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Professor Carola Lidén’s team at the Institute of Environmental Medicine (IMM) at ̽����ѡ has significantly strengthened EU regulations by advancing knowledge on skin sensitizers like nickel, preservatives, and fragrance allergens. The research has led to stricter EU regulations, especially by lowering exposure and classification limits for isothiazolinone preservatives and ensuring allergen labeling. 

Moreover, the studies have shaped safety guidelines protection of consumers and workers, and reduced risks for allergic contact dermatitis. By developing and validating methods for exposure assessment and compliance verifications, now widely used by researchers and authorities, their work has enhanced public health, helped sensitized individuals to avoid exposure, reduced healthcare costs, and supported efficient disease prevention across health care, industries and regulatory bodies.

During the emergence of the COVID-19 pandemic, Associate Professor Björn Reinius at the Department of Medical Biochemistry and Biophysics pioneered the development of RNA-extraction-free molecular diagnostics, which hugely impacted COVID-19 clinical testing and alleviated global reagent shortages. By heat-based inactivation and optimized reaction chemistry, Reinius’ approach enabled samples to go directly into clinical RT-PCR assay without further processing, increasing test capacity by up to 500%. 

The method was used in over three million tests in Sweden, became widely adopted internationally, accelerated COVID-19 diagnostics, and aided variant tracking — including real-time Omicron monitoring during its surge at turn of 2021/2022. Reinius’ innovative method became one of Sweden’s most widely adopted academic contributions to clinical pandemic diagnostics, demonstrating an exceptional “real-world” impact for an academic initiative.

Professor Jan-Ingmar Flock’s group at the Department of Microbiology, Tumor and Cell Biology was instrumental in developing Strangvac — the world’s first effective vaccine against strangles in horses. Strangvac addesses a major challenge and provides over 90% protection against this highly contagious and potentially fatal disease, impacting an estimated 18 million horses across Europe and the US. 

The research led to the founding of Intervacc AB, a Nasdaq-listed company that now also develops vaccines for other animal infections, including Staphylococcus aureus in cows and Streptocuccus suis in piglets. Intervacc’s efforts thus promotes effective and accessible veterinary vaccines supporting animal health and industry.