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.
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Contact: communication@cmm.se
CENTER FOR MOLECULAR MEDICINE
KRISTINA BROLIDEN GROUP
Infection and immunology
About
The Broliden group works within the field of Infection-Immunology and is divided into teams headed by Professor Kristina Broliden, Professor Anna Färnert (malaria), Associate Professor Annelie Tjernlund (HIV), Doctor Lars Öhrmalm (infections in immunosuppressed patients), Doctor Christopher Sundling (vaccine immunology) and Doctor Muhammad Asghar (infections and ageing biology). The group is located within the CMM facility at the Karolinska University Hospital in Solna. All members of the group are affiliated to the Department of Medicine Solna, Karolinska Institutet and have a close association with the Department of Infectious Diseases, Karolinska University Hospital. The two main projects, malaria and HIV, are also closely associated to research institutes and universities in Kenya, Tanzania, USA and Canada and have attracted significant international funding.
Malaria
Malaria remains a major global health problem and new tools are needed to reduce malaria morbidity and mortality and eventually reach the goals of elimination.
Development of an efficacious vaccine will require further understanding of how natural immunity to malaria is acquired and maintained. Our group is particularly interested in the importance of the extensive diversity of parasite antigens and mechanisms involved in the maintenance of protection. The molecular and sero-epidemiology of malaria is studied in a longitudinal population cohort in areas of varying transmission in Sub-Saharan Africa. Moreover, immune responses are studied in depth in a cohort of patients successfully treated for malaria and prospectively followed in Sweden, thus without risk of reinfection. Immunological memory is studied in the context of different infections and vaccines. In addition, we assess long term effects of malaria and other infections on the host including ageing biology. In a nationwide study of malaria in Sweden we investigate host factors, such as comorbidities, in relation to the risk of severe malaria, with aim to improve the clinical management and prevention of malaria.
Genital mucosal barriers against HIV infection
Environmental factors including hormonal contraceptive use, genital infections and seminal fluid itself affect the susceptibility to HIV infection as demonstrated in epidemiological and experimental studies. The molecular mechanisms behind these findings are however poorly defined. Our group aims to study how the human female genital tract is affected by these factors by assessing tissue samples and cervicovaginal secretions from large cohorts of Swedish and Kenyan women who are sexually exposed to HIV infection. Genital samples are defined by expression of epithelial junction proteins, distribution and density of HIV target cell receptors, presence and function of tissue-resident memory T cells as well as innate immune proteins by using imaging, tissue explants models and proteomics. By exploring some of the underlying mechanisms for a dysfunctional mucosal barrier we hope to contribute to the development of topical prophylactic compounds and to the prescription of optimal contraceptive methods to women.