Hello new staff #19

Ivan is from Croatia and completed his PhD in France through an academic–industry collaboration with Sanofi, focusing on lipid nanoparticles, mRNA delivery, and immune cell engineering. Outside the lab, he enjoys staying active, spending time in nature, and following a natural curiosity for new experiences. He will work on CAR-T cell engineering and gene editing for cancer immunotherapy at KI.

Aparnaa obtained her Biomedical Science and Medical Degrees from Brighton and Sussex Medical School (UK). During this time, she worked on Dengue research at the University of Oxford. She served as a Doctor in the NHS and after her senior house officer role, she received a scholarship to pursue her Master’s in Infectious Diseases and Global Health at Duke University (USA). She studied the use of AI in Traumatic Brain Injury management at Duke Health, and the impact of food insecurity on childhood obesity in Singapore. 

Michaela comes from the Czech republic, where she also finished her Master's degree with a background in biochemistry and molecular biology. She has previously worked on lipid nanoparticles for nucleic acid delivery, both in academic and industrial settings.

Her research will be conducted partly in Matti Sällberg's group and partly in Samir El Andaloussi's group, where she hopes to continue exploring the possibilities of lipid nanoparticles for in vivo expression of therapeutics.

 

After Nicole Marquardt finished her PhD in Immunology at Hannover Medical School, Germany, she was recruited to KI as a postdoc in the group of Jakob Michaëlsson (CIM, MedH). Later she continued as Assistant Professor, focusing on natural Killer (NK) cells in human tissues, particularly the human lung. From 2023 to 2026, Nicole served as PI and Team leader at HERM, MedH, before joining LabMed. She is a Docent in Immunology and will continue her research on NK cells in human tissues in health and disease in the Annika Karlsson research group. Her work focuses particularly on NK cells role in lung cancer, respiratory viral infections, and intestinal inflammation, including inflammatory bowel disease (IBD). In addition to her current research, a key future direction will be the development of advanced tissue models, including explants and organoids, to enable in vitro infection and 3D co-culture studies.

Lara is originally from Brittany, France. She completed her PhD at the Saint-Antoine Research Center in Paris, where she focused on breast cancer metabolism and cell death. Her work particularly explored the role of the fatty acid transporter CD36 in modulating the sensitivity of aggressive breast cancer cells to ferroptosis. At Labmed she will work on how lysosome biology, mTORC1 signaling, and metabolic enzyme complex formation shape tumor cell behavior and metabolic adaptation. 

Victor has a background at KI as a student in the dentistry program and later as teacher and supervisor for dental students in oral and maxillofacial surgery. He eventually chose to pursue a degree in economics at Stockholm University, from which he recently graduated. At Labmed he will work as finance officer in the Labmed Professional Services finance team.

Susanne joined KI on March 16 from the Swedish School of Sport and Health Sciences (GIH), where she has worked since 2011. During her time there, she has held several administrative roles, including within HR and finance, as an education administrator, and as a departmental secretary. At LabMed, she will work as a Coordinator for Division of Clinical Physiology and Division of Clinical Pharmacology, supporting with a wide range of administrative tasks. She looks forward to contributing to the daily operations and getting to know her new colleagues.