power. During their education, we must teach them that power carries responsibility, not only for their own sense of well-being but for society

14 GUJOURNAL MAY 2018

as a whole. Because we are facing existential challenges to our society’s sustainability, it is vital to introduce the sustainability perspective into our courses.”

“The sustainability perspective is obviously also clearly reflected in the School of Business, Economics and Law’s research and here the connection between education and research becomes especially clear. At the same time, we must avoid becoming dogmatic. We take as our basis the Brundtland Report, a broad definition of economic, ecological and social sustainability, but we must constantly remain critical and reformulate the concept of sustainability as we gain fresh knowledge.”

THE THIRD PART of the journey concerns the School of Business, Economics and Law’s intensive internationalisation work. Per Cramér explains that from being Europe-centred, we now have a more global focus.

“This has been about building up structural relationships with other universities, in India and China for example. But just gathering collaboration agreements as a squirrel gathers nuts achieves nothing. Internationalisation should not be a goal in itself, but a means of becoming a better academic community.”

We must teach them that power carries responsi­ bility.

PER CRAMÉR

This is closely connected with the emphasis that the School of Business, Economics and Law places on international accreditation. In 2016 the third AACSB accreditation was received, making this the only business school in Sweden with Triple Crown accreditation – and something achieved by only 0.7 per cent of the world’s business schools.

“Primarily this is significant for our relations with other universities around the world, being able to enter alliances with others of top quality.”

BUT ARE THERE not risks associated

with such intensive profiling work?

“Yes, there is an underlying risk that the accreditations led to an evening out - that the standards applied become uniform. That is something to watch out for.”

“There are also risks that are more general for the academic community, about the assessment of academic quality. More and more we see bibliometry being used as an indicator. The risk with this is of arriving at a situation in which where we publish an article becomes more important than what we write. That is an anti-academic attitude.”

SOMETHING ELSE TO be aware of is

the structural effects in society of new applications of digital technology.

“The professional roles for which we are being educated are changing unbelievably quickly. Organisational roles that we take for granted now will become redundant, as will our basic principles for the distribution of responsibility in society. A simple example of the consequences is the self-driving car. At a more fundamental level, social contracts in society will need to be renegotiated.

Altogether this means great opportunities for developing society, but at the same time there are new risks that we must avoid and master,” says

Per Cramér Age: 59.

Background Degree of Master of Laws at GU 1984, MA International Affairs Johns Hopkin’s University Washington DC/­ Bologna 1987, Degree of Doctor of Laws GU 1998/active at GU since 1987.

Lives: Käringberget.

Family: Wife and two children.

Interests: Film, rowing, skiing, journeys of discovery and experiences of nature.

Music/authors: Right now: Lou Reed/­ Michel Hoeullebecq.

Per Cramér, who continues: “These are challenges that we must manage to integrate into our activities, we must be able to answer to society’s need for more knowledge and competence so as to be able to tackle this brave new world.”

Of course, that is easier said than done. The concrete research questions that concern most of these challenges have not yet been formulated, but more and more research and recruitment is directed at questions of this type.

And here the broad approach is good, working under the GU umbrella.

“Many of the challenges that we face demand multi-disciplinary input, and there the university is an asset for us. It makes it easier to work across subject boundaries. One example of this type is the research centre in financial economics that we created seven years ago. As well as company economists, national economists and legal experts, there is also a need for mathematicians so as to stay in the forefront of algorithm trading. There is also a need for psychologists because the financial markets are irrational and characterised by herd behaviour.”

PER CRAMÉR HIMSELF believes that the historical friction between the School of Business, Economics and Law and the rest of the University of Gothenburg has been counter-productive.

“This has arisen from the idea that there are competitive identities, which is incorrect. They are actually complementary identities.

The School of Business, Economics and Law has everything to gain from being part of a strong university and it is to the university’s advantage to have a strong business school under its protection.”

Text: LARS NICKLASON Photo: JOHAN WINGBORG MAY 2018 GUJOURNAL

15

PROFILE

16 GUJOURNAL MAY 2018

With compassion for those in need Text: EVA LUNDGREN Photo: JOHAN WINGBORG

Experiences from the Holocaust are gene­ ral and not just about Jews. This was made clear to Henry Ascher at an early age by his grandparents.

