Laura Orellana
Assistant Professor
E-mail: laura.orellana@ki.se
Visiting address: BioClinicum - J6:06, Akademiska Stråket 1, 17164 Solna
Postal address: K7 Onkologi-Patologi, K7 Forskning Orellana, 171 77 Stockholm
About me
- I am a computational and structural biophysicist with a medical background
and passionate about physics and mathematical modelling. My aim is to
understand life mechanisms and human diseases at the atomic scale: how
protein structure, motions and biological function is shaped by evolution and
perturbed in human disease.
2022: Karolinska Institute Interdisciplinary Incubator (KIRI) Grant
2021: Sagens Foundation Award
2021: Vetenskapsrådet (Swedish Research Council) Starting Grant in Medicine
2021: Petrus och Augusta Hedlunds Foundation Grant
2021: Cancerfonden (Swedish Cancer Foundation) Junior Investigator Award
2020: Jeanssons Foundation Young Leaders Starting Grant
2020: Karolinska Institute Research Foundation Special Grant
2019: Karolinska Institute Tenure-track Faculty Position with start-up grant
Award (KI Allocation of faculty funded career positions 2019)
2019: O.E. och Edla Johanssons Research Grant
2016-2018: Sven och Lily Lawski Foundation Fellow
2014-2016: KTH Physics Department Fellowship
*Academic Honors*
2006: Extraordinary Prize for Academic Excellence in Biochemistry, University
of Barcelona
*Other Awards*
Biophysical Society Travel Award, New Orleans, US (2016)
EMBO Biomolecular Simulation Bursary Award, Institute Pasteur, Paris, France
(2012)
IUBMB-FEBS Young Scientist Program Fellow Award, Seville, Spain (2012)
EMBRACE-Rigaku-EBI (European Bioinformatics Institute) Bursary Award,
Cambridge, UK (2009)
*2010–2014: PhD in Physics /summa cum laude/*/, /Faculty of Physics,
University of Barcelona
/Thesis: /“Protein Dynamics and Function studied by coarse-grained and
atomistic theoretical approaches”/ /
*2008–2011: Clinical training* (M.D. degree, 2nd cycle, up to 345 out of
500 ECTS), Hospital Clínic de Barcelona & Hospital Universitari Sagrat Cor
*2008 –2010: MSc in Biophysics*, Faculty of Physics, University of
Barcelona
*2006 – 2007: MSc in Structure & Function of Proteins*, Barcelona
Autonomous University
*2003–2005: BSc in Biochemistry with Extraordinary Prize & minor in
Physics*, Faculty of Biology, University of Barcelona
*1999–2003: Medicine* (M.D. degree, 1st cycle), Faculty of Medicine,
University of Barcelona
*Academic appointments*
*Nov. 2020: Tenure-track Assistant Professor in Medical Sciences*,
Karolinska Institute
*2019-2020: Researcher (Forskare) in Structural Biology*, Stockholm
University
*2014-2018: Postdoctoral Fellow in Computational Biophysics & Cryo-EM*,
Royal Institute of Technology (KTH) & Stockholm University (Science for Life
Laboratory, SciLifeLab)
*2008-2014: Graduate Student in Protein Biophysics & Molecular
Modelling*, Institute for Research in Biomedicine in Barcelona & Barcelona
Supercomputing Center
Research
- My group develops theoretical methods and algorithms to predict
conformational changes in proteins, and apply them to the in-depth
integrative study of mutations, with the aim to generate new mechanistic
hypothesis and test them /in vitro/ and/ in vivo./
For more information check the KI website of our team:
https://ki.se/en/onkpat/research-team-laura-orellana-protein-dynamics-and-cancer-lab
A complete publication list may be found at Google scholar and
ResearchGate.
