Mats Hamberg
Professor of Medical Chemistry at the Department of Medical Biochemistry and Biophysics since 1997.
Mats Hamberg's research is focused on oxygenation reactions in polyunsaturated fatty acids and the enzymes that are involved, including lipoxygenase, cyclooxygenase and alpha-dioxygenase.
Working with Bengt Samuelsson in the 1970s he discovered animal lipoxygenase, prostaglandin endoperoxides and thromboxanes. His subsequent work has mainly involved non-mammal and plant systems. He has discovered several new enzymes and reaction products in these fields, including those that produce jasmonic acid in higher plants. The term oxylipin was coined in connection with these studies as a collective term for oxygenated fatty acid compounds.
His current research is mainly focused on functional and phylogenetic studies of oxylipins in plants and lower animals.