“Strange as it may seem it took quite some time before I realised that my commit­ ment to human rights stems from exactly this, that my parents came here as refugees and that their families were wiped out during the war WE HAVE ARRANGED a meeting at Angered hospital,

where Henry Ascher, professor of public health, works as a senior doctor in paediatrics.

He explains that this hospital, which opened in 2015, is unique in the world.

“It was created to equalise the great unevenness in the health of the people of Gothenburg. Those in the north east suffer to a much greater extent than the rest of the city from cardiovascular disease, COPD, lung cancer and obesity, among other things. The unusual thing is that the hospital was created as a collaboration between patients and staff. For example, when the building was planned, meetings were organised with residents and fliers were given out at tram stops so as to obtain people’s views, which led among other things to a large reception room with space for family members and interpreters.”

This hospital is also special because part of its task is to promote health. One example is the Take along a friend project, is which screening for cervical cancer increased after women were encouraged to take a friend along to the examination. Suitable residents have also been trained to be health informers, a kind of link between citizens and health care. All activities are based on the idea that the patients have a right to health and the staff have an obligation to fulfil that right.

Henry Ascher combines work at the hospital with

research into migration and health, especially among families and children. But his doctoral thesis of 1996 was about something quite different.

“There had been studies in the United Kingdom showing a great reduction in coeliac disease, something that did not agree with what we found in Sweden.

So I was tasked with performing an epidemiological study and found that the number of two year olds with coeliac disease had actually tripled in three to four years. I attempted to understand the causes of this in my thesis, through dietary studies and genetic surveys among other things. I found that the baby food industry had increased the gluten content of porridge and gruel. But whether this led to more children becoming ill or whether it was that those who were ill become so ill from it that the disease was discovered earlier and could be treated was uncertain. There was much to indicate the latter and that it is probably advantageous to start treatment early so as to prevent complications and resultant illnesses.”

HENRY ASCHER DEVOTES one day a week to the Refugee Children Team in Gothenburg, which is a unit of Angered hospital. And refugee children are something he has become an expert in. He has gained his knowledge from being thrown into situations that he knew very little about to begin with. In 1998 for example when he was contacted by Anita Dorazio, who had started a clinic for paperless refugees in Stockholm, at first Henry Ascher did not really understand what she was talking about.

“It was shocking to me that there were paperless people in Sweden, and even more shocking that it was not taken for granted that they had the right to health care according to their medical needs. Anita convinced me and some friends that we needed a clinic in Gothenburg too, so we got a number of people together and started the Rosengrenska foundation. We had three

MAY 2018 GUJOURNAL

17

PROFILE

goals: provide health care, increase knowledge about paperless people, both among ourselves and in society at large, and convince normal health care to take over so that we could close down. It wasn’t difficult to get paediatric clinicians involved, but it took a long time to get the idea through that paperless adults should also have the right to health care.”

ONLY ON 1 JULY 2013 did legislation arrive that gave the

paperless the inalienable right to health care.

“There is no clear definition however of what is meant by this. At Angered hospital we interpret this to mean that even those who do not have the right to remain in the country still have human rights, which include the right to health care when they are ill.”

In 2004 Henry Ascher became a lecturer in children’s and young persons’ health at the Nordic School of Public Health.

He left Queen Silvia Children’s Hospital after 20 years and started work at the paediatric clinic in Hammarkullen, which later became part of the paediatric clinic in Gamlestaden. There, as well as through the Swedish Paediatric Society’s working group for refugee

18 GUJOURNAL MAY 2018

children, he came into contact with apathetic refugee children. That was at the time when applications for residence permits rose to such an extent that in the winter of 2005–2006 the Swedish government pushed through a temporary law that gave more asylum seekers the opportunity to stay.

However, Henry Ascher’s commitment has also caused feelings to run high. In 2010 and 2011, when he was a doctor on board the Ship to Gaza, a number of Jewish organisations were strongly critical.

“It was as though I was looked on as some kind of traitor. But it was not in spite of my Jewish background that I became committed to the Palestinians, on the contrary it was because of it.”

