Image 1
Image 2
Image 3

Research

People

Person 1

Sven Nelander is a cross-disciplinary scientist focused on understanding, modeling, and treating brain cancers. With a background in medicine and mathematics, his research applies mathematical and experimental techniques to identify mechanisms and therapeutic targets, emphasizing cellular reprogramming to suppress tumor growth and improve therapies. Originally from southern Sweden, Sven studied medicine and mathematics in Lund before earning a Ph.D. in developmental processes in Gothenburg, doing early work in decoding cell type-specific gene regulation. As a postdoc in Chris Sander’s lab and later as an independent investigator, he invented new ways of modeling how cancer cells integrate perturbations from mutation, treatment, and stress. Since joining Uppsala University and SciLifeLab in 2012, Sven has built a research program linking tumor biobanking and neuro-oncology with modern systems biology, with support from several major foundations. He also serves as the founding director of CNSx3, a national center advancing modeling approaches for brain diseases. Outside the lab, Sven enjoys time with family, running, mushroom foraging, and restoring his summer house. He’s also an avid watercolorist with a passion for capturing light and fleeting moments in pigments.n

Person 2

Irem is a PhD student in Nelander lab.

Person 3

Anders Sundström is a bioinformatician working predominantly across the omics landscape along some ventures into system biology and image analysis. A native of Uppsala, he started studying social science and humanities but quickly changed to life science. After completing his Master of Science in Engineering with a focus on bioinformatics, he worked on developing software for comparative genomics. Since 2015, he has been part of the Neuro-Oncology program at the Department of Immunology, Genetics, and Pathology at Uppsala University. In his parallel personal journey, he spent a year at art school where he participated in a group exhibition at the Iziko National Gallery of South Africa, earned a green belt in capoeira and became a two-time champion in the international Gagarin Cup floorball tournament. More recently he is trying to master bouldering with very limited success.

Person 4

Madeleine started as a computational PhD student in Nelander lab in 2023, after earning her M.Sc. in Biophysics from Uppsala University the same year. Her work is focused on leveraging machine learning and image analysis to investigate the morphological and transcriptional heterogeneity and plasticity in glioblastoma. Her most recent work involves developing a method of single-cell tracking for in vitro and ex vivo settings, with the goal of following fluctuations in cellular morphology and protein expression over time. Outside of work, Madeleine dedicates most of her time to catching up with family and friends, as well as taking the occasional forest bath.

Person 5

Hitesh Mangukiya specializes in studying the complex interactions between tumor cells, vascular cells, and microglia, with a focus on cell dynamics and invasion in glioblastoma. His current research centers on investigating cell dynamics, characterizing patient-specific tumor-endothelial interactions, and enhancing our understanding of glioblastoma’s invasive nature.

Person 6

Josi is a PhD student in Nelander lab.

Person 7

Rebecka is a PhD student in Nelander lab.

Publications

Real-time evaluation of glioblastoma growth in patient-specific zebrafish xenografts

Almstedt E, Rosén E, Gloger M, Stockgard R, Hekmati N, Koltowska K, Krona C, Nelander S.

Neuro Oncol. 2022 May 4;24(5):726-738.

Comparative epigenetic analysis of tumour initiating cells and syngeneic EPSC-derived neural stem cells in glioblastoma

Vinel C, Rosser G, Guglielmi L, Constantinou M, Pomella N, Zhang X, Boot JR, Jones TA, Millner TO, Dumas AA, Rakyan V, Rees J, Thompson JL, Vuononvirta J, Nadkarni S, El Assan T, Aley N, Lin YY, Liu P, Nelander S, Sheer D, Merry CLR, Marelli-Berg F, Brandner S, Marino S.

Nat Commun. 2021 Oct 21;12(1):6130.

Autocrine signaling can explain the emergence of Allee effects in cancer cell populations

Gerlee P, Altrock PM, Malik A, Krona C, Nelander S.

PLoS Comput Biol. 2022 Mar 3;18(3):e1009844.

Modeling glioblastoma heterogeneity as a dynamic network of cell states

Larsson I, Dalmo E, Elgendy R, Niklasson M, Doroszko M, Segerman A, Jörnsten R, Westermark B, Nelander S.

Mol Syst Biol. 2021 Sep;17(9):e10105.

NF1 regulates mesenchymal glioblastoma plasticity and aggressiveness through the AP-1 transcription factor FOSL1

Marques C, Unterkircher T, Kroon P, Oldrini B, Izzo A, Dramaretska Y, Ferrarese R, Kling E, Schnell O, Nelander S, Wagner EF, Bakiri L, Gargiulo G, Carro MS, Squatrito M.

Elife. 2021 Aug 17;10:e64846.

Inferring the experimental design for accurate gene regulatory network inference

Seçilmiş D, Hillerton T, Nelander S, Sonnhammer ELL.

Bioinformatics. 2021 May 12:btab367.

Monotherapy efficacy of blood-brain barrier permeable small molecule reactivators of protein phosphatase 2A in glioblastoma

Merisaari J, Denisova OV, Doroszko M, Le Joncour V, Johansson P, Leenders WPJ, Kastrinsky DB, Zaware N, Narla G, Laakkonen P, Nelander S, Ohlmeyer M, Westermarck J.

Brain Commun. 2020 Jan 11;2(1):fcaa002.

A Patient-Derived Cell Atlas Informs Precision Targeting of Glioblastoma

Johansson P, Krona C, Kundu S, Doroszko M, Baskaran S, Schmidt L, Vinel C, Almstedt E, Elgendy R, Elfineh L, Gallant C, Lundsten S, Ferrer Gago FJ, Hakkarainen A, Sipilä P, Häggblad M, Martens U, Lundgren B, Frigault MM, Lane DP, Swartling FJ, Uhrbom L, Nestor M, Marino S, Nelander S.

