Elucidating the role of GDF-15 on neurological defects and the tissue cross-talk in cancer cachexia

PhD Student

University of Copenhagen

POSTDOC

Steffen H. Raun, Department of Biomedical Sciences, University of Copenhagen, has been awarded a postdoc research grant from Lundbeck Foundation worth DKK 2,374,021.

His project will study the loss of muscle mass and fat that 50–80 per cent of all cancer patients experience. This loss affects quality of life and can negatively impact how the patient reacts to treatment – thereby negatively impacting the survival rate.

Loss of muscle mass and fat in connection with cancer may be linked to an appetite suppressing hormone – GDF 15 – which could potentially be adjusted upwards. The project will be investigating the details of this link, which are at yet not fully understood.

Part of this project will be conducted in the USA at Stanford University in California.