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Staff photo Erik Chorell

Erik Chorell

I work as associate professor at the Department of Chemistry, which includes research, teaching and infrastructure responsibility linked to Life Science and chemical biology.

Research qualifications: Docent

Contact

E-mail
Phone

Works as

Affiliation
Associate professor at Department of Chemistry
Location
KB.C3, Linnaeus väg 10, (rum: B3.05.09) Umeå universitet, 901 87 Umeå

I have a background in organic and medicinal chemistry, with postdoctoral training in molecular biology and biophysical chemistry. Throughout my career, I have focused on developing bioactive molecules and chemical strategies to study biological systems and explore new therapeutic concepts. I am currently Associate Professor and Docent at Umeå University, where my work spans research, teaching and research infrastructure responsibility.

Research

My research lies at the interface of medicinal chemistry and chemical biology. A central focus is the development of selective chemical strategies for targeting DNA and other nucleic acids, particularly G-quadruplex structures.

We develop small molecules, chemical probes and ligand-oligonucleotide conjugates that combine complementary modes of molecular recognition. A major direction is the development of multimodal molecular designs that integrate structure recognition with sequence-directed targeting. These approaches are used to investigate how specific nucleic acid structures influence biological processes and gene expression, and to explore their potential as starting points for future therapeutic development.

Alongside nucleic-acid targeting, the group has broader interests in bioactive molecule discovery, chemical probe development and early-stage drug discovery.

Read more about the research in my lab:

Erik Chorell Lab

Teaching

I teach organic chemistry, medicinal chemistry and chemical biology. I am also responsible for the Bachelor of Science Programme in Life Science, which integrates chemistry and molecular biology and is taught in English.

My educational work includes programme leadership, curriculum development and the development of interdisciplinary courses for students entering the life sciences.

Read more about the Bachelor of Science Programme in Life Science

Chemical Biology Consortium Sweden

I am Co-Director of Chemical Biology Consortium Sweden, CBCS, and Director of the CBCS Umeå node.

CBCS is a national research infrastructure within SciLifeLab that supports researchers in all aspects of chemical biology. We help academic research groups develop biological assays, perform small-molecule screening, and evaluate and develop identified bioactive compounds.

More information is available on the CBCS website:
https://www.cbcs.se/

More information about the CBCS Umeå node:
https://www.cbcs.se/cbcsumu 

 

