Lina Marcela Diaz-Gallo

I am a team leader at the Center for Molecular Medicine, a scientific hub for translational biomedicine at Karolinska Institutet. My team consists of one PhD student and two affiliated postdocs.

I aim to contribute to the understanding of autoimmune diseases, with the ultimate goal of developing tools to improve diagnosis and treatment. The backbone of my research line is the study of genetics and genomics in the context of autoimmune diseases, mainly but not exclusively through bioinformatics. Nevertheless, my research line is closely tied to other areas of study in autoimmune disease, such as immunology. I have been studying rheumatoid arthritis (RA), systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE), systemic scleroderma (SSc), and idiopathic inflammatory myopathies (IIM). 

I enjoy interacting with people in various settings, such as my workplace, where I have met and worked with excellent individuals and scientists. Through teaching, I aim to contribute to empowering people. Therefore, I designed and directed an annual doctoral course in basic bioinformatics. 
My research line is data-driven and contributes to the development of prevention and precision medicine in rheumatology, for instance, through projects that aim to identify and characterize homogenous subgroups of individuals with autoimmune diseases, such as SLE or myositis. I also investigate gene-gene and gene-environment interactions in the context of autoimmune diseases. In collaboration with an immunologist from CMM, I have explored the genomics of relevant immune cells of myositis, utilizing single-cell technologies (i.e., flow cytometry and single-cell sequencing).

My research line aims to uncover the unknonw gentic risk facrors of autoimmune diseases, so called missing heritability. To understand the full genetic picture of these diseases will contribute to understand pathogenic mechanims, improve diagnostic and theraupetic tools. 

One of the strategies that my team implements is to identify and characterize homogenous subgroups of 
patients with rheumatic and musculoskeletal diseases (/RMDs/) by integrating
relevant disease data domains, such as genetics, genomics, clinical
variables, and immunological profiles.

My team cooperates with local, national and international partners, such immunologist, rheumatologist, nurses and epidemiologists. We 
study rheumatoid arthritis (RA), systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE),   and idiopathic inflammatory myopathies (IIM).

I have contributed to identify genetic risk factors of autoimmne diseases. Also to understand how gene-gene interactions 
are important for the genetic susceptibility and heritability of RA  and how integrating biomarkers such autoantibodies together with gentics can guide the identification of subgroups of patietns, setting the basis for further translational approches to develop models for improving diagnosis, treatment and outcome prediction. 

I created and directed the annual doctoral course in basic bioinformatics from 2018 to 2023. Currently, I co-ordinated and teach in this course. 

I have taught at various levels, from undergraduate to doctoral. I have supervised several high school students (PRAO: Praktisk Arbetslivsorientering), as well as bachelor's, master's, and doctoral students and postdoctoral researchers.