Professor Gonçalo Castelo-Branco and Professor Janne Lehtiö at KI have been awarded funding under the Knut and Alice Wallenberg Foundation and SciLifeLab's Proof-of-Concept Program. The aim of the program is to strengthen the pathway from academic research to innovation and commercial application in life science.
Without targeted support, outstanding research and groundbreaking ideas in life science risk being lost in the gap between discovery and practical application.
The Proof-of-Concept Program helps to bridge this gap by providing researchers with the funding, guidance and expertise needed to validate, develop and mitigate the risks associated with early-stage innovations.
In total, ten innovation projects in life science will receive funding under the 2026 call for proposals. Two of these are led by researchers at KI.
"The program has become a powerful tool for supporting the path from academic research to societal impact," says Sara Mazur, executive director of Knut and Alice Wallenberg Foundation . "The projects funded this year represent some of the most promising translational opportunities emerging from Swedish life science research, with the potential to address important needs in health, sustainability, and biotechnology."
A panel of experts appointed by SciLifeLab and Knut and Alice Wallenberg Foundation evaluates and prioritises the applications. Decisions on grants are taken by the Board of Knut and Alice Wallenberg Foundation.
Recipients at KI in the 2026 call for applications
Gonçalo Castelo-Branco , professor at the Department of Medical Biochemistry and Biophysics
Innovation project: Transposome-based Ligase (TbL) for clinical epigenomics
Janne Lehtiö , professor at the Department of Oncology and Pathology
Innovation project: NEO-SCOPE: NEOantigen discovery at full genomic SCOPE for precision immunotherapy
Knut and Alice Wallenberg Foundation is inviting applications for Proof of Concept grants in three areas: life sciences, materials science, and AI, quantum technology and ICT. The call for proposals in the field of life science covers innovations in the broader sense, such as drug development, medical technology, diagnostics, research tools, e-health and industrial biotechnology.
Since the Proof of Concept Program was launched in 2017, a total of 158 projects have been awarded funding of between SEK one and four million each, for a project period of up to two years. In addition to the funding, project leaders will receive support from the Wallenberg Launch Pad (WALP) team to develop their innovations to commercial maturity.