Articles
- Article: EUROPEAN JOURNAL OF HUMAN GENETICS. 2025;:1-10Lindelof H; Hammarsjo A; Voss U; Piticchio SG; Conner P; Papadogiannakis N; Batkovskyte D; Orellana L; Kvarnung M; Malmgren H; Robinson KL; Nordgren A; Lindstrand A; Nishimura G; Grigelioniene G
- Article: NPJ GENOMIC MEDICINE. 2023;8(1):39Jacob P; Lindelof H; Rustad CF; Sutton VR; Moosa S; Udupa P; Hammarsjo A; Bhavani GS; Batkovskyte D; Tveten K; Dalal A; Horemuzova E; Nordgren A; Tham E; Shah H; Merckoll E; Orellana L; Nishimura G; Girisha KM; Grigelioniene G
- Journal article: APPLIED SCIENCES-BASEL. 2023;13(11):6756Orellana L
- Journal article: NATURE STRUCTURAL & MOLECULAR BIOLOGY. 2023;30(4):565Matsuoka R; Fudim R; Jung S; Zhang C; Bazzone A; Chatzikyriakidou Y; Robinson CV; Nomura N; Iwata S; Landreh M; Orellana L; Beckstein O; Drew D
- Article: FRONTIERS IN MOLECULAR BIOSCIENCES. 2022;9:890851Mhashal AR; Yoluk O; Orellana L
- Article: NATURE STRUCTURAL & MOLECULAR BIOLOGY. 2022;29(2):108-120Matsuoka R; Fudim R; Jung S; Zhang C; Bazzone A; Chatzikyriakidou Y; Robinson CV; Nomura N; Iwata S; Landreh M; Orellana L; Beckstein O; Drew D
- Article: NATURE COMMUNICATIONS. 2021;12(1):1728Thulasingam M; Orellana L; Nji E; Ahmad S; Rinaldo-Matthis A; Haeggstrom JZ
- Article: EMBO JOURNAL. 2020;39(24):e105908-4559Winklemann I; Matsuoka R; Meier PF; Shutin D; Zhang C; Orellana L; Sexton R; Landreh M; Robinson CV; Beckstein O; Drew D
- Article: NATURE. 2020;578(7794):321-325Qureshi AA; Suades A; Matsuoka R; Brock J; McComas SE; Nji E; Orellana L; Claesson M; Delemotte L; Drew D
- Journal article: CANCER CELL. 2019;36(6):690-691Ma J; Benitez JA; Li J; Miki S; de Albuquerque CP; Galatro T; Orellana L; Zanca C; Reed R; Boyer A; Koga T; Varki NM; Fenton TR; Marie SKN; Lindahl E; Gahman TC; Shiau AK; Zhou H; DeGroot J; Sulman EP; Cavenee WK; Kolodner RD; Chen CC; Furnari FB
- Article: BIOINFORMATICS. 2019;35(18):3505-3507Orellana L; Gustaysson J; Bergh C; Yoluk O; Lindahl E
- Article: MOLECULAR & CELLULAR ONCOLOGY. 2019;6(5):e1630798Orellana L
- Article: PROCEEDINGS OF THE NATIONAL ACADEMY OF SCIENCES OF THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA. 2019;116(20):10009-10018Orellana L; Thorne AH; Lema R; Gustavsson J; Parisian AD; Hospital A; Cordeiro TN; Bernado P; Scott AM; Brun-Heath I; Lindahl E; Cavenee WK; Furnari FB; Orozco M
- Journal article: CANCER CELL. 2019;35(5):816Ma J; Benitez JA; Li J; Miki S; de Albuquerque CP; Galatro T; Orellana L; Zanca C; Reed R; Boyer A; Koga T; Varki NM; Fenton TR; Marie SKN; Lindahl E; Gahman TC; Shiau AK; Zhou H; DeGroot J; Sulman EP; Cavenee WK; Kolodner RD; Chen CC; Furnari FB
- Article: CANCER CELL. 2019;35(3):504-518.e7Ma J; Benite JA; Li J; Miki S; de Albuquerqu CP; Galatro T; Orellana L; Zanca C; Reed R; Boyer A; Koga T; Varki NM; Fenton TR; Marie SKN; Lindahl E; Gahman TC; Shiau AK; Zhou H; DeGroot J; Sulman EP; Cavenee WK; Kolodner RD; Chen CC; Furnari FB
- Article: CANCER CELL. 2018;34(1):163-177.e7Binder ZA; Thorne AH; Bakas S; Wileyto EP; Bilello M; Akbari H; Rathore S; Ha SM; Zhang L; Ferguson CJ; Dahiya S; Bi WL; Reardon DA; Idbaih A; Felsberg J; Hentschel B; Weller M; Bagley SJ; Morrissette JJD; Nasrallah MP; Ma J; Zanca C; Scott AM; Orellana L; Davatzikos C; Furnari FB; O'Rourke DM
- Article: NATURE COMMUNICATIONS. 2016;7:12575Orellana L; Yoluk O; Carrillo O; Orozco M; Lindahl E
- Article: NATURE COMMUNICATIONS. 2014;5:4070Bryn Fenwick R; Orellana L; Esteban-Martin S; Orozco M; Salvatella X
- Article: JOURNAL OF CHEMICAL THEORY AND COMPUTATION. 2012;8(11):4707-4718Sfriso P; Emperador A; Orellana L; Hospital A; Lluis Gelpi J; Orozco M
- Journal article: SCIENCE. 2012;336(6077):32-34
- Journal article: ADVANCES IN PROTEIN CHEMISTRY AND STRUCTURAL BIOLOGY, VOL 123: TRANSPORT PROTEINS. 2011;85:183-215Orozco M; Orellana L; Hospital A; Naganathan AN; Emperador A; Carrillo O; Gelpi JL