RSC Chemical Biology, Royal Society of Chemistry 2026, Vol. 7, (4) : 615-629
Abrahamsson, Alva; Khwaja, Sakina; Berner, Andreas; et al.
Organic Letters, American Chemical Society (ACS) 2026, Vol. 28, (1) : 157-162
Donzel, Maxime; Chorell, Erik
Bioconjugate chemistry, American Chemical Society (ACS) 2025, Vol. 36, (4) : 724-736
Abrahamsson, Alva; Berner, Andreas; Golebiewska-Pikula, Justyna; et al.
Bioorganic chemistry, Elsevier 2025, Vol. 156
Bag, Sagar; Chand, Karam; Burman, Mangal Deep; et al.
Chemistry - A European Journal, John Wiley & Sons 2025, Vol. 31, (21)
Das, Rabindra Nath; Chorell, Erik
Bioorganic chemistry, Elsevier 2025, Vol. 157
Golebiewska-Pikula, Justyna; Abrahamsson, Alva; Chorell, Erik
Journal of Medicinal Chemistry, American Chemical Society (ACS) 2024, Vol. 67, (3) : 2202-2219
Andréasson, Måns; Donzel, Maxime; Abrahamsson, Alva; et al.
Journal of the American Chemical Society, American Chemical Society (ACS) 2024, Vol. 146, (10) : 6926-6935
Berner, Andreas; Das, Rabindra Nath; Bhuma, Naresh; et al.
European Journal of Medicinal Chemistry, Elsevier 2023, Vol. 248
Bhuma, Naresh; Chand, Karam; Andréasson, Måns; et al.
The Journal of Physical Chemistry Letters, American Chemical Society (ACS) 2023, Vol. 14, (7) : 1862-1869
Deiana, Marco; Chand, Karam; Chorell, Erik; et al.
Nucleic Acids Research, Oxford University Press 2023, Vol. 51, (14) : 7392-7408
Doimo, Mara; Chaudhari, Namrata; Abrahamsson, Sanna; et al.
Chemistry - A European Journal, John Wiley & Sons 2022, Vol. 28, (65)
Andréasson, Måns; Bhuma, Naresh; Pemberton, Nils; et al.
ECRICE 2022: chemistry teaching and learning in a global unified world: abstract book
Broman, Karolina; Chorell, Erik; Holmboe, Michael; et al.
NU2022, Nätverk och utveckling, Stockholm/online, Sverige, 15-17 juni, 2022
Broman, Karolina; Chorell, Erik; Holmboe, Michael; et al.
Chemical Science, Royal Society of Chemistry 2022, Vol. 13, (8) : 2347-2354
Prasad, Bagineni; Doimo, Mara; Andréasson, Måns; et al.
Book of abstracts: 9th European Variety in University Chemistry Education Conference EUROVARIETY 2021, University of Ljubljana 202160
Broman, Karolina; Chorell, Erik; Holmboe, Michael
Den 8:e utvecklingskonferensen för Sveriges ingenjörsutbildningar: Detaljerat program
Broman, Karolina; Chorell, Erik; Holmboe, Michael
Universitetspedagogiskakonferensen 2021: den goda utbildningsmiljön 2.1, Umeå: Universitetspedagogik och lärandestöd (UPL), Umeå universitet 2021 : 12-13
Broman, Karolina; Chorell, Erik; Holmboe, Michael; et al.
ACS Chemical Biology, American Chemical Society (ACS) 2021, Vol. 16, (8) : 1365-1376
Deiana, Marco; Obi, Ikenna; Andréasson, Måns; et al.
Chemical Science, Royal Society of Chemistry 2020, Vol. 11, (38) : 10529-10537
Das, Rabindra Nath; Andréasson, Måns; Kumar, Rajendra; et al.
Nanoscale, Royal Society of Chemistry 2020, Vol. 12, (24) : 12950-12957
Deiana, Marco; Chand, Karam; Jamroskovic, Jan; et al.
Angewandte Chemie International Edition, Wiley-VCH Verlagsgesellschaft 2020, Vol. 59, (2) : 896-902
Deiana, Marco; Chand, Karam; Jamroskovic, Jan; et al.
Journal of the American Chemical Society, Vol. 142, (6) : 2876-2888
Jamroskovic, Jan; Doimo, Mara; Chand, Karam; et al.
Nucleic Acids Research, Oxford University Press 2020, Vol. 48, (3) : 1108-1119
Kumar, Rajendra; Chand, Karam; Bhowmik, Sudipta; et al.
Nucleic Acids Research, Oxford University Press 2020, Vol. 48, (19) : 10998-11015
Obi, Ikenna; Rentoft, Matilda; Singh, Vandana; et al.
Chemistry - A European Journal, Wiley-VCH Verlagsgesellschaft 2020, Vol. 26, (43) : 9561-9572
Prasad, Bagineni; Das, Rabindra Nath; Jamroskovic, Jan; et al.
