Kalle Malmberg group - Natural Killer Cell Biology and Cell Therapy

Karl-Johan Malmberg received his M.D. (2000) and PhD (2003) from Karolinska Institutet. He is a specialist in Hematology and currently hold a position as Professor of Immunology at the University of Oslo, Norway and a Visiting Professor in Cell-Based Cancer Immunotherapy at the Karolinska Institute, Stockholm, Sweden. He is a Co-Director of the Department of Cancer immunology, Institute for cancer Research, Oslo University Hospital (OUH) and since 2019 he leads StratCell, a strategic research program at the OUH. He is the Co-Director of the recently formed competence center in NK cell therapy funded by Vinnova physically located at the Department of Medicine, Karolinska Institute.

Ebba completed her PhD at Stockholm University on the neonatal innate immune system and herpesviruses.  After a post-doc in the group she is now a project manager continuing her work in the field of NK-cell immunotherapy and translating findings into new patient treatments and clinical studies. When not at work, Ebba enjoys going to museums and concerts.

Quirin completed his PhD at the German Rheumatism Research Centre and the Humboldt University of Berlin in 2018. During his PhD, he studied host-pathogen interactions between human natural killer cells and cytomegalovirus. He is now a post-doc in the group and his work focuses on developing next-generation NK cell immunotherapy against cancer. When not at work, Quirin enjoys learning chess, having coffee, and socializing.

Alvaro obtained his Masters degree in Genetics from the University of Glasgow, UK in 2016. He is now a PhD student in the group and his work focuses on understanding basic principles governing NK cell cytotoxicity with the specific goal of applying this knowledge to NK-cell immunotherapy approaches. In his free-time he enjoys cooking, reading, and downhill skiing.

Pouria received his medical degree from Karolinska Institute in 2015 and is currently a resident in Hematology at the Karolinska University hospital. His PhD studies concern next-generation NK-cell immunotherapy, specifically prolonging the survival of transferred NK cells in patients receiving immunotherapy. In his spare time, he enjoys cooking, reading, watching football and experiencing different forms of art, preferably with friends and family.

Oisin completed his PhD at the University of Cambridge and AstraZeneca in 2020. His research focused on the role of tissue resident innate lymphoid cells in pregnancy and ovarian cancer. His post-doc will focus on tuning the responses of NK cells and the mechanisms behind their "molecular memory". Outside the lab, he is looking forward to exploring all Stockholm has to offer.

Pilar completed her PhD at the University of Zaragoza in 2020. During her PhD, she aimed at improving NK cell immunotherapy against solid tumours with drug resistance mutations. She is now a post-doc in the group and her work focuses on NK cell tuning to develop new strategies for NK cell-based immunotherapy. When not at work Pilar enjoys nature activities, music, and reading.

Andreas is working at the unit for cell therapy and allogeneic stem cell transplantation (CAST) at the Karolinska University hospital. During his PhD he focused on NK cell maturation and education after allogeneic stem cell transplantation and the impact on relapse risk, infections and GVHD. He was the clinical PI of the Malmberg teams’ first NK cell therapy trial, and is now preparing the coming study using adaptive NK cells against chemorefractory AML and MDS. Andreas is also interested in understanding the regulatory immune environment and the tumor immune niche in relation to different adoptive cell therapies.

Marie completed her PhD at Karolinska Institutet in 2006. The subject was on HLA and KIR polymorphism in hematopoietic stem cell transplantation. She is since many years working at Clinical Immunology department where she has the technical responsibility for all HLA-typings related to transplantation. When not at work she enjoys several cultural activities such as singing in choir, reading, watching films and exhibitions.