IT WAS HIS maternal grandparents who explained that the lesson we must all learn from the Holocaust is not just about Jews, it is about racism and human rights in general.

“My grandparents left Berlin together with their family as early as 1933, when my mother was twelve years old. How they could already have known what Nazi Germany was heading towards is something I have

Henry Ascher News: New professor of public health in the Department of Public Health and Community Medicine.

Works as: Researches into migration and health, focusing on children and families, at Sahlgrenska Academy and Angered hospital. Works as a senior doctor in paediatrics with the Refugee Children Team in Gothenburg, is deputy chair of Swedish Paediatric Society’s group for global children’s and young persons’ health.

Special assignments: Sits on the jury of the Astrid Lindgren Memorial Award (ALMA), the world’s largest award for children’s and young persons’ literature. The 2018 winner, announced on 27 March, is Jacqueline Woodson.

Family: Yes. Lives: In Masthugget.

Last book read: I often read several books at the same time. The most recent is If you come softly

by Jacqueline Woodson, this year’s winner of the Astrid Lindgren Memorial Award, a very strong book about love between a white teenage girl and her black schoolmate in a society where there is great resistance to such relationships. I am also reading Kenneth Hermele’s En shtetl i Stockholm.

Last film: Ten films at the Gothenburg Film Festival.

Favourite food: Far too much …

Other interests: Most things to do with culture and society.

never entirely worked out. But to enable his daughters to continue to go to school, my grandfather had to show papers to prove that he had served in the first world war, and perhaps it was the risk that his children would not be able to get an education, together with a habit of travelling, that meant that he decided to leave Germany in such good time. However life in Sweden meant a real trip down the social scale. The family had been among the upper classes in Berlin, but in Stockholm the six of them lived in a three room apartment in the only apartment block in Lidingö.

HENRY ASCHER’S FATHER came from much more modest circumstances. In 1939, as an 18 year old, he received a grant to travel from Austria to Sweden. His cousin had been sent to England a year previously at the age of nine as part of the Kindertransport.

“My father almost never spoke about his childhood.

Only when he did not have long to live did he talk about a folder full of all the letters he had kept from when he was trying to persuade the Swedish authorities to give an entry permit for the family. My father and his cousin were the only ones on my father’s side who survived the war.”

How should we understand the Holocaust? That is a question that gives Henry Ascher no peace.

“The medical profession was one of the groups in Germany that had most members of the Nazi party.

How is that possible? One answer is the Star of David that so clearly differentiated one part of society form another. Another answer comes from Oskar Gröning, the last concentration camp guard to be found and tried, who explained his actions with “the comfort of allegiance”: you do what all the others do, and don’t think about how what is normal is being insidiously changed and gradually becomes something you should never accept.”

SWEDEN CAN HARDLY solve the present catastrophic refugee situation alone. But Henry Ascher believes that we could at least take better care of the knowledge and experience that exist.

“When refugee children come here they get a fantastic reception. But when they reach 18, all the support suddenly ends. They are thrown out of their accommodation and lose their legal representatives. Many become homeless but still stay close to their school, the only safe place in their existence. In putting these young people into an impossible situation, society is supporting organised crime, because how else could they manage? We need brave politicians who stand up for humane values and who listen to research. And we must be more humble and admit that the decisions we take sometimes go completely the wrong way.”

Henry Ascher’s commitment to children has also led to a task that is entirely enjoyable.

“I am a member of the jury for the Alma Award, the world’s biggest award for children’s and young persons’ literature. This year we had 235 nominations from 60 countries. This assignment means that I must read a huge amount of children’s and young persons’ literature, which forces me to conclude things that I would otherwise have been working too much on; I feel highly honoured to be part of it.”.s

We need brave poli­ ticans who stand up for humane values and who listen to research.

MAY 2018 GUJOURNAL

19

REPORT

“The new lab will be fantastic!” Henrik Zetterberg says enthusiastically.”

20 GUJOURNAL MAY 2018

On the hunt for a cure for Alzheimer’s Great Britain’s government is making a major commitment to finding a cure for Alzheimer’s disease within five years. What does that have to do with Henrik Zetterberg, professor of neurochemistry?

