Marit Saunes and Eidi Christensen – Academic strength of St Olavs University Hospital in Trondheim
Kunnskapssenteret, where the Department of Dermatology is located. Photograph: M. Herzog; www. visualis-online. com.
Photodynamic therapy
Since 1997 the Department has offered topical photodynamic therapy to patients with non-melanoma skin cancer. In parallel with treatment, clinical studies on long-term follow-up after photodynamic therapy of basal cell carcinomas have been carried out. The research concentrates on diagnostics and evaluation of clinical and histological characteristics of basal cell carcinomas prior to photodynamic therapy.
In recent years, the department has been the driving force behind a national, randomized, controlled-blinded, multi-centre study with the aim of investigating whether a simpler and more flexible photodynamic therapy schedule is as effective as today’ s standard treatment of basal cell carcinomas. The study is a collaboration between private dermatological practices, a central hospital and university clinics. It is founded by the liaison committee between the Central Norway Regional Health Authority and the NTNU. The study includes a 3-year follow-up after treatment.
Wounds and inflammation
NanoHeal is a multi-disciplinary research programme funded by the NANO2021 Norwegian Research Council, and a collaboration with the Paper and Fibre Research Institute( RISE PFI AS), the University of Wales, Cardiff, and Swansea University, Wales. The goal has been to develop novel material solutions for use in advanced wound healing, based on nano-fibrillated cellulose structures.
As a result of the NanoHeal project we are developing a standardized in vitro wound healing model to be used in several projects, including student projects, collaborator projects with plastic surgeons at St. Olavs hospital and translational projects with the Department of Physics and the Department of Electronics and Telecommunications at NTNU.
Epidemiology and HUNT
The Nord-Trøndelag Health survey( HUNT) is an extensive population-based health study with both personal and family medical information from > 120,000 individuals collected during 3 recruitment phases spanning 3 decades since 1984 – 1986( HUNT 1, 2 and 3). The 4 th recruitment phase has just started( planned for 2017 – 2019). Data have been collected from multiple questionnaires, standardized clinical examinations, urine and non-fasting blood samples. The HUNT study provides us with a unique opportunity to study different diseases at the population-based level. From HUNT 3 we have collected information on psoriasis, and used this in our research projects on psoriasis and cardiovascular disease, osteoporosis and quality of life.
More than 70,000 individuals from HUNT have been genotyped through a collaboration between researchers at the K. G. Jebsen Center for Genetic Epidemiology, NTNU, and the University of Michigan, USA. By using already available genotypes from HUNT, we are currently performing genetic association analyses on psoriasis and atopic dermatitis. Our
Forum for Nord Derm Ven 2018, Vol. 23, No. 1 Dermato-Venereology in the Nordic Countries 17