Gonçalo Castelo-Branco

Gonçalo Castelo-Branco

Professor
Telephone: +46852487936
Visiting address: Solnavägen 9, 6C, 17177 Stockholm
Postal address: C2 Medicinsk biokemi och biofysik, C2 Molekylär neurobiologi Castelo-Branco, 171 77 Stockholm
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About me

  • Professor of Glial Cell Biology at Karolinska Institutet (KI), Stockholm, Sweden

    Distinguished Professor of the Swedish Research Council within Medicine and Health

    Wallenberg Scholar

    Deputy Head and Chair of the Senate of the Department of Medical Biochemistry and Biophysics 

    Member of the Nobel Assembly at Karolinska Institutet



    Gonçalo Castelo Branco is a Swedish and Portuguese citizen and he was born in Cantanhede, Portugal, in 1976. He is educated in Biochemistry at the University of Coimbra with a B.Sc.. degree in 1999 and defended his PhD at KI in 2005. He did postdocs at KI 2005-2008 and at the Gurdon Institute, University of Cambridge, Great Britain, 2009-2012. He started his research group at KI in 2012. He became a docent (associate professor) in 2016. His group focuses on the molecular mechanisms regulating the epigenomic states of oligodendrocyte lineage cells in neuroinflammatory and demyelinating diseases such as multiple sclerosis (MS), using technologies such as single cell and spatial transcriptomics and epigenomics, among others. His research group has identified novel distinct oligodendroglia cell states in development and multiple sclerosis, including distinct disease-associated states, found that oligodendroglia is already primed at an epigenomic level at immune genes, to allow their transcription in neuroinflammatory environments, and developed new single-cell and spatial epigenomics technologies. Prof. Castelo- Branco has received many prestigious honors/awards, including being elected member of the Nobel Assembly at Karolinska Institutet from 2023, Distinguished Professor within Medicine and Health of the Swedish Research Council (from 2024), Wallenberg Scholar (from 2024), the Hans Wigzell prize 2022, the Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences Göran Gustafsson Prize 2021 in Medicine, the Eric K. Fernström Prize 2021, the Swedish Society for Medical Research (SSMF) 100 years Jubileum Prize 2019 and European Research Council Consolidator (2015), Advanced Grants (2023) and Proof of Concept (2025).

    Main interests: Single cell and spatial transcriptomics and epigenomics, oligodendroglia, remyelination, multiple sclerosis, neuroimmunology

    Education
    Associate Professor (Docent), Karolinska Institutet, Stockholm, Sweden
    Post-doctoral fellow, The Gurdon Institute, University of Cambridge, United Kingdom Kouzarides' lab
    Post-doctoral fellow, Department of Neuroscience, Karolinska Institutet, Sweden, Hermanson's lab
    PhD, Medical Biochemistry, Karolinska Institutet, Sweden, Arenas's lab
    B.Sc., Biochemistry, University of Coimbra, Portugal, B.Sc. student at Saraiva's lab, Institute for Molecular and Cellular Biology, University of Porto, Portugal

    Academic tree: https://neurotree.org/neurotree/tree.php?pid=60471

    Academic honours, awards and prizes

    2025 Clarivate Higlhly Cited Researcher 2025

    2024 Clarivate Highly Cited Researcher 2024

    2024 Nicholson Lecture, The Rockefeller University, NY, USA

    2023- Member of Nobel Assembly at Karolinska Institutet
    2022 Hans Wigzell Prize
    2021 Eric K. Fernström Prize
    2021 Göran Gustafsson Prize in Medicine
    2019 Swedish Society for Medical Research (SSMF) Jubileum Prize

    Recent interviews:

    Interview Medicinsk Vetenskap no 1, 2025

    Wallenberg Scholar

Research

  • Our research group is interested in the molecular mechanisms defining the epigenetic state of oligodendrocyte lineage cells. We are particularly focused on how interplay between transcription factors, non-coding RNAs and chromatin modifying enzymes contributes to the transition between epigenetic states in oligodendrocyte precursor cells, and could thereby lead to targeted therapies for illnesses such as multiple sclerosis.