A whole lot.

Henrik has built up a laboratory at University College London (UCL), and his lab is part of this major commitment.

The lab is developing methods to measure the effects of different treatments for Alzheimer’s disease – a collaboration that represents a win for both UCL and the University of Gothenburg (GU).

ET NYA LABBET koWe meet at the Russell Square underground station and walk at a brisk pace to the Cruciform Building on Gower Street. The cross-shaped, red brick building dates back to the beginning of the 1900s, but inside it has been completely renovated. Later the same day Henrik will have a tour of the laboratory facilities, but we are trying to get a sneak peak, which the guards put an end to. Instead we return to the gray, somewhat tarnished concrete structure wedged between two self-assured and elegant buildings at Queen Square. This is the location of the UCL Institute of Neurology, and the second to top floor houses Henrik Zetterberg’s current research laboratory.

In addition to his position as chief physician and professor at GU and Sahlgrenska University Hospital, he has been a professor at UCL since 2012.

NOW THAT THE British government has appropriated slightly more than £200 million to build a national research institute: Dementia Research Institute, or DRI. UCL constitutes the hub of the hub-and-spoke model envisioned. Research teams from Edinburgh, Cambridge, Cardiff, King’s College London and Imperial College also are participating. “Recruitment is still ongoing,” says Henrik Zetterberg, who expects to hire a couple new researchers for his team of ten people.

Why has Henrik Zetterberg been selected to take part in Britain’s biggest commitment to Alzheimer’s research? To answer this question, it’s useful to know a few things about neurodegenerative diseases such as Alzheimer’s and frontotemporal dementia. They’re characterized by proteins that clump together and disrupt the functioning of neurons. Onset of the diseases is stealthy, and accumulation of the protein clumps occurs over a period of 5–20 years before the disease fully manifests itself. The big question is why the clumps arise and why they damage neurons. This is where Henrik’s MAY 2018 GUJOURNAL

21

REPORT

Henrik Zetterberg and Martha Foiani are looking at a developing solution for a measurement method.

special knowledge of measurement methods comes in, which is the reason he became a part of the initiative.

“Being able to measure when changes in the neurons occur, to what extent and how intensely protein clumps accumulate, how they spread and when they start to damage the neurons and what happens over time–this is the very essence of our work,” Henrik Zetterberg emphasizes.

WHAT ZETTERBERG’S RESEARCH at GU and UCL have in common is the effort to develop measurement methods that can both gauge the pathological changes in the neurons and measure the effects of various drugs against Alzheimer’s. While it is true that Henrik was at a punk concert at Covent Garden Market the night before, and without his white lab coat, he has a faint air of a rocker, but this is where the similarities end.

“My research team and I will never make the major discovery of a drug that cures Alzheimer’s. “We are just rowers for the rock stars, that is, the pharmaceutical researchers,” Henrik laughs.

Collaboration is an important watchword in this context, and Henrik describes the benefits for GU of his British involvement in research and vice versa.

In London there is a registry for people with hereditary Alzheimer’s, which includes the Dominantly Inhe-

22 GUJOURNAL MAY 2018

rited Alzheimer Network (DIAN) study*. Through the collaboration, researchers at Sahlgrenska gain access to samples from these people.

“There’s a terrific brain bank here, to which people can donate their brains for research after their death.”

Because research on Alzheimer’s and other dementia diseases begins in the brain, Zetterberg’s team at UCL conducts studies using a laser microscope to cut out neuropathological changes and place them in test tubes.

These are sent to the laboratory at Sahlgrenska for mass spectrometry, a method of analysis that enables researchers to find out exactly what is involved in the changes.

The conditions in Gothenburg are better for this.

Since its obviously impossible to examine living brains, spinal fluid in patients also is measured to detect if there are increased levels that point to pathological changes. In other words, changes in the brain leak out into spinal fluid. Based on the results you get, remarkably sensitive measuring methods are developed using antibodies. To get antibodies, mice are injected with the altered protein together with an immune stimulating substance. This results in the formation of antibodies, which are extracted from the mice and cultured to produce lots of antibodies.

