'Harnessing ALK inhibitors in high-risk neuroblastoma – can cures in mice be translated to the clinic?' - a Stem Cell Center Guest Talk with Prof. Ruth Palmer

When: Wednesday, February 11, 2026 | 15:00–16:00
Where: Segergfalksalen, BMC A10
Talk Title: “Harnessing ALK inhibitors in high-risk neuroblastoma – can cures in mice be translated to the clinic?”
Speaker: Professor Ruth Palmer, University of Gothenburg, Sweden
Chair: Sofie Mohlin, Associate Professor, Department for Translational Cancer Research

About the Speaker:

Ruth Palmer is a Professor in the Department of Biomedicine at the University of Gothenburg in Sweden. Her lab studies the cell surface receptor anaplastic lymphoma kinase (ALK), which is important for normal developmental processes. Incorrect ALK activation leads to cancer, including neuroblastoma and lung cancer. Today, neuroblastoma accounts for 15% of childhood cancer mortality. Mutations in the ALK gene occur in 10% of all neuroblastomas but increase to 25–30% upon relapse. 

Prof. Ruth Palmer and her team want to understand ALK signaling in the context of development and disease by utilizing model organisms in combination with known “omics” techniques (DNA, RNA and protein). The Palmer lab cloned the ALK receptor and identified the ligand ALKAL1/2 that regulates the activity of ALK. They have also developed fruit fly and mouse models that initiate both ALK and ALKAL-mediated neuroblastoma from known patient mutations.

• More about the Palmer Lab

About Elina Fredlund's PhD Defense

On 12 February, 2026 at 9:00 Lund University doctoral student, Elina Fredlund, will defend her dissertation titled 'Where do the roads of normal and tumor development converge.'

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