Charles Sturt University (CSU) student Ms Annette Jacobsen brought home a unique souvenir from her year in Sweden – an international research credit.

The CSU Bachelor Medical Science/ Bachelor Forensic Biotechnology student spent a year on student exchange at Örebro University in Sweden and the research she carried out there has been published in the International Journal of Molecular Medicine.

"During the student exchange I selected a number of practical and project based subjects, which meant I spent more time in the lab than in the classroom," said Ms Jacobsen. "This helped me to pick up a range of practical research skills, which has augmented the theoretical grounding I have received from Charles Sturt University."

Ms Jacobsen was part of a team investigating the molecular mechanisms involved in the development of cachexia or muscle and body mass wastage in inflammation based diseases.

She worked with Professor Allan Sirsjö and PhD student Mr Vladimir T. Basic from Örebro University and Dr Samy M. Abdel-Halim from Danderyd Hospital, Stockholm, Sweden.

"One of the most common inflammatory diseases is Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease (COPD) which affects around one in 20 people and is the fourth highest cause of death world-wide," she said. "Although typically thought of as a lung disease, it affects multiple organs and tissues with loss of muscle mass, cachexia, being one of the most significant."

Ms Jacobsen said independent of lung function, the presence and extent of cachexia in COPD patients is strongly correlated to patient outcome.

"This muscle wastage is thought to start early in the disease, in conjunction with, if not predating, onset of lung damage. Additionally, the lung damage in COPD is currently considered poorly reversible, so treatment currently focuses on management of symptoms, not repairing the damage," she said.

The researchers hope that understanding more about how muscle function is compromised in inflammatory diseases such as COPD, will lead to better treatment.

"This research may help to identify markers of disease that can be used to diagnose COPD earlier, improving patient outcome," said Ms Jacobsen, who is studying through CSU's School of Biomedical Sciences via distance education.

"After my first semester I was hooked," she said. "I loved what I was learning, and distance education study is perfect for me, as I can continue to maintain an income, live in Melbourne, and keep my network of family and friends close at hand."

The exchange to Örebro University was supported by CSU Global, a CSU initiative to promote international study experiences.

"Scientific research often involves collaboration across different cities and countries, and I felt it was important for my future career to show this was something I was both capable of, and prepared to do," Ms Jacobsen said.

Aside from the learning opportunities, Ms Jacobsen said some of the highlights of her trip included walking across an active volcanic area in Iceland, seeing a glacier in Norway, and dancing at the traditional midsummer fires in Helsinki.

Ms Annette Jacobsen at a Glacier in Norway"I loved many of the little things about living in Sweden, such as snow cover outside my doorstep in winter, 'fika'  the Swedish custom of catching up over coffee and new foods such as pickled fish, salty liquorice, swedish meatballs, and reindeer meat in a tube," she said.

"The experience provided many challenges, such as living in a different culture and adapting to new ways of learning."