“This is the essence of our specialty at Sahlgrenska,” Henrik points out.

Intensive, full-booked days in London and a punk concert in the evening. Henrik Zetterberg has a lot to do, but his own time in the laboratory is limited.

The latest in genetics research is in London, and researchers there have advanced farther in characterizing the genetic variations that might contribute to the diseases. In addition, the British are very skilled in brain imaging. Now Sahlgrenska also is big in technologically advanced imaging of the brain in the newly opened Imaging and Intervention Center.

“By the way, Michael Schöll, who is responsible for this, is in London now to discuss collaboration projects with imaging researchers at UCL. I just learned that he will be awarded the Alzheimer’s Foundation’s major research prize for young, successful brain researchers in Sweden. The best from UCL and GU have simply been brought together and are collaborating on this.

What does he think about Britain’s goal of finding a cure for Alzheimer’s disease in a mere five years?

“You have to remember that all the researchers who are included here have been at this for a long time,” says Henrik, adding that they are currently working on at least three conceivable cures.

1. Vaccination. There are vaccines that work in mice, but until now have produced too serious side effects in humans. In addition, drug companies would not earn as much money with a vaccine as with other drugs.

2. Antibodies – sometimes called passive immuni-

Facts about Alzheimer’s Disease * the APOE 4 gene is carried by one in four Swedes and increases the risk of Alzheimer’s by 3–10 times.

A blood test can determine if you have the gene.

• Each year 25,000 people in Sweden are diagnosed with dementia diseases.

• Today it’s estimated that about 100,000 people suffer from Alzheimer’s disease in Sweden, and another 60,000 are afflicted with some other form of dementia.

• Worldwide approximately 20 million people are afflicted.

• About 10,000 people who have Alzheimer’s disease are under age 65.

Facts UCL Institute of Neurology • UCL is London’s oldest university; it opened in 1826.

• UCL was the first university in England to accept women, Catholics, atheists and Jews as students.

• One-third of the students are international. * The DIAN study: a few hundred families with a genetically inherited form of Alzheimer’s that afflicts 50 percent of the members of the family and already manifests itself between the ages of 30 and 50. The families have volunteered to be included in a study in which pharmaceutical companies may propose various medicines, which

the families test. At the moment there is a study of secretion inhibitors, the possible cure that Henrik Zetterberg believes in most. Results from the study will be reported in 2019.

The Institute of Neurology was established in 1950 and merged with UCL in 1997. For more information: www.ucl.ac.uk/ion/ about-institute.

MAJ 2018 GUJOURNALEN

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REPORT

Always curious and full of questions, even when he stops and buys single-farm coffee at Fortitude Bakehouse, but Henrik Zetterberg also prefers curiosity-driven research.

There has not always been collaboration on Alzheimer’s. At the end of the 1990s, there were sharp elbows and enormous secretiveness. Key findings led some researchers to believe that they alone could solve the mystery of Alzheimer’s.

But all failed.

24 GUJOURNAL MAY 2018

Henrik Zetterberg Profession: Professor of neuro­chemistry, chief physician­at Sahlgrenska University Hospital and professor at the University of College London (UCL).

Family: His wife Madeleine, a professor of ophthalmology, and three children, ages 15, 12 and 10.

Age: 44 years.

Lives: In Mölnlycke.

Book read most recently: Tapeshavet by Gunnar D. Hansson.

Film viewed most recently: Paddington II Interests: Playing the guitar, reading books, running in the forest. “I have a bad sense of direction, so I usually take different routes each time.”

zation. Dissolves the plaque and prevents the protein from clumping together. Given intravenously. Antibodies must continue to be given for a lifetime and therefore are a very expensive option.

3. Secretion inhibitors. The potential cure Henrik believes in most. Inhibits the formation of beta-amyloids (protein clumps). Secretion inhibitors exist and are being tested. The hope is that they will prevent or delay the disease by 10 to 20 years. Treatment probably needs to be initiated in middle age to prevent the emergence of the pathologies. Henrik does not believe this method of treatment if symptoms already are present.

