Susanna Brighenti

Susanna Brighenti is an Associate Professor in Immunology and Group Leader at the Center for Infectious Medicine (CIM), where she has been based since 2003. She completed her PhD training at Lund University and Active Biotech Research between 1997–2003, after which she was recruited to Karolinska Institutet to establish a new scientific platform for research on tuberculosis (TB).

Her research focuses on understanding the immunopathogenesis of TB and developing host‑directed therapies for difficult‑to‑treat forms of the disease, including multidrug‑resistant TB. She has established quantitative technologies for studying human TB using clinical patient samples and in vitro infection models in high‑containment laboratories, enabling pioneering studies of immune responses at the site of infection. Her group has since made key discoveries on host–pathogen interactions and impaired immune functions in TB, forming the basis for emerging immunomodulatory treatment strategies.

• Immunopathogenesis and immune heterogeneity in patients with tuberculosis
• Development of host‑directed therapies and immunomodulatory treatments
• Mechanisms underlying M. tuberculosis-induced impairment of immune responses
• Cellular and molecular interactions between mycobacteria and host cells
• Immune endotyping of TB to enable tailored treatment strategies
• Prevention of antimicrobial resistance through improved patient stratification and host‑targeted interventions
• Translational research in collaboration with clinical partners and TB‑endemic countries, including Ethiopia and Bangladesh

Susanna Brighenti has extensive experience in teaching, supervision, and doctoral education at Karolinska Institutet.

Supervision of PhD Students and Postdocs

• PhD students (main supervisor): 7 (1 ongoing)
• PhD students (co-supervisor): 7 (3 ongoing)
• Postdoctoral researchers (main supervisor): 9 (2 ongoing)

Experience in Doctoral Examination and Assessment

• Half-time review committees: 19 PhD students
• PhD thesis examination boards: 17 students
• Thesis defense opponent: 7 students

Committee Work Related to Doctoral Education at Karolinska Institutet

• Member, Dissertation Committee (2020–ongoing)
• Reviewer, KID-funding for doctoral education (2024, 2025)
• Scientific Coordinator, Sweden–Ethiopia collaboration, Karolinska International Training and Research Committee (KIRT) (2009–2012)
• Scientific Collaborator, Research training programme in medicine, collaboration with Swedish Universities and National University Rwanda (NUR).
• Member, Karolinska International Training and Research Committee (KIRT) (2007–2012)
• Member, World Health Programme (WHP; research training programme) (2007-2012)
• Member, Swedish Research School for Global Health, a collaboration between Karolinska Institutet and Umeå University (2007-2012)

Organizer and Teacher in Post-Graduate Courses at Karolinska Institutet

• Organizer of postgraduate research courses:
• TB and Other Bacterial Infections (2005–2010)
• The Major Global Infectious Diseases: TB and HIV (2011–2013)
• Malaria, TB and HIV: From Bench to Bedside (2014–2016)
• Lecturer in multiple postgraduate courses:
• Mucosal Immunity (2007–2009)
• Clinical Infectious Diseases (2010–2015)
• Infection Biology (2011–2012)
• Frontiers in Translational Medicine (2016–2019)
• Medical Program – Den sjuka människan (2009–2018)
• Biomedical Laboratory Science Program (BMA) (2015–2018)