Biography
Professor Robert A. Harris
Professor Robert A. Harris (Bob) was born in Harpenden in Southern UK in 1966. He conducted a Bsc.Hons undergraduate degree at Portsmouth Polytechnic, majoring in Parasitology in 1987. PhD studies at University College London studying innate immune agglutinins in Schistosoma host snail species with Terry Preston and Vaughan Southgate as supervisors culminated with a thesis defence in early 1991. A 2.5 year postdoc at the London School of Hygiene & Tropical Medicine in Paul Kaye’s research group ensued, with focus on understanding the intracellular fate of Leishmania spp. protozoans in macrophages. Bob was awarded a Wellcome Trust postdoctoral fellowship that permitted his relocation to the Karolinska Institutet (Stockholm, Sweden) in the spring of 1994. A postdoc period was spent split between the labs of Anders Örn and Tomas Olsson, in which he studied Trypanosoma cruzi and Trypanosoma bruceii protozoan proteins. Bob became an Associate Professor at the Karolinska Institutet in 1999, heralding his establishment as a PI. Bob started to work with autoimmune diseases in 1996 and began study of therapy using live parasite infections or parasite molecules. His research group has developed autoantigen-specific vaccines, defined the effects of post-translational biochemical molecules on autoantigenicity and developed a macrophage adoptive transfer therapy that prevents pathogenesis in several experimental disease models. He became Professor of Immunotherapy in Neurological Diseases in 2013. In recent years research focus has centred on understanding the immunopathogenesis of incurable neurodegenerative diseases, with particular emphasis on development of immunotherapies directed at microglial cells as potential therapeutic paradigms.
Bob Harris CV July 2020
ERIK HERLENIUS GROUP
Development of autonomic control
About
Immature or deficient autonomic control is a common problem in infants born at a premature age and is of central importance in apneas, secondary hypoxic brain damage and sudden infant death syndrome.
PER ERIKSSON GROUP
Research
For better understanding of disturbances in respiratory control we study early development of cardiorespiratory control, brainstem neural networks and its associations with normal and pathological breathing. The conceptual change introduced by our recent data that endogenous prostaglandins are central pathogenic factors in respiratory disorders and the hypoxic response, open new diagnostic and therapeutic avenues that should significantly better the diagnostics and treatment of newborns and adult patients.
Inflammation is a major culprit in breathing disorders and we hypothesize that by using a newly developed urinary prostaglandin biomarker we can screen, detect and protect against inflammation related breathing disorders.
Our collaborative efforts enable us to move from a clinical problem to molecular understanding of the disease and studies are performed in patients, animal & in vitro models.
Our research is focused on the development of autonomic control with normal and paediatric patients as the target. Autonomic dysfunction in breathing and circulatory control often has its origin in neurodevelopment disorders. Furthermore, our basic research in developmental neuroscience how neural activity and stem cells form activity dependent networks is vital for the development of therapeutic interventions.
Read more
Contact: communication@cmm.se
CENTER FOR MOLECULAR MEDICINE
HANS GRÖNLUND GROUP
Therapeutic immune design
About
Our goal is to improve the quality of life for patients with chronic inflammatory disease or cancer. The approach is “translational”, i.e. we aim to bring research results from the lab to clinical application, in the form of improved diagnostic tools and curative treatments.
We work within the following research areas:
Multiple sclerosis (MS)
Our goal is to identify novel autoantigens in MS. We will explore their applicability as biomarkers and their potential for personalized curative treatment development.
Allergy
We identify, characterize and produce allergens from cat, dog and horse. The aim is to improve diagnosis and to develop novel vaccines for treatment of allergy to pets.
Cancer
We develop personalized immunotherapy of tumor disease. The strategy is to identify and produce tumor specific antigens for application in individualized cancer immunotherapy.
Projects
We focus on diagnostics and curative treatments of chronic inflammatory diseases and cancer. Central to our research is the design and production of proteins for analyses of pathogenic antibodies and immune cells. The goal is to provide novel remedies applicable for clinical use.
Research areas:
Multiple Sclerosis (MS)
MS is a disabling neurodegenerative autoimmune disease of the central nervous system (CNS). The exact targets for the pathological autoimmune attack in MS are not known. To advance the understanding of MS etiology it is crucial to define relevant autoantigens. Our research is based on a new method for detection of T-cell activation in response to CNS specific antigens. The project is performed in close collaboration with clinicians who provide blood samples from well characterized patients. Autoantigen candidates are produced as recombinant proteins and further evaluated in order to open new avenues for improved diagnostics and personalized treatment.
Allergy
Allergy affects about 25% of the population and can cause rhinitis, eczema and asthma. The allergic reactions are caused by proteins released from e.g. pollen, mites or animal dander. We are particularly investigating allergy to pets, i.e. cat, dog and horse. To this end we aim to identify all relevant pet allergens. Up to date we have produced and possess almost all known pet allergens as recombinant proteins. The allergens are used to map allergen profiles among pets and allergy profiles to single pet allergens among pet allergic patients. The allergens are our tools for improving diagnosis and treatment by developing component resolved diagnostics and designing novel allergy vaccines for efficient and safe curative immunotherapy.
