Jenny Löfgren

Jenny Löfgren

Affiliated to Research | Docent
Visiting address: NB05:03, Gävlegatan 55, 17176 Stockholm
Postal address: K1 Molekylär medicin och kirurgi, K1 MMK Rekonstruktiv plastikkirurgi och global kirurgi, 171 76 Stockholm
Part of:

About me

  • Through my research I combine my two professional passions - global surgery and reconstructive plastic surgery! 

    I have been active within the field of global surgery since 2011 when I started working on my PhD projects on groin hernia in Uganda. I defended this thesis in September 2015 which later was awarded price for best surgical thesis that year by the Swedish Society of Surgeons. Since then, the scope of the research as well as the partnerships have grown exponentially to include a variety of projects relating to surgery and it's allied disciplines in four countries in sub-Saharan Africa. I have been the project leader for "Global Surgery Stockholm" since 2016 and have had the great opportunity to receive funding from the Swedish Research Council and others for this work. 

    Clinically, I am a consultant plastic surgeon at Karolinska University Hospital. Though I find that all aspects of my work as a plastic surgeon are rewarding and interesting, my main focus have turned to microvascular reconstruction, mostly after cancer and trauma. My research within plastic surgery is carried out in Sweden and relates to head and neck cancer, sarcoma, burns and transgender surgery. 

    Looking forward, I hope to see the two areas of research merging and I anticipate and look forward to many new collaborations - both geographically and content wise. 

Research

  • Global Surgery is a rapidly growing field of research. It's aim is to acheive
    equity in health. The research is clinically oriented and designed to meet
    desired features of innovations in Low and Middle Income countries: Low-cost,
    high-quality, setting appropriate and sustainable solutions. The common
    denominator for the research is that it often begins by measuring a problem,
    typically burden of disease due to a specific condition before trials are
    designed to evaluate possible solutions to the problem under study.
    Currently, the research evolves around groin hernia, surgical task sharing, surgical training, breast cancer biology and genetics, sarcoma, pathological fractures, paediatric surgery and health economics.

    The research related to reconstructive plastic surgery evolves around sarcoma, reconstruction after head and neck cancer and transgender surgery with several ongoing and planned projects. Some PhD students participate in projects both within the global surgery and the plastic surgery fields. 


    Research project: Global Surgery [1]
    [1] https://ki.se/en/mmk/global-surgery

Teaching

  • Course organiser for the Global Surgery elective course for medical students
    at Karolinska Institutet.
    I have supervised 20+ degree projects for medical students at Karolinska
    Institutet, Uppsala University and Umeå University.

Articles

All other publications

Grants

  • Swedish Research Council
    1 January 2023 - 31 December 2025
    Purpose The purpose is to strengthen the global surgery research group at Karolinska Institutet. Pressing scientific questions will be answered and researchers of the future will be trained. The aims of the project are to:1) Expand on the research relating to groin hernia - including surgical techniques, task sharing, surgical training and health economics.  2) Continue the work relating to breast cancer focusing on genetics and artificial intelligence. 3) Introduce and build research relating to trauma which will bridge my clinical work as a reconstructive plastic surgeon with my global surgery research. Project organisation, time plan and scientific methodsThe project consists of several studies, currently involving 6 PhD students. The group has a large number of collaborators in Sub-Saharan Africa, Europe and the US. The studies outlined in the application are a mix of ongoing research that will be completed early during the grant period, studies that will be initiated and a new field of interest that is being developed. The core of the research is randomised, clinical trials. Other methods include epidemiology, qualitative research, genetics, and health economics. What is important about the planned researchSurgery has long been a neglected field within global health. 5 billion people lack access to surgical services of quality. The planned research will futher move the needle for global surgery, aiming at providing evidence for best practices and policy making.
  • Swedish Research Council
    1 January 2020 - 31 December 2021
  • Swedish Research Council
    1 January 2019 - 31 December 2022
  • Swedish Research Council for Health Working Life and Welfare
    1 December 2017 - 30 November 2018
  • Swedish Research Council
    1 January 2017 - 31 December 2019
  • Swedish Research Council
    1 January 2017 - 31 December 2019
  • Swedish Research Council
    1 January 2013 - 31 December 2015

Employments

  • Consultant reconstructive plastic surgeon, Reconstructive Plastic Surgery, Karolinska University Hospital, 2022-
  • Affiliated to Research, Department of Molecular Medicine and Surgery, Karolinska Institutet, 2024-2027
  • Assistant Professor, Department of Molecular Medicine and Surgery, Karolinska Institutet, 2019-2022
  • Postdoctoral Researcher, Department of Molecular Medicine and Surgery, Karolinska Institutet, 2017-2017
  • Clinical Position, ME Plastik- och kraniofacialkirurgi, Karolinska Universitetssjukhuset

Degrees and Education

  • Docent, Karolinska Institutet, 2022
  • PhD in Surgery, Groin Hernia Surgery in Uganda - epidemiology, mosquito nets and cost effectiveness, Umeå University, 2015
  • University Medical Degree, Karolinska Institutet, 2011

News from KI

Events from KI