HENRIK ZETTERBERG stresses that there has not always been collaboration on Alzheimer’s. At the end of the 1990s, there were sharp elbows and enormous secretiveness. Key findings led some researchers to believe that they alone could solve the mystery of Alzheimer’s. But all failed.

The field proved more difficult to master than people could have imagined, which has led to a much more open and collaborative international climate.

“But I’m curious about what’s going on in China.

That’s something we know almost nothing about,” says Henrik.

Of the three conceivable remedies, none have had the desired effect on people with Alzheimer’s or even mild cognitive disorders in the brain.

What makes him happy: New, exciting results.

What makes him angry: When people are nasty toward each other. It’s so unnecessary.

Currently involved with: New research lab in London and participation in the Dementia Research Institute, the British government’s enormous commit­ment to finding a cure for Alzheimer’s within five years.

Three personal characteris­ tics: Overoptimistic, positive and a little sloppy. “So it’s very important to team up with colleagues who are pessimists, naysayers and meticulous. It’s so clear that in a group you need all kinds of people.”

“It’s because we intervene too late,” Henrik thinks.

“I believe these medicines can reach their full potential only if we manage to treat humans much earlier and as a preventive measure. Preferably before the accumulation of protein begins to damage the neurons.

This is where GU’s successful research on objective biomarkers comes into the picture again, an area where Professor Kaj Blennow is the great pioneer.

“Biomarkers could be used to measure preclinical alterations as early as 40 to 45 years of age. The funny thing is that it’s actually due to our successful research on biomarkers at Mölndal Hospital that I am here at UCL.” Henrik Zetterberg takes off his coat and waves to the researchers at the UCL lab. Now he’s off to a meeting about rugby and brain injuries. Every three weeks Henrik spends a couple of intense days of meetings in London. This time he actually found time to go to a punk concert with Michael Schöll. But he scarcely has time to do lab work himself anymore.

“My dream is that the British DRI project could inspire a corresponding initiative in Sweden. These are really important diseases, especially from a socio-economic perspective, and indeed we actually have really unique opportunities for patient-oriented research in Sweden, which they are a bit jealous of here.”

Text & Photos: ANNA REHNBERG MAY 2018 GUJOURNAL

25

PEOPLE

Economy at sea “If you look around a room, nearly everything in it, including your clothes, has gotten there with the help of a ship. Still, even in a city like Gothenburg, the harbor is something most people know very little about,” expla­ ins Marta Gonzalez Aregall.

She is a postdoc from Barcelona and rese­ archer of industrial organization and mariti­ me economics and logistics.

“MOST PEOPLE THINK they have a reasonable understanding of how transports by lorry, train or airplane work.

But shipping is more of an unknown,” points out Marta Gonzalez-Aregall. She is one of five postdocs at Lighthouse, a centre for maritime competence in which GU, among others, participate. In part, she is involved in two projects on how maritime shipping can be eco-friendlier and in part, in a study on harbour conflicts in Gothenburg.

Shipping accounts for about 2 percent of the global CO2 emissions and it is the least environmentally damaging mode of long-distance transport.

“IF YOU CONSIDER that approximately 90 per cent of our transports occur by sea, you might think these are fairly good figures. But, maritime shipping is also connected to less eco-friendly land transportation. So, the fact that the Stena AB Group has invested in energy efficient engines is, of course, good; but, this needs to be complemented with, for example, eco-friendly lorries.

Shipping also has other environmental impacts, such as when releasing ballast water from different ports.

And, since transportation of global goods transports is continually increasing, it is becoming increasingly more important to impose environmental requirements on each part of the chain.”

Environmental problems are global; but, environmental requirements are regional, points out Marta Gonzalez-Aregall.

“In addition, ownership affects how one can act: In the Nordics, the harbours are owned by the municipa-

26 GUJOURNAL MAY 2018

lities, in Great Britain they are private and in Southern Europe, they are often nationally owned. Through an analysis of which countries have the highest environmental requirements in terms of transport, clearly the Nordic countries are at the top of regions with more initiatives and measures.”

The University of Gothenburg is among the global leaders in logistics and transport economics, explains Marta Gonzalez-Aregall.

