Twana Alkasalias

I am an Assistant Professor at the Department of Women’s and Children’s Health (KBH) at the Karolinska Institutet (KI), where I am specialized in cancer research. I completed my doctoral studies at KI, focusing on the tumor microenvironment under the mentorship of Professor George Klein. Successfully defended my Ph.D. thesis under the supervision of Prof. Kaisa Lehti.

Following the completion of my doctoral studies, I joined Prof. Sonia Lain at KI's Department of Microbiology, Tumor, and Cell Biology (MTC) to start a postdoctoral study focusing on drug development approaches aimed at fighting cancer.

Later, I transitioned to the Department of Women’s and Children’s Health (KBH) at KI, where I worked under the mentorship of Prof. Kristina Gemzell Danielsson. Currently, as an assistant professor, I lead pioneering research initiatives within the Gemzell group. I collaborate closely with Prof. Martin Widschwendter and his team at the Institute of European Translational Oncology Prevention &

Throughout my academic journey, I have demonstrated a keen focus on the tumor microenvironment, particularly investigating the interactions between normal stromal cells and cancer cells to understand tumor growth and invasion. My early work with Prof. Klein laid the foundation for my research direction, emphasizing the significance of the microenvironment in cancer initiation.

In Lehti lab, I developed expertise in 3D co-culture models, specifically studying the interaction between cancer-associated fibroblasts and ovarian cancer cells. During my postdoctoral studies with Prof. Lain, He delved into combinatorial drug development projects, expanding my independent research portfolio.

Under the guidance of Prof. Danielsson, I lead projects focusing on cancer prevention, particularly studying endometriosis-associated ovarian cancer, and investigating the impact of progesterone signaling on healthy women with pathogenic variants of BRCA mutation. I have contributed significantly to scientific literature, with publications in collaboration with prominent researchers.

As an assistant professor, I continue to innovate, having developed a high-throughput 3D model to study hormone signaling in normal and breast cancer.