鈥淭his is one of the finest research grants that you can get. I鈥檓 immensely grateful. Getting a chance like this is every researcher鈥檚 dream, although it comes with great responsibility,鈥� says J枚rg Schilcher, docent in orthopaedics at Link枚ping University.
He is referring to a collaboration with the University of California, San Francisco, which has been awarded the equivalent of SEK 50 million over a five-year period from the National Institutes of Health in the US, and where Link枚ping University is a part of the consortium of international higher education and research institutes. It is estimated that Link枚ping University will receive almost 15 per cent of the grant.
鈥淲e鈥檝e been studying this since 2007. This damage was not discovered in bisphosphonate clinical studies on 10,000 patients. It took an entire population. In 2010鈥�11 we manually studied x-ray images of all femur fractures in Sweden and discovered a strong association with bisphosphonates and the risk of stress fractures in, for instance, older women,鈥� says J枚rg Schilcher.
鈥淏isphosphonates are drugs that improve bone density and thereby reduce the risk of fractures. But long-term use can lead to stress fractures. We need more knowledge about which patients benefit from this drug, and which patients risk complications. International collaboration is needed, to enlarge the patient group. And this requires new methods for the sharing of data, says J枚rg Schilcher.
The researchers will therefore develop a central analysis tool, a data script, for the analysis of data in each country separately.
鈥淭his is a huge task that is estimated to take two years. But then we鈥檒l have a powerful tool. As we in Link枚ping have a long tradition of research into atypical stress fractures and bisphosphonates, we also have a data set that will attract AI researchers wanting to collaborate with us. We鈥檝e already noted an interest in this,鈥� says J枚rg Schilcher.
What does this project mean to your research group?
鈥淐ooperating internationally with renowned researchers in the same field means a lot to us. I鈥檒l also be able to establish intense collaboration with statisticians. We can discuss things with them on a daily basis, which I鈥檓 not used to. This is very valuable and makes our methods much smarter. We also have radiologists and an AI researcher who鈥檒l be able to work with the data obtained in the new project.鈥�
Text: Ulrik Svedin 鈥� Link枚ping University
Osteoporosis occurs when there is an imbalance between these two cell types. Osteoporosis can be treated with bisphosphonates, a group of drugs that slow bone loss.
Long-term use of such drugs increases the risk of fractures, as this can knock out the skeleton鈥檚 own healing mechanism.
Source: J枚rg Schilcher, docent at Link枚ping University.
He is referring to a collaboration with the University of California, San Francisco, which has been awarded the equivalent of SEK 50 million over a five-year period from the National Institutes of Health in the US, and where Link枚ping University is a part of the consortium of international higher education and research institutes. It is estimated that Link枚ping University will receive almost 15 per cent of the grant.
Led from UCSF
The project is called 鈥漃ooling International Cohort Studies of Long-Term Bisphosphonate Use and Atypical Femur Fractures鈥�. It is led from the University of California by endocrinologist Douglas Bauer. Its sub-studies are designed and run by different research groups, such as the one in Link枚ping.鈥淲e鈥檝e been studying this since 2007. This damage was not discovered in bisphosphonate clinical studies on 10,000 patients. It took an entire population. In 2010鈥�11 we manually studied x-ray images of all femur fractures in Sweden and discovered a strong association with bisphosphonates and the risk of stress fractures in, for instance, older women,鈥� says J枚rg Schilcher.
Difficult to detect
Stress fractures are difficult to detect in x-ray images, even for experienced radiologists.鈥淏isphosphonates are drugs that improve bone density and thereby reduce the risk of fractures. But long-term use can lead to stress fractures. We need more knowledge about which patients benefit from this drug, and which patients risk complications. International collaboration is needed, to enlarge the patient group. And this requires new methods for the sharing of data, says J枚rg Schilcher.
The researchers will therefore develop a central analysis tool, a data script, for the analysis of data in each country separately.
鈥淭his is a huge task that is estimated to take two years. But then we鈥檒l have a powerful tool. As we in Link枚ping have a long tradition of research into atypical stress fractures and bisphosphonates, we also have a data set that will attract AI researchers wanting to collaborate with us. We鈥檝e already noted an interest in this,鈥� says J枚rg Schilcher.
What does this project mean to your research group?
鈥淐ooperating internationally with renowned researchers in the same field means a lot to us. I鈥檒l also be able to establish intense collaboration with statisticians. We can discuss things with them on a daily basis, which I鈥檓 not used to. This is very valuable and makes our methods much smarter. We also have radiologists and an AI researcher who鈥檒l be able to work with the data obtained in the new project.鈥�
Text: Ulrik Svedin 鈥� Link枚ping University
Facts: Osteoporosis
The skeleton has an amazing ability to mend itself with its own tissue. Simply put, two types of cells are involved in this process: 鈥榖one-eating cells鈥� (osteoclasts) which break down damaged bone, and another cell type (osteoblasts) which builds new bone.Osteoporosis occurs when there is an imbalance between these two cell types. Osteoporosis can be treated with bisphosphonates, a group of drugs that slow bone loss.
Long-term use of such drugs increases the risk of fractures, as this can knock out the skeleton鈥檚 own healing mechanism.
Source: J枚rg Schilcher, docent at Link枚ping University.