Cancer
It is estimated that at least every third individual in Sweden will get a cancer diagnosis within their life time. Several treatment options exist today, including immunotherapy by adoptive cell transfer of ex-vivo expanded tumor specific lymphocytes. This approach is critically dependent on targeting of tumor specific antigens. Technical advances in DNA sequencing has opened for the identification of mutations in tumor expressed genes, i.e. neoantigens. In close collaboration with clinicians we aim to develop means for personalized cancer treatment based on identification and production of neoantigens to be applied in adoptive cell transfer immunotherapy.
Partners
Please see links to visit our scientific partners:
Medi-tec (Swedish only)
Allerginius (Swedish only)
CBD Solutions
Selected Publications
Bronge M, Ruhrmann S, Carvalho-Queiroz C, Nilsson OB, Kaiser A, Holmgren E, Macrini C, Winklmeier S, Meinl E, Brundin L, Khademi M, Olsson T, Gafvelin G, Grönlund H. Myelin oligodendrocyte glycoprotein revisited-sensitive detection of MOG-specific T-cells in multiple sclerosis. J Autoimmun. 2019 Aug;102:38-49
Magalhaes I, Carvalho-Queiroz C, Hartana CA, Kaiser A, Lukic A, Mints M, Nilsson O, Grönlund H, Mattsson J, Berglund S. Facing the future: challenges and opportunities in adoptive T cell therapy in cancer. Expert Opin Biol Ther. 2019 Aug;19(8):811-827
Wintersand A, Asplund K, Binnmyr J, Holmgren E, Nilsson OB, Gafvelin G, Grönlund H. Allergens in dog extracts: Implication for diagnosis and treatment. Allergy. 2019 Aug;74(8):1472-1479
Bronge M, Kaiser A, Carvalho-Queiroz C, Nilsson OB, Ruhrmann S, Holmgren E, Olsson T, Gafvelin G, Grönlund H. Sensitive detection of antigen-specific T-cells using bead-bound antigen for in vitro re-stimulation. MethodsX. 2019 Jul 8; 6: 1635-1641
Önell A, Whiteman A, Nordlund B, Baldracchini F, Mazzoleni G, Hedlin G, Grönlund H, Konradsen JR. Allergy testing in children with persistent asthma: comparison of four diagnostic methods. Allergy. 2017 Apr;72(4):590-597.
Ayoglu B, Mitsios N, Kockum I, Khademi M, Zandian A, Sjöberg R, Forsström B, Bredenberg J, Lima Bomfim I, Holmgren E, Grönlund H, Guerreiro-Cacais AO, Abdelmagid N, Uhlén M, Waterboer T, Alfredsson L, Mulder J, Schwenk JM, Olsson T, Nilsson P. Anoctamin 2 identified as an autoimmune target in multiplesclerosis. Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A. 2016 Feb 23;113(8):2188-93.
Neimert-Andersson T, Binnmyr J, Enoksson M, Langebäck J, Zettergren L, Hällgren AC, Franzén H, Lind Enoksson S, Lafolie P, Lindberg A, Al-Tawil N, Andersson M, Singer P, Grönlund H, Gafvelin G. Evaluation of safety and efficacy as an adjuvant for the chitosan-based vaccine delivery vehicle ViscoGel in a single-blind randomized Phase I/IIa clinical trial. Vaccine. 2014 Oct 14;32(45):5967-74.
Nilsson OB, Neimert-Andersson T, Bronge M, Grundström J, Sarma R, Uchtenhagen H, Kikhney A, Sandalova T, Holmgren E, Svergun D, Achour A, van Hage M, Grönlund H. Designing a multimer allergen for diagnosis and immunotherapy of dog allergic patients. PLoS One. 2014 Oct 29;9(10):e111041.
Polovic N, Wadén K, Binnmyr J, Hamsten C, Grönneberg R, Palmberg C, Milcic-Matic N, Bergman T, Grönlund H, van Hage M. Dog saliva – an important source of dog allergens. Allergy. 2013 May;68(5):585-92.
Nilsson OB, Binnmyr J, Zoltowska A, Saarne T, van Hage M, Grönlund H. Characterization of the dog lipocalin allergen Can f 6: the role in cross-reactivity with cat and horse. Allergy. 2012 Jun;67(6):751-7.
Neimert-Andersson T, Thunberg S, Swedin L, Wiedermann U, Jacobsson-Ekman G, Dahlén SE, Scheynius A, Grönlund H, van Hage M, Gafvelin G. Carbohydrate-based particles reduce allergic inflammation in a mouse model for cat allergy. Allergy. 2008 May;63(5):518-26.
Kaiser L, Grönlund H, Sandalova T, Ljunggren HG, van Hage-Hamsten M, Achour A, Schneider G. The crystal structure of the major cat allergen Fel d 1, a member of the secretoglobin family. J Biol Chem. 2003 Sep 26;278(39):37730-5.
Valenta R, Lidholm J, Niederberger V, Hayek B, Kraft D, Grönlund H. The recombinant allergen-based concept of component-resolved diagnostics and immunotherapy (CRD and CRIT). Clin Exp Allergy.1999 Jul;29(7):896-904.