Professor of biophysical chemistry and responsible for the national NMR infrastructure. Researches biological membranes with a focus on proteins involved in cell death.
I work as a biophysical chemist to unravel the role of biological membranes in life - from basic function to involvement in diseases. To provide molecular information about membranes, ranging from their lipid matrix to their proteins, we employ NMR spectroscopy where we have world-class instrumentation in-house (Scilifelab platform; UmU node).
Our current focus is on mitochondrial membrane systems to address the relation between membrane environment and functioning of their proteins. Focus is on the Bcl-2 protein family which is involved in regulation of programmed cell death (apoptosis) and plays a notorious role in many cancers. Our NMR approach is complemented by a range of biochemical/biophysical methods and neutron reflectometry in collaboration with ESS (Lund). In the long-term we will to shed fundamentally new light onto the molecular mechanism by which cell-protecting Bcl-2 proteins function in a membrane environment and open up new avenues for innovative cancer drugs against those proteins.
Biography
I obtained myPh.D. in the area of physical chemistry under the supervision of Prof. G. Kothe at the University of Stuttgart, DE. After a postdoctorial stay in the group of Prof. A. Watts (Biochemstry, Oxford University, UK), I started working in Umeå in 2000 and become Professor in Biophysical Chemistry here in 2008.