The two researchers are now reaping the benefits of their stay through publications and new collaborative projects.
The two scientists have been guest researchers at the Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center (MSKCC), which is treating 80.000 patients from all over the world each year, and is located in the centre of Manhattan.
The hospital hosts several excellent research programmes, including one working on exercise and cancer treatment. “The Exercise Oncology Research Program” at MSKCC is led by the highly regarded scientist Dr Lee W. Jones.
Exercise during cancer treatment
Aspects of his research focus on how exercise affects different cancerous growths in animal subjects, and what effects exercise has on the health and physical functionality in patients at various stages of cancer treatment.
Lee W. Jones and his team are also concerned with what characterises patients who respond well and what characterises patients who do not respond as well to the same amount of exercise.
Kavli Trust is, together with AKTIV Against Cancer, an important supporter for Dr Lee W. Jones. Recently, Kavli Trust has established a research grant for Norwegian scientists to work alongside Lee W. Jones and his team at the Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center (MSKCC).
Elisabeth Edvardsen and Tormod Skogstad Nilsen have both been visiting researchers financed through the Kavli Trusts’ cooperation with Active Against Cancer. Photo: Active Against Cancer
Enjoyable research grant
Tormod Skogstad Nilsen and Elisabeth Edvardsen are researching exercise and cancer in Norway and both have benefited immensely from the research grant provided by Kavli Trust. Both of them were immediately included in the US research team and took part in several projects during their stay.
“I found it particularly interesting to see how the research team was organised, and how the various participants had different tasks making the ‘cogs in the research wheel’ turn almost effortlessly”, Tormod Skogstad Nilsen says.
“At the same time, it was useful to see that they too experience the same sort of challenges relating to the recruitment of participants, as well as exercise interventions as we do in Norway. The team also focused on achieving the highest possible standards in all aspects of their research projects, and it was interesting to learn how even established scientists still give so much attention to detail on a daily basis, he says.
Five scientific articles
The collaboration with Dr Lee W. Jones has already been productive and five scientific articles have so far been born out of the visits to the centre. The work is continuing, both in terms of several more articles and ongoing collaborative projects.
Dr Lee W. Jones and Dr Jessica M. Scott played key roles in the writing of grant applications to fund new research projects with a scheduled start in the new year. Elisabeth Edvardsen is back in MSKCC in Spring 2019 to continue the collaboration from the previous autumn.
Captions:
Dr Lee W. Jones is one of the world’s leading scientists within the field of exercise and cancer treatment. Photo by Hanne Eide Andersen /Kavli Trust
Elisabeth Edvardsen and Tormod Skogstad Nilsen have both been guest researchers financed through the Kavli Trust in collaboration with AKTIV Against Cancer. Photo by AKTIV Against Cancer.
Dr. Lee W. Jones, Helle Aanesen, CEO of AKTIV Against Cancer with Solfrid Lind trustee of the board at Kavli Trust and Inger Elise Iversern, general manager of Kavli Trust during a project visit to New York, November 2018.
Top Photo: Hanne Eide Andersen/Kavli Trust.