Cell Rep. 2020 Jul 14;32(2):107897.

HCN Channel Activity Balances Quiescence and Proliferation in Neural Stem Cells and Is a Selective Target for Neuroprotection During Cancer Treatment

Johard H, Omelyanenko A, Fei G, Zilberter M, Dave Z, Abu-Youssef R, Schmidt L, Harisankar A, Vincent CT, Walfridsson J, Nelander S, Harkany T, Blomgren K, Andäng M.

Mol Cancer Res. 2020 Oct;18(10):1522-1533.

Growth-Inhibitory Activity of Bone Morphogenetic Protein 4 in Human Glioblastoma Cell Lines Is Heterogeneous and Dependent on Reduced SOX2 Expression

Dalmo E, Johansson P, Niklasson M, Gustavsson I, Nelander S, Westermark B.

Mol Cancer Res. 2020 Jul;18(7):981-991. doi: 10.1158/1541-7786.MCR-19-0638.

PMID: 31900415; PMCID: PMC6941971.

Real-time evaluation of glioblastoma growth in patient-specific zebrafish xenografts

Almstedt E, Rosén E, Gloger M, Stockgard R, Hekmati N, Koltowska K, Krona C, Nelander S.

Neuro Oncol. 2022 May 4;24(5):726-738.

PMID: 35490730; PMCID: PMC9009924.

Comparative epigenetic analysis of tumour initiating cells and syngeneic EPSC-derived neural stem cells in glioblastoma

Vinel C, Rosser G, Guglielmi L, Constantinou M, Pomella N, Zhang X, Boot JR, Jones TA, Millner TO, Dumas AA, Rakyan V, Rees J, Thompson JL, Vuononvirta J, Nadkarni S, El Assan T, Aley N, Lin YY, Liu P, Nelander S, Sheer D, Merry CLR, Marelli-Berg F, Brandner S, Marino S.

Nat Commun. 2021 Oct 21;12(1):6130.

PMID: 34615747; PMCID: PMC8533345.

Autocrine signaling can explain the emergence of Allee effects in cancer cell populations

Gerlee P, Altrock PM, Malik A, Krona C, Nelander S.

PLoS Comput Biol. 2022 Mar 3;18(3):e1009844.

PMID: 35275681; PMCID: PMC8915275.

Modeling glioblastoma heterogeneity as a dynamic network of cell states

Larsson I, Dalmo E, Elgendy R, Niklasson M, Doroszko M, Segerman A, Jörnsten R, Westermark B, Nelander S.

Mol Syst Biol. 2021 Sep;17(9):e10105.

PMID: 34530610; PMCID: PMC8430723.

NF1 regulates mesenchymal glioblastoma plasticity and aggressiveness through the AP-1 transcription factor FOSL1

Marques C, Unterkircher T, Kroon P, Oldrini B, Izzo A, Dramaretska Y, Ferrarese R, Kling E, Schnell O, Nelander S, Wagner EF, Bakiri L, Gargiulo G, Carro MS, Squatrito M.

Elife. 2021 Aug 17;10:e64846.

PMID: 34421016; PMCID: PMC8352079.

Inferring the experimental design for accurate gene regulatory network inference

Seçilmiş D, Hillerton T, Nelander S, Sonnhammer ELL.

Bioinformatics. 2021 May 12:btab367.

PMID: 33858493; PMCID: PMC8251454.

Monotherapy efficacy of blood-brain barrier permeable small molecule reactivators of protein phosphatase 2A in glioblastoma

Merisaari J, Denisova OV, Doroszko M, Le Joncour V, Johansson P, Leenders WPJ, Kastrinsky DB, Zaware N, Narla G, Laakkonen P, Nelander S, Ohlmeyer M, Westermarck J.

Brain Commun. 2020 Jan 11;2(1):fcaa002.

PMID: 32007595; PMCID: PMC6983439.

A Patient-Derived Cell Atlas Informs Precision Targeting of Glioblastoma

Johansson P, Krona C, Kundu S, Doroszko M, Baskaran S, Schmidt L, Vinel C, Almstedt E, Elgendy R, Elfineh L, Gallant C, Lundsten S, Ferrer Gago FJ, Hakkarainen A, Sipilä P, Häggblad M, Martens U, Lundgren B, Frigault MM, Lane DP, Swartling FJ, Uhrbom L, Nestor M, Marino S, Nelander S.

Cell Rep. 2020 Jul 14;32(2):107897.

PMID: 32608799; PMCID: PMC7388369.

HCN Channel Activity Balances Quiescence and Proliferation in Neural Stem Cells and Is a Selective Target for Neuroprotection During Cancer Treatment

Johard H, Omelyanenko A, Fei G, Zilberter M, Dave Z, Abu-Youssef R, Schmidt L, Harisankar A, Vincent CT, Walfridsson J, Nelander S, Harkany T, Blomgren K, Andäng M.

Mol Cancer Res. 2020 Oct;18(10):1522-1533.

PMID: 32758616; PMCID: PMC7522241.

Growth-Inhibitory Activity of Bone Morphogenetic Protein 4 in Human Glioblastoma Cell Lines Is Heterogeneous and Dependent on Reduced SOX2 Expression

Dalmo E, Johansson P, Niklasson M, Gustavsson I, Nelander S, Westermark B.

Mol Cancer Res. 2020 Jul;18(7):981-991.

PMID: 32004222; PMCID: PMC7522682.

News

Join

Contact