About CanCell
Established in December 2017, the Centre for Cancer Cell Reprogramming (CanCell) is a Centre of Excellence appointed by the Research Council of Norway, with the University of Oslo as the host institution. CanCell operates from two locations: the Institute for Cancer Research (ICR) at the Norwegian Radium Hospital and the Institute for Basic Medical Sciences (IMB) at Domus Medica, University of Oslo. A consortium agreement facilitates cooperation between the University of Oslo and Oslo University Hospital, fostering conditions conducive to achieving CanCell's scientific goals and strategic plans.
Research Groups
CanCell Principal Investigators (PIs)
- Harald Stenmark (Centre Director)
- Anne Simonsen (Centre Co-Director)
- Ragnhild Eskeland
- Jorrit Enserink
- Tor Erik Rusten
- Jørgen Wesche
CanCell Affiliate Members
- Helene Knævelsrud Institute of Basic Medical Sciences, University of Oslo
- Kay Oliver Schink Institute of Basic Medical Sciences, University of Oslo
CanCell Associate Members
- Emmet McCormack Translational Molecular Imaging in Cancer, University of Bergen
- Manuela Zucknick Biostatistics in Cancer Medicine, University of Oslo
- Nikolina Sekulic Structural Mechanisms of Genome Stability and Disease, University of Oslo
- Terje Johansen Molecular Cancer Research, UiT The Arctic University of Norway
- Tuula Nyman Advanced mass spectrometry, University of Oslo
- Yngvar Fløisand, Hematology and Acute Myeloid Leukemia
Management
CanCell is managed by its six PIs, who together form the Centre’s executive board. Their work is supported by Administrative Coordinator Nagham Theres Asp. The Centre is officially hosted by the Institute of Clinical Medicine at the University of Oslo. CanCell’s management reports to the CanCell's Steering Board consisting of the following senior leaders from host and partner institutions:
Dag Kvale
Head of Institute of Clinical Medicine University of Oslo
Åslaug Helland
Research Director of the Division of Cancer Medicine Oslo University Hospital
Philippe Collas
Head of Institute for Basic Medical Sciences University of Oslo
Roger Simm
Head of Department of Biosciences University of Oslo
Admin Support Staff
CanCell relies on the support of administrative and technical staff at its locations. The technical staff play an important role in maintaining the functionality and safety of the laboratories. The administrative team handles procurement, budgets, HR functions and communications.
- UiO Purchase Enquiries Managed by executive administrative officers Abdushakoor Khan and Lady Nina Karlsrud (backup).
- IT and Website Management Chema Bassols.
- Administrative Requests The centre’s administrative functions, including HR, financial tasks, coordination of meetings and events, are managed by Centre Administrative Manager Nagham Theres Asp.
CanCell admin support staff
From the left: Abdushakoor Khan, Chema Bassols, Nagham Theres Asp, Lady Nina Karlsrud. Photo: Øystein Horgmo, UiO
CanCell Equality Forum
The CanCell Equality forum has a focus on equality in all aspects of social and professional life including ethnicity, gender and culture.
We engage in different activities to create awareness and promote a good working environment in our centre. Academia experiences challenges to its freedom around the world and the climate affecting our international colleagues and has an impact on our collaborations. The pressure on our members is high and these new political climates adds to the stress burden. Therefore, CanCell Equality Forum together with CYS organised a stress management seminar with Morten Finkenhagen. Finckenhagen has developed a stress management course when he was employed at the Norwegian Medical Product Agency and had good experience with this course for first year medical students at University of Oslo. Morten gave us methods how to handle stress in our daily work days that were very useful. CanCell Equality forum also organised the yearly potluck dinner with a variety of dishes from our members home countries or regions.
This year we had four popular science talks presented in native languages from CanCell members: Meng Pan (Chinese), Ann-Christin Borchers (German), Athanasios Kournoutis (Greek), Karolin Spustova (Slovak) followed by quiz. We enjoyed the cultural exchange and nice food.
CanCell Young Scientists
CanCell Young Scientists (CYS) is a member-driven forum that empowers early-career researchers to design and lead events and initiatives supporting professional development and community engagement.
In March 2025, CYS hosted a career development workshop with speakers from UiO focused on recognizing your own competencies and exploring different career opportunities. Further, in April, CYS arranged a well-attended practical BioRender workshop to help participants create clear, publication-ready scientific figures. Additionally, CYS organized a one-day Getaway in May at Domus Juridica, fostering scientific exchange and networking with other SFFs in Oslo. Further, CYS and the Equality Forum organized a seminar addressing stress in academia.
For 2026, they plan a variety of workshops and events focusing on important aspects of scientific outreach, such as scientific illustration and presentation skills, as well as activities strengthening the communication and collaboration within CanCell.
CanCell Young Scientists 2025
From the left: Kasia Gajewska, Øyvind Singstad, Ann-Christin Borchers, Anine Alvsvåg Ottestad, Marina Antunes, Magdalena Winklhofer, Karolina Spustova.
Photo: CYS
Former 2025 CYS members: Rahul Agrawal and Mughilan Selvarajah.
CanCell Seminar Committee
The CanCell Seminar Committee is dedicated to enhancing scientific environment by organizing and facilitating seminars with distinguished international speakers. The committee's primary tasks include extending invitations to notable researchers from around the world and managing the logistical arrangements for their visits. Additionally, the committee coordinates project discussions between the visiting speakers and CanCell research groups to foster collaborative opportunities and knowledge exchange.
This year, the committee successfully organized seminars featuring eminent scientists, including Mariano Barbacid from the Spanish National Cancer Research Centre, Ultan McDermott from AstraZeneca, Clotilde Théry, INSERM Director of Research at Institute Curie, Hector Herranz from the University of Copenhagen, and Otilia V. Vieira from NOVA Medical School, University of Lisbon. The seminar committee is comprised of dedicated members from the research groups within CanCell: Marina Vietri (Stenmark group), José G. T. Reis (Rusten group), Patricia González Rodríguez (Simonsen group), Michal Kostas (Wesche group), and Nathalia Chica (Enserink group). Together, they ensure the seamless execution of these enriching seminars, contributing significantly to the CanCell's academic mission.
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Acknowledgements
We thank our external funding sources for their support of CanCell CoE in 2025:
Figures were made with Biorender
Cover Photo
Representative image of an isocortical section from an E15.5 mouse embryonic brain with ESCRT conditional knockout. CTIP2 (red) marks post-mitotic cortical neurons, nuclei were counterstained with DAPI (blue), and apoptosis was detected by cleaved Caspase-3 (green).
Credit: Xiufang Gao and Yan Zhen, Stenmark CanCell Group.
Photos and images
Ine Eriksen, UiO
Åsne Rambøl Hillestad, UiO
Birgit Solhaug, UiO
Øystein Horgmo, UiO
Chema Bassols, OUS/UiO
Nagham Theres Asp, UiO
Private photos: CanCell members
Min Deng, UiO
Pilar Ayuda-Durán, OUS
Report Production
The CanCell Annual Report 2025 was produced by Nagham Theres Asp, centre manager.