Ljubica Matic

Ljubica Matic

Principal Researcher | Docent
Telephone: +46852482726
Visiting address: Karolinska Institutet, BioClinicum J8:20, Visionsgatan 4, 17164 Solna
Postal address: K1 Molekylär medicin och kirurgi, K1 MMK Kärlkirurgi, 171 76 Stockholm

About me

  • Ljubica Matic is Assoc Prof of Molecular Medicine and Principal Researcher in the Vascular Surgery Division at Karolinska Institute. She obtained her MSc degree in Molecular Biology from Belgrade University, Serbia and a PhD in Medical Biochemistry from Karolinska Institute in 2012. Since 2019 she is Group Leader for Translational Vascular Medicine at the Center for Molecular Medicine, KI dedicated to translational research on novel therapeutic and diagnostic targets for the management of cardiovascular disease, specifically atherosclerosis and restenosis complications. Her work has over the years been distinguished with grants and awards from the Swedish Research Council, Swedish Heart-Lung Foundation, Swedish Society for Medical Research, KI Faculty Consolidator grant, American Heart Association (Daniel Steinberg Early Career Investigator award in 2023) and the Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences (Sven and Ebba Hagberg Award in 2019). She is PI for several ongoing EU Horizon projects and expert reviewer for the Swedish Research Council, Swedish Heart-Lung Foundation, European Research Council, etc. Ljubica Matic is editorial board member for the Vascular Pharmacology journal, associated editor of Atheroclerosis journal. She has >100 publications with over 4 500 citations and h-index 42. 

Research

  • Matic group (https://linktr.ee/ljubicamatic) utilizes innovative, integrated multi-omics in silico pipelines for exploration of the Biobank of Karolinska Endarterectomy (BiKE, est 2002, >2000 patients) to identify smooth muscle cell related targets that stand in direct causal relationship to human vascular disease. Target discovery is followed by phenotyping, challenge and proof-of-concept interventional studies in mice vascular injury and disease models, as well as in vitro studies using primary human smooth muscle cells. With this multi-disciplinary approach, the mission of Ljubica Matic is to create a powerful platform for extrapolation of basic research results into the various realms of clinical cardiovascular disease, leading to accelerated development from target discovery to patient treatment.

Teaching

  • Since 2004, Ljubica Matic has continuously devoted 20% of her time to pedagogical work as a lecturer, supervisor and course leader for PhD students in the Cardiovascular Program and undergraduate students in the Medicine and Biomedicine Programs at KI. Since 2013 she has been Director for the PhD course in Vascular Cell Biology, Cardiovascular Program, KI. Since 2021 she also acts as co-Director in the KI MSc Global Biomedicine program, elective track in Circulation, Metabolism and Endocrinology. She has also organised international PhD courses in the framework of the EU Horizon Marie Sklodowska Curie ITN projects. 

Articles

All other publications

Grants

  • Swedish Research Council
    1 January 2024 - 31 December 2026
    Smooth muscle cells (SMCs) are the main structural vessel component. In cardiovascular diseases (CVD) underlined by atherosclerosis, the balance of excessive vs insufficient SMC activation, along with their plasticity, determines the vessel healing response. SMCs functionally trans-differentiate elicited by pathological stimuli into multiple subphenotypes, which critically affects plaque vulnerability. Yet, there are currently no CVD therapies specifically targeting SMCs. Our hypothesis is that exploration of pathways controlling SMC subphenotypes can lead to novel strategies to support their healing capacity. We seek to 1) discover druggable targets that regulate SMC plasticity and 2) evaluate the implementation of SMC therapies, beyond the best available treatments. We will develop in silico exploration of a large atherosclerosis biobank to identify SMC targets by: a) multi-omics data integration, b) deconvolved by single-cell RNA signatures of SMC subphenotypes, c) stratified by clinical parameters and d) enriched with genetic CVD association data. SMC targets will be investigated mechanistically in vitro and druggability evaluated via proof-of-concept in vivo models. We will test complementation of current therapies with SMC-targeted plaque stabilisation, to alleviate total disease burden.With this translational approach, the project will push the knowledge frontier about SMC subphenotypes in human lesions and pave the way for a paradigm shift in treatment of complex CVD.
  • Swedish Research Council
    1 January 2022 - 31 December 2025
    Background: Atherosclerosis is a leading cause of cardiovascular disease (CVD), heart attack (MI) and stroke (IS). Unstable disease with plaque rupture cause clinical events but diagnostic methods for  identification of patients and lesions at risk are lacking.Aims and Hypothesis: This is an extension of a VR-supported, comprehensive, translational research effort aimed to improve prevention and treatment of patients with cardiovascular disease (CVD). The project has revealed novel molecular pathways that control atherosclerotic plaque phenotype and is now aimed to translate these results into clinical applications for personalized therapy.Work plan: The project is based on large-scale molecular analyzes of plaques and plasma from patients with unstable and stable carotid stenosis and comparisons based on patient and plaque phenotype through large-scale exploration of clinical data, imaging by analytical software and biomaterial analysed by genome and RNA sequencing, plasma proteomics and metabolomics (n&gt
    1300 patients). A comprehensive database will be assembled to develop applications utilizing clinical risk factors, circulating and imaging biomarkers for patient and plaque phenotyping for guidance of individualized therapy.Significance: This project will improve prevention MI and IS by utilizing large scale clinical, biomarker, imaging and molecular information derived from human atherosclerosis for patient and lesion phenotyping and create options for personalized therapy.
  • Swedish Heart-Lung Foundation
    1 January 2021 - 31 December 2021
  • Swedish Heart-Lung Foundation
    1 January 2021 - 31 December 2023
  • Swedish Heart-Lung Foundation
    1 January 2021 - 31 December 2021
  • Swedish Heart-Lung Foundation
    1 January 2019 - 31 December 2020
  • Swedish Heart-Lung Foundation
    1 January 2018 - 31 December 2020
  • Swedish Research Council
    1 January 2018 - 31 December 2021

Employments

  • Principal Researcher, Department of Molecular Medicine and Surgery, Karolinska Institutet, 2022-

Degrees and Education

  • Docent, Karolinska Institutet, 2021
  • Degree Of Doctor Of Philosophy, Department of Medical Biochemistry and Biophysics, Karolinska Institutet, 2012

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