- Article: JOURNAL OF CHEMICAL THEORY AND COMPUTATION. 2010;6(9):2910-2923Orellana L; Rueda M; Ferrer-Costa C; Ramon Lopez-Blanco J; Chacon P; Orozco M
- Article: BIOINFORMATICS. 2009;25(13):1709-1710Camps J; Carrillo O; Emperador A; Orellana L; Hospital A; Rueda M; Cicin-Sain D; D'Abramo M; Lluis Gelpi J; Orozco M
- Show more
All other publications
- Preprint: SPRINGER SCIENCE AND BUSINESS MEDIA LLC. 2025Orellana L; Scaramozzino D; Lee BH
- Conference publication: EUROPEAN BIOPHYSICS JOURNAL. 2023;52(SUPPL 1):S206Scaramozzino D; Orellana L
- Conference publication: EUROPEAN BIOPHYSICS JOURNAL. 2023;52(SUPPL 1):S193Lee BH; Orellana L
- Book chapter: ADVANCES IN PROTEIN MOLECULAR AND STRUCTURAL BIOLOGY METHODS. 2022;p. 199-212Mhashal A; Emperador A; Orellana L
- Preprint: BIORXIV. 2021Matsuoka R; Fudim R; Jung S; Zhang C; Bazzone A; Chatzikyriakidou Y; Nomura N; Iwata S; Orellana L; Beckstein O; Drew D
- Conference publication: BIOPHYSICAL JOURNAL. 2021;120(3):105AZhang C; Sexton R; Winkelmann I; Matsuoka R; Meier P; Shutin D; Orellana L; Landreh M; Robinson CV; Drew D; Beckstein O
- Conference publication: BIOPHYSICAL JOURNAL. 2020;118(3):584AHoward RJ; Zhuang Y; Heusser SA; Bergh CC; Rovsnik U; Orellana L; Lindahl E
- Conference publication: BIOPHYSICAL JOURNAL. 2020;118(3):191ABergh C; Orellana L; Heusser SA; Howard RJ; Lindahl E
- Review: FRONTIERS IN MOLECULAR BIOSCIENCES. 2019;6:117Orellana L
- Conference publication: BIOPHYSICAL JOURNAL. 2019;116(3):395A-396ABergh CC; Orellana L; Howard RJ; Lindahl E
- Conference publication: BIOPHYSICAL JOURNAL. 2019;116(3):245A-246AHoward RJ; Zhuang Y; Nakamura S; Lycksell M; Kiik H; Rovsnik U; Bergh C; Heusser SA; Orellana L; Lindahl E
- Conference publication: BIOPHYSICAL JOURNAL. 2017;112(3):485AOrellana L; Yoluk O; Carrillo O; Orozco M; Lindahl E
- Conference publication: NEURO-ONCOLOGY. 2016;18:45Thorne AH; Orellana L; Parisian A; Cavenee W; Furnari F
- Conference publication: BIOPHYSICAL JOURNAL. 2016;110(3):454AYoluk O; Orellana L; Bertaccini EJ; Trudell JR; Lindahl E
- Conference publication: BIOPHYSICAL JOURNAL. 2016;110(3):54AOrellana L; Yoluk O; Orozco M; Lindahl E
- Conference publication: EUROPEAN BIOPHYSICS JOURNAL. 2015;44:S219Yoluk O; Orellana L; Lindahl E
- Conference publication: BIOPHYSICAL JOURNAL. 2015;108(2):431AYoluk O; Heusser S; Andersson M; Orellana L; Lindahl E
- Preprint: BIORXIV. 2014ORELLANA LAURA; HOSPITAL ADAM; OROZCO MODESTO
Grants
- Swedish Research Council1 January 2022 - 31 December 2025Cancer is a unique disease in which cells acquire positive traits for survival, mirroring species evolution. Classical methods to identify driver mutations aim to detect the signatures of Darwinian positive selection, which appear as 3D-clusters of dozens of mutations in localized regions of protein structures. Such methods cannot explain the reasons for mutational clustering, which requires understanding how the protein structure is linked to function: the so-called conformational changes. Here we propose to apply an innovative methodology that pushes genomic data towards conformational mutation profiling using simulations, structural techniques, and molecular biology. We have successfully applied this approach to the oncogene EGFR, revealing how heterogeneous missense and deletion mutations evolutionarily converge in glioblastoma to a similar structural-functional effect, and thus respond to the same drugs. Our findings shed light on how apparently diverse mutations can be biochemically equivalent, reducing the complexity of tumor heterogeneity to fewer evolutionarily selected traits. Our preliminary results indicate evolutionarily convergent structural traits appear in many other unexpected proteins such as sugar transporters, channels and pumps. This project aims to explore in the extent and role of molecular convergence in cancer in two phases -computational and experimental- with the goal to understand the biological effect of mutations and rationalize cancer therapy.