Highly competitive ERC funding once again awarded to researcher using computational techniques – EUR 1.5 million grant for biomathematician Laura Elo

The University of Turku has announced that biomathematics docent Laura Elo has received a grant from the European Research Council (ERC). The grant in question – the ERC Starter Grant ­– is one of the most highly competitive in Europe and is worth EUR 1.5 million.

The five-year ERC Starter Grant is awarded to a top researcher in the early stages of their career. Elo's research team develops computational modelling techniques that enable extensive protein measurement data gathered during follow-up studies to be used in determining the individualised risk of developing a disease over time.

"We use CSC's resources in our research. We develop computational modelling techniques for medical applications in particular, so that extensive measurement data can be harnessed as effectively as possible," says Elo, who is Research Director of the Turku Bioinformatics Unit.

Elo and her team are studying a number of areas, including early predictors of type I diabetes, the side effects of cytostatic therapy, and the behaviour of renal cancer at a molecular level. Elo's team is also developing computational techniques to study patient and molecule registers held in biobanks.

Studying complex disease processes requires high-performance computing

Earlier this spring, a group of ERC-funded researchers published a petition to update national computing resources. Elo also underlines the importance of resources.

"As data volumes are huge and disease processes complex, it's essential to have not only powerful computational techniques but also sufficient computing resources. Safeguarding national computing resources is extremely important for the research in this field," says Elo.

Elo says that, without mathematicians, giving all patients the same treatment for a disease would still be the prevailing practice in many areas of medical science.

"Our work enables advancements in medical science. In the future, it will be possible to offer patients increasingly personalised treatment methods."

At the beginning of May, Elo also received EUR 0.5 million from the Academy of Finland to fund her study Towards powerful computational models for the individualised prediction of disease and treatment risks.

Laura Elo also took part in CSC's Perfect Equation campaign, which was launched on International Women's Day last March.

Further information:

University of Turku: Biomathematician Laura Elo receives sought-after ERC funding

CSC: Successful ERC grant applications for computing service users – petition to update resources

Read Laura Elo's story on the Perfect Equation campaign page: Diagnosing with mathematics