Jorge Ruas

Jorge Ruas

Professor
Telephone: +46852487261
Visiting address: Solnavägen 9, Biomedicum C5, 17165 Solna
Postal address: C3 Fysiologi och farmakologi, C3 FyFa Molekylär och cellulär arbetsfysiologi, 171 77 Stockholm

About me

  • Professor of Molecular Physiology and Principal Investigator of the Molecular and Cellular Exercise Physiology research group.

    After receiving my Pharm.D. degree from the University of Lisbon, I moved to Karolinska Institutet (KI) for my doctoral studies. During that time I investigated how cellular oxygen levels can regulate adaptive gene expression, and in 2005 received my Ph.D. in Medical Sciences.

    In 2006 I moved to Boston to pursue postdoctoral studies at the Division of Metabolism and Chronic Disease at the Dana-Farber Cancer Institute and Harvard Medical School. During this period I focused on the study of transcriptional networks that control skeletal muscle physiology.

    In July 2011 I setup my research group at the Department of Physiology and Pharmacology at KI, became Associate Professor in 2016, and Professor of Molecular Physiology in 2020. My group aims to identify the molecular mediators of the health benefits of exercise and to use this knowledge to develop novel disease therapies.

    Academic honours, awards and prizes
    2022 The Med. Dr. Axel Hirsch Prize 2022
    2019 Novo Nordisk Foundation Ascending Investigator, Endocrinology and Metabolism
    2017 The Leif C. Groop Award for Outstanding Diabetes Research
    2016 Swedish Research Council Consolidator Grant
    2015 Senior Researcher Award from Karolinska Institutet
    2014 Human Frontier Science Program Young Investigator Award
    2013 Malin and Lennart Philipson Prize (link to ki.se/news)
    Jorge Ruas - award winner 2013-2015 (link to Malin and Lennart Philipson's foundation website)
    2012 Novo Nordisk Fonden Excellence Project Award
    2012 Marie Curie Career Integration Grant
    2011 Assistant Professor Grant from the Swedish Research Council
    2011 Young Investigator Award in Diabetes. Strategic Research Programme in Diabetes at Karolinska Institutet (Sweden).
    2006 Wenner Gren Fellow

Research

  • Research in our laboratory is aimed at understanding the molecular mechanisms that mediate skeletal muscle adaptations to diverse challenges and their local and systemic consequences. We are particularly interested in understanding how exercised or sedentary skeletal muscle can crosstalk with other organs, and how it can affect individual health and disease.

Teaching

  • I teach several subjects to the Medicine and Biomedicine programs at KI, and participate as lecturer in diverse doctoral courses. I am also an invited professor at the Faculty of Pharmacy, University of Lisbon.

Articles

All other publications

Grants

  • Regulation of Adipose Tissue Function by Neuroendocrine Communication
    Novo Nordisk Foundation
    1 October 2023 - 30 September 2024
  • Um outro olhar para a prescrição do exercício: Exercício a diferentes horas do dia e o ciclo circadiano em pessoas com diabetes tipo 2 e aqueles que se encontram em risco
    Fundação para a Ciência e Tecnologia
    1 March 2023 - 28 February 2025
  • Swedish Research Council
    1 January 2023 - 31 December 2026
    Nonalcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD) is estimated to affect up to one third of the adult population in industrialized countries and 70-80% of obese patients with diabetes. The milder stage, hepatic steatosis, is often asymptomatic and undiagnosed but over 30% of these patients progress to nonalcoholic steatohepatitis (NASH). NASH impairs liver function and is a risk factor for cirrhosis, hepatocellular carcinoma, and cardiovascular disease. Amongst obese patients with diabetes, 30-50% develop NASH. There are no specific pharmacological treatments for NASH and drug development depends on a better understanding of the mechanisms underlying its pathogenesis. In addition, there are no biomarkers to diagnose and monitor NAFLD/NASH progression.We have identified a protein with previously unknown function and discovered that it operates as a major regulator of inflammation, extracellular matrix remodeling, and fibrogenesis. Based on its function, we have named it Tissue Remodeler and Activator of INflammation (TRAIN). TRAIN expression is elevated in human and rodent liver disease. We have observed that increasing TRAIN expression in mouse liver is sufficient to elicit many of the metabolic, morphological, histological, and transcriptional abnormalities characteristic of NASH. Our goal is to understand how TRAIN activation leads to NALFD/NASH, to identify reliable disease biomarkers and to develop novel therapies for NAFLD/NASH by manipulating TRAIN activity.
  • Regulation of Adipose Tissue Neuroendocrine Communication by Kynurenine Metabolites
    Novo Nordisk Foundation
    1 October 2021 - 30 September 2023
  • T.R.A.I.N., a novel target in Non-Alcoholic Fatty Liver Disease (NAFLD): Disease Mechanisms, Biomarkers, and Therapeutics.
    Novo Nordisk Foundation
    1 July 2019 - 30 June 2024
  • Research Institute for Medicines
    Fundação para a Ciência e Tecnologia
    1 January 2019 - 31 December 2019
  • PGC-1alpha Isoforms as novel Therapeutic targets in ParkinsON's Disease
    Fundação para a Ciência e Tecnologia
    1 August 2018 - 31 July 2022
  • Molecular Mechanisms Regulating Skeletal Muscle Function and their Systemic Impact
    Novo Nordisk Foundation
    1 January 2017 - 1 January 2020
  • Swedish Research Council
    1 January 2017 - 31 December 2022
  • Swedish Research Council
    1 January 2015 - 31 December 2018
  • Modeling information flow between tissues during metabolic adaptation and dysfunction
    International Human Frontier Science Program Organization
    1 May 2014 - 30 April 2017
  • Mechanisms of Skeletal Muscle Adaptations to Exercise
    Novo Nordisk Foundation
    19 March 2012 - 18 March 2017
  • MECHANISM OF HYPOXIA DEPENDENT TRANSCRIPTION ACTIVATION MEDIATED BY THE HYPOXIA-INDUCIBLE FACTOR-1
    Fundação para a Ciência e Tecnologia
    1 July 1999 - 30 June 2003
  • STUDY OF THE POLYMORPHISM OF THE CYP2AG AND CYP2C19 GENES IN PORTUGUESE POPULATIONS.
    Fundação para a Ciência e Tecnologia
    1 August 1996 - 31 July 1998

Employments

  • Professor, Department of Physiology and Pharmacology, Karolinska Institutet, 2020-

Degrees and Education

  • Docent, Karolinska Institutet, 2016
  • Doctor Of Philosophy, Department of Cell and Molecular Biology, Karolinska Institutet, 2005
  • Pharm.D., University of Lisbon, 1995

Visiting research fellowships

  • Postdoc, Harvard Medical School, Postdoc in Molecular Muscle Physiology, 2006-2011

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