“That is why I wanted to come here. However, I actually decided to become a researcher ten years ago, when I was an exchange student in Lund because I enjoyed it so much. Since then I have studied in Barcelona and I did visiting research in Santiago de Chile and Vancouver, among other places, but always hoped to come back to Sweden.”

MARTA GONZALEZ-AREGALL also appreciates the

Swedish approach to research, where you are a member of a larger group at a centre.

“Although I miss my family in Barcelona, my colleagues at the Department of Business Administration have become like an extra constantly supportive family.

And within Lighthouse’ encounters we post-doctors meet and learn from each other.”

Previously, Marta Gonzalez-Aregall always lived in megalopolises.

“But I like Gothenburg, which is a little smaller and where most things are within walking distance. And just like the Swedes, I have learned to appreciate the sun, which wasn’t anything I thought about at home, in Spain.”

Logistics and transport economics is a very male dominated research field, notes Marta Gonzalez-Aregall.

At conferences she is usually one of just a few women.

“I was always given a lot of encouragement, particularly at home, but I realise, of course, that women often have greater difficulty advancing in academia than men do. Therefore, I think it is important to support female researchers so that they can serve as role models. From my experience, if you have a burning interest, as well as a really good academic support and

supervisor, you already have the key factors for taking a doctorate degree.”

As Marta Gonzalez-Aregall is from Barcelona, she is often asked for her opinion of the Spanish separatist movement.

“CATALAN IS MY native language and I feel close to

Catalan culture. When I am abroad, such as here in Gothenburg, I like discussing Catalan traditions, for example, how we celebrate Christmas. But I speak Spanish too, which is a world language and a cultural inheritance. For me, having access to both cultures is a valuable asset. With conflicts, it is important to sit down and listen to the other side, which is what I wish both parties would do here.

Text: EVA LUNDGREN Photo: JOHAN WINGBORG

Marta Gonzalez-Aregall Currently: Post doctor in industrial and financial management and logistics.

Lives: In Mölndal.

Family: Parents and two brothers.

Age: 31 years old.

Background: Doctoral degree in Barcelona, has also done research in Santiago de Chile and Vancouver.

Interests: Travelling, theatre, cinema, art and design. Likes to knit, which she learnt here in Gothenburg. Has a blog about international economy together with three friends: https://ekonomicus.com.

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Photos from far-far away Photo: NASA

Hello there, Maria Sundin, associate professor of theoretical physics!

In July 2016, the space probe Juno went into orbit around Jupiter after a five year journey.

The probe recently sent back new pictures from the planet.

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How does Jupiter differ from the Earth?

“Jupiter is by far the largest planet in the solar system and consists of huge gas flows of different masses. The planet has at least 67 moons, 4 of them large. One of them is actually bigger than Mercury.

Perhaps at some time in the future it will be possible to send a probe to land on one of the moons. Seen from there, Jupiter would take up a very large part of the sky.”

Why is Jupiter a planet and not a star?

“Although Jupiter is huge and consists of roughly the same substances as the sun, it would need to have even more mass and higher pressure to start the fusion processes needed for illumination. Our

own sun, for example, has a mass 1,047 times that of Jupiter. To become a smaller type of star, Jupiter would need to have around 80 times its mass.”

What fresh knowledge about Jupiter has Juno brought?

“The exciting thing is that Juno gives us images in a way that would have been impossible from the Earth. For example we have discovered that the atmosphere represents as much as 1 per cent of the planet’s mass, which could be compared with our own atmosphere which is only a millionth of the Earth’s mass.

Below the atmosphere, which is 3,000 kilometres thick, there appears to be a rotating fluid of liquid hydrogen and helium which is kept in place by magnetic forces within the planet,

which causes it to rotate as an even larger mass. We have also discovered enormous cyclones at the planet’s poles, moving in regular pentagons or octagons.”

“Scientists have also discovered that the planet’s jet streams reach much further down than had previously been thought and move much more quickly, at speeds over 100 metres per second. All of this affects Jupiter’s gravitation, which varies from place to place.”

“Juno will continue in orbit until the end of June and will send more images. They are fantastically exciting, but also extraordinarily beautiful.”