7:e Utvecklingskonferensen för Sveriges ingenjörsutbildningar
Broman, Karolina; Mårell-Olsson, Eva; Johnels, Dan; et al.
Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America, The National Academy of Scionces of the United States of America 2019, Vol. 116, (21) : 10510-10517
Flentie, Kelly; Harrison, Gregory A.; Tükenmez, Hasan; et al.
DNA Repair, Vol. 82
Jamroskovic, Jan; Obi, Ikenna; Movahedi, Anahita; et al.
International Journal of Biological Macromolecules, Elsevier 2018, Vol. 118 : 629-639
Bhattacharjee, Snehasish; Chakraborty, Sandipan; Chorell, Erik; et al.
Chemistry - A European Journal, Wiley-VCH Verlagsgesellschaft 2018, Vol. 24, (31) : 7926-7938
Prasad, Bagineni; Jamroskovic, Jan; Bhowmik, Sudipta; et al.
ChemistrySelect, John Wiley & Sons 2017, Vol. 2, (11) : 3293-3296
Kumar, Vipan; Chand, Karam; Chorell, Erik
Organic and biomolecular chemistry, Royal Society of Chemistry 2017, Vol. 15, (15) : 3265-3275
Livendahl, Madeleine; Jamroskovic, Jan; Hedenström, Mattias; et al.
PLOS ONE, Vol. 12, (9)
Pokrzywa, Malgorzata; Pawelek, Katarzyna; Kucia, Weronika Elzbieta; et al.
Cell chemical biology, Vol. 23, (3) : 404-414
Good, James A. D.; Andersson, Christopher; Hansen, Sabine; et al.
Chemistry - A European Journal, Vol. 22, (52) : 18932-18943
Jamroskovic, Jan; Livendahl, Madeleine; Eriksson, Jonas; et al.
Chemistry - A European Journal, Vol. 22, (37) : 13004-13009
Livendahl, Madeleine; Jamroskovic, Jan; Ivanova, Svetlana; et al.
Parkinson's Disease, Vol. 1
Chermenina, Maria; Chorell, Erik; Pokrzywa, Malgorzata; et al.
PLOS ONE, Vol. 10, (10) : 1-11
Chorell, Erik; Andersson, Emma; Evans, Margery L.; et al.
mBio, Vol. 6, (1)
Engström, Patrik; Krishnan, K. Syam; Ngyuen, Bidong D.; et al.
Molecular Cell, Vol. 57, (3) : 445-455
Evans, Margery L.; Chorell, Erik; Taylor, Jonathan D.; et al.
Scientific Reports, Nature Publishing Group 2015, Vol. 5
Sharma, Sandeep K; Chorell, Erik; Steneberg, Pär; et al.
Biochemical and Biophysical Research Communications - BBRC, Vol. 466, (2) : 192-195
Sharma, Sandeep K.; Chorell, Erik; Wittung-Stafshede, Pernilla
Organic Letters, American Chemical Society (ACS) 2015, Vol. 17, (24) : 6194-6197
Singh, Pardeep; Chorell, Erik; Krishnan, K Syam; et al.
Organic and biomolecular chemistry, Vol. 12, (12) : 1942-1956
Dang, Hung The; Chorell, Erik; Uvell, Hanna; et al.
mBio, Vol. 5, (6) : UNSP e02038-
Greene, Sarah E.; Pinkner, Jerome S.; Chorell, Erik; et al.
European Journal of Organic Chemistry, (28) : 6175-6182
Kindahl, Tomas; Chorell, Elin; Chorell, Erik
Organic and biomolecular chemistry, Vol. 12, (25) : 4461-4470
Kindahl, Tomas; Chorell, Erik
Chemistry and Biology, Elsevier 2013, Vol. 20, (10) : 1245-1254
Andersson, Emma K.; Bengtsson, Christoffer; Evans, Margery L.; et al.
Abstracts of Papers of the American Chemical Society, Vol. 245
Bengtsson, Christoffer; Chorell, Erik; Krishnan, Syam; et al.

Research groups

Head of research
Erik Chorell lab

Research projects

1 January 2022 until 31 December 2025

I teach organic chemistry/pharmaceutical chemistry/chemical biology and am also responsible for the bachelor of science programme in Life Science. The programme combines courses in chemistry and molecular biology and is one of the only life-science programmes in Sweden that also is given in english. Life science is an area that is developing very strongly with both many new companies and strong research. Sweden also has a national life science strategy with the goal of being a leading life-science nation, so it is very inspirational to lead an education program in this particular area!