Simon Mark Dahl Baunwall and Tatyana Fedorova are both PhD students at the Department of Clinical Medicine, and both receive Lundbeck Foundation Talent Prizes this year.

2021.11.18 | Lene Halgaard

The two junior researchers each receive DKK 300,000 as part of the Lundbeck Foundation's Talent Prize 2021 Photo: Martin Gravgaard Photography.

Simon Mark Dahl Baunwall aims to make life better for poorly and weak patients with life-threatening intestinal bacteria. Tatyana Fedorova will help Parkinson patients through a more precise diagnosis. They are both talented junior researchers from the Department of Clinical Medicine who have been awarded the Lundbeck Foundation's Talent Prize 2021.

Simon Mark Dahl Baunwall receives the prize for his research into faecal microbiota transplantation (FMT) – an effective treatment that medical doctors can use to repair the intestinal flora in weakened patients with a Clostridium difficile infection by giving the person a portion of intestinal bacteria from a healthy donor. These bacteria spread and colonise the intestines, and in so doing, they restore the patient's intestinal flora. Simon hopes that his research will contribute to making it easier for medical doctors to cure intestinal infections in elderly and weakened people.

Tatyana Fedorova receives the award for her research into Parkinson's disease. Her theory is that Parkinson's disease occurs and develops in two directions. She will follow patients over a number of years to see how the nerve damage develops in the two variants of the disease. By identifying the two directions of Parkinson's disease, medical doctors will be better placed to select the right scanning method and to follow the disease. Tatyana hopes that her research will contribute to ensuring that Parkinson's patients receive better diagnosis and thus better treatment in the future.

Contact
PhD student Simon Mark Dahl Baunwall
Aarhus University, Department of Clinical Medicine
Email: simonjorgensen@clin.au.dk

PhD student Tatyana Fedorova
Aarhus University, Department of Clinical Medicine
Email: tdf@clin.au.dk