Pauliina Damdimopoulou

With over 15 years of experience in endocrinology, reproductive biology and toxicology, I lead a research group at Karolinska Institutet that investigates the effects of chemicals on female fertility. My ambition is to generate evidence-based information on the risks of chemical exposures and pharmaceutical treatments to human ovaries and oocytes, and to thereby contribute to the development of a chemically safer society.

I co-lead the Environmental Endocrinology Focus Area of the European Society of Endocrinology,  

I'm interested in studying the impact of pharmaceuticals and environmental chemicals on fertility in women, with a special focus on the ovary.

The work of my research group focuses on several aims:
-we assess environmental exposures in women and study their associations with fertility
-we study the effects of gonadotoxic treatments, like chemotherapy, on ovaries
-we map the molecular and cellular composition of human ovaries across life
-we investigate how environmental and pharmaceutical exposures affect ovaries by using tissue culture models
-we develop new in vitro tools for predicting reproductive toxicity of chemicals.

I'm a docent in endocrine physiology (2015, University of Turku, Finland) and toxicology (2021, Karolinska Institutet) with teaching experience in various MSc and PhD courses at different universities in Sweden and Finland. I have supervised several undergraduate students through their practical laboratory training, as well as MSc thesis projects. I have also served as the main supervisor for many PhD students, guiding them to successful graduations. I have formal training in higher education pedagogy, leadership, and the supervision of doctoral students.