Introduction
NorTrials Clinical Immunology is working to increase the number of clinical trials for patients with autoimmune and inflammatory diseases in Norway. Clinical immunology is a field where the conditions are caused by, or are characterized by, a faulty response in the patient's immune system, which in turn causes disease and/or chronic inflammation.
The treatment of such conditions may involve symptom-relieving and immunomodulatory drugs, as well as lifestyle treatment. As there are many common features in the disease mechanisms underlying autoimmune and inflammatory conditions, treatment can often be used across disciplines.
The center focuses on autoimmune and inflammatory conditions within the fields of dermatology, endocrinology, and rheumatology.
Organization
The NorTrials Centre for Clinical Immunology is located at Stavanger University Hospital (SUH). The centre is organizationally part of the research department and integrated with the Clinical Research Unit at SUH, a research outpatient clinic where clinical trials with drug testing for various diseases have been conducted for many years. The Clinical Research Unit collaborates closely with the clinical environment and all research at SUS.
Experienced study nurses, biomedical laboratory scientists, molecular biologists, and coordinators are employed to carry out the planning, facilitation, and execution of all types of clinical studies. The center has suitable facilities with several offices, its own laboratory, and a research biobank.
The center leader, senior consultant Inger Marie Skoie (MD, PhD), specialist in dermatology, is the clinical lead for dermatology. Senior consultant Sondre Meling (MD, PhD) is the clinical lead for endocrinology, and Dr. Jens Vikse (MD) is the clinical lead for rheumatology.
Patient population
Locally, the NorTrials Clinical Immunology centre has a patient base of approximately 370,000 patients within the hospitals’ region. National networks, which include all Norwegian health regions, have been established to reach patients and clinical environments across the country. Internationally, the centre is also in regular contact with similar centre functions in the Nordic countries.
It is estimated that around 5% of the world's population lives with an autoimmune or inflammatory disease. Examples of such diseases, within the centre's disciplines, are skin disorders such as psoriasis and hidradentis suppurativa, endocrine diseases such as type 1 diabetes, metabolic disease and adrenal insufficiency, and rheumatic diseases such as arthritis, lupus and Sjögren's syndrome.
In Norway, approximately 23,000 people have type 1 diabetes and Stavanger University Hospital has the country's largest outpatient clinic and follows up approximately 1800 of these patients.
Network
The centre network is nationwide and includes key specialist from both university hospitals and local hospitals. The networks collaborate well and have regular meetings, giving grounds for effective communication regarding clinical trials and new trial requests. See the list below for all members and institutions in the networks.
The centre is also in contact with key user and interest organisations, including the Psoriasis and Eczema Association, the Diabetes Association and the Rheumatism Association in Norway.
Study experience and delivery
Stavanger University Hospital has a strong research environment in clinical immunology and have been collaborating multidisciplinary and interdisciplinary in basic biomedicine and clinical research for decades, continuously growing expertise both through researcher and industry initiated clinical studies. Through this, well-characterized research cohorts affiliated with the hospital have been established for a variety of autoimmune and inflammatory diseases.
Since the establishment of the centre in 2022, the NorTrials Clinical Immunology has continued to build upon this and have systematically developed the centre activity in line with NorTrials' strategy. The Clinical Research Unit is involved in about 70 clinical trials at the hospital annually.
Employees and contact information
NorTrials Clinical Immunology
nortrials_clinical_immunology
Inger Marie Skoie (MD, PhD)
Senior Consultant, specialist in dermatology, SUH
ingerCentre Lead and clinical lead dermatology, NorTrials Clinical Immunology
Sondre Vatne Meling (MD, PhD)
Senior Consultant, specialist in endocrinology, SUH
sondreClinical lead endocrinology, NorTrials Clinical Immunology
Clinical lead rheumatology, NorTrials Clinical Immunology