President's letter

The Swedish Society for Gene Therapy was created in March 2002. However, gene therapy research has been ongoing at Swedish university institutions since the early 1990s. Already in 1988 individual attempts were made at the Swedish Medical Research Council to start specific programs in gene therapy. However at that time there was some resistance to regard gene therapy as different from molecular genetics in general, and specific initiatives were not taken. Instead at Huddinge University Hospital a working group was formed in 1995 to plan a Gene Therapy Centre. The first clinical trial got off the ground at the Department of Medicine in 1995 and in 1996 the Gene therapy centre was inaugurated. The University of Lund was in the forefront of establishing gene therapy programs and a chair at the faculty of medicine was created to advance gene therapy research. At Uppsala University a Centre for Gene- Immuno- and Nuclide-based therapy (GIN) was recently established at the Rudbeck Laboratories.

So far, gene therapy research in Sweden has been mainly basic and experimental and has spread to other universities and institutions throughout the country. In 1999 a joint effort by the Swedish Medical Research Council, the Cancer Fund, the Wallenberg Foundations and the Strategic fund provided funding for a specific gene therapy program including both research and education in the field. Thus, although the journey from the start of gene therapy research in Sweden has been long and thorny, the situation is now comparatively bright and activity high and increasing. The creation of the Society is a sign of this optimistic view, and I am sure gene therapy will eventually be to the benefit of and increasing number of patients.

Thomas Totterman
Professor
President, Swedish Society for Gene Therapy