    Visit our research group's webpage: https://ki.se/en/mbb/goncalo-castelo-branco-group

Selected publications

Articles

All other publications

Grants

  • Swedish Research Council
    1 October 2025 - 31 March 2026
    Spatial omics is a cutting edge field that enables unprecedented high-resolution mapping of molecular features, such as RNA, proteins, and metabolites, directly within intact tissues. These technologies are transforming how we study biology and disease by revealing the spatial organization of cell states and tissue architecture. Sweden has played a leading role in the development of spatial omics, including key technologies such as spatial transcriptomics, in situ sequencing, multiplexed imaging, among others. Building on this foundation, we propose a planning grant to prepare a national Cluster of Excellence in Spatial Omics that bridges fundamental technology development with biomedical and clinical applications.The planning initiative brings together researchers from KI, KTH, and Stockholm University, representing expertise in molecular biology, engineering, data science, life sciences and translational medicine. During the six-month planning period, we will organize workshops and coordination meetings between these researchers and the wider life sciences community to brainstorm and identify scientific priorities and milestones, define collaborative structures, including a research school, and ensure alignment with clinical, infrastructural, and societal needs. The outcome will be a roadmap for a full cluster proposal and a long-term strategy to foster Swedish leadership in this transformative field.
  • KAW Scholar
    Knut and Alice Wallenberg foundation
    1 September 2024 - 31 August 2029
  • Swedish Research Council
    1 January 2024 - 31 December 2031
    Multiple sclerosis (MS) is a neurological disease characterized by autoimmune attack in the central nervous system, targeting oligodendroglia (OLG), and their myelin, which ensheaths neuronal axons. Environment factors and genetic susceptibility play important roles in the etiology of MS. Immune genes harbors MS risk single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs)/variants. Thus, genetic predisposition affecting the adaptive immune system is currently thought to be involved in MS. Despite the extraordinary progress in immune-based therapies for MS, these have limited efficacy in the progression of MS. While OLG are mostly considered as mere passive targets in MS, our research indicates that OLG might have an active role in MS and that risk SNPs/variants might contribute to MS by affecting OLG biology. My research group aims to investigate  the role of OLG in disease etiology and progression in MS. We aim to perform detailed single-cell and spatial mapping of the transcriptomic and epigenomic landscapes of OLG in MS. We will assess functional roles of OLG in MS etiology and progression, by developing humanized models to study OLG biology in neuroinflammation, and by performing functional analysis of candidate MS-risk SNPs in OLG. Combining single-cell/spatial omics, genome-editing and functional assays in humanized mice models of MS will lead to unique insights on the role of OLG and SNPs in MS etiology and progression, and advances in the discovery of novel targets for MS therapies.
  • ERC Advanced Grant
    European Research Council
    1 January 2024 - 31 December 2028
  • European Research Council
    1 January 2024 - 31 December 2028
    Multiple sclerosis (MS) is a neurological disease characterized by autoimmune attack targeting oligodendroglia (OLG) in the central nervous system (CNS), and in particular their myelin, which ensheaths neuronal axons. Genome-wide association studies (GWAS) have led to the identification of hundreds of single-nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) and variants that are associated with MS risk. Many of these are located near genes associated with immune cells, indicating a key role for these cells in MS. Using single-cell omics approaches, we recently found that OLG present chromatin accessibility or express genes associated with some of these SNPs/variants, both in health and disease. Here, we hypothesize that OLG have a more active role in MS than previously anticipated, and therefore we will determine the function of MS SNPs/variants in OLG in the context of MS, using humanized mouse models, patient samples and new single-cell omics techniques recently developed in my group. We will 1) characterize in-depth the transcriptomic and epigenomic landscape of human and mouse OLG in the context of MS, to identify putative genes affected by the SNPs/variants
    2) perform CRISPR-guided editing of a cohort of the identified SNPs/variants in human OLG, and determine the consequences of the editing at a) an epigenomic and transcriptional level, linking specific SNPs/variants to their bona-fide target genes, and b) a functional level, by performing an array of functional assays targeting myelination, cell survival, and immune function, both in vitro and in humanized mouse chimeras in which engineered human OLG have been transplanted. We will use single-cell and spatial omics technologies, such as nanoCUT&Tag and spatial CUT&Tag, among others which we have recently developed in my research group. The results of this project will yield unique insights into the role of OLG and the identified SNPs/variants in MS, and thereby pave the way to novel therapeutic avenues for this disease.
  • Swedish Research Council
    1 January 2020 - 31 December 2024
  • Swedish Research Council
    1 January 2016 - 31 December 2019

Employments

  • Professor, Department of Medical Biochemistry and Biophysics, Karolinska Institutet, 2021-

Degrees and Education

  • Docent, Karolinska Institutet, 2016
  • Doctor Of Philosophy, Department of Medical Biochemistry and Biophysics, Karolinska Institutet, 2005

Leadership and responsibility assignments

  • Head of department administration, Deputy Head of Department, Department of Medical Biochemistry and Biophysics, Karolinska Institutet, 2024-
  • Head of department administration, Chair of Senate, Department of Medical Biochemistry and Biophysics, Karolinska Institutet, 2024-

Committee work

  • Member, Nobel Assembly at Karolinska Institutet, Karolinska Institutet, 2023-

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