John Inge Johnsen

John Inge Johnsen

Principal Researcher | Docent
Visiting address: Widerströmska huset, hiss 1, plan 8 Tomtebodavägen 18A, 17177 Stockholm
Postal address: K6 Kvinnors och barns hälsa, K6 Barnonkologi och Barnkirurgi Kogner/Johnsen, 171 77 Stockholm
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About me

  • Dr. John Inge Johnsen received his PhD diploma at University of Tromsö,
    Norway under the supervision of Professor Terje Traavik in 1994. His thesis
    focused on the characterization of regulatory genetic elements in
    polyomaviruses and the effects these regulatory regions have on host/virus
    interaction.
    After finishing his PhD, Dr. Johnsen went on to pursue his main scientific
    interest; cancer biology, oncogenes and tumor suppressor genes and 1995 he
    joined Professor Eric Stanbridge´s research group at University of
    California, Irvine where he studied the effects of p53 and genes regulated by
    p53 on cancer development.
    After spending two years at the University of Tromsö as an assistant
    professor/lecturer Dr. Johnsen joined professor Per Kogner´s research group
    at Karolinska Institutet as a postdoctoral fellow where he together with Dr.
    Kogner built up the childhood neural tumor research consortium.
    Dr. Johnsen became Associate professor at Karolinska Instituet in 2010.
    1984-1990 Msc, University of Tromsö, Norway
    1991-1994 PhD, University of Tromsö, Norway
    1995-1997 Postdoc, Dr.Stanbridge´s lab, University of California, Irvine,
    USA
    1997-1998 Postdoc, Dept. of Pediatrics, University of Tromsö Norway
    2001-2003 Postdoc, Childhood Cancer Research Unit, Karolinska Istitutet

Research

  • The main focus of our research group is to search for new treatment options
    that lead to better survival, less treatment-related complications and better
    quality of life for children with medulloblastoma and neuroblastoma. This is
    done by applying different Omic techniques to characterize the molecular
    landscape of malignant and corresponding non-cancerous cells within the tumor
    microenvironment and to use a translational approach applying preclinical in
    vivo models to characterize the anti-tumorigenic effects of drugs and
    compounds targeting specific biological aberrations in cancer cells or
    populations of cells located within the tumor microenvironment.

Articles

All other publications

Grants

  • Swedish Cancer Society
    1 January 2022
    Medulloblastoma and neuroblastoma are tumors that develop in the nervous system and are the most common solid tumors in children. Often the tumors respond poorly to the treatment given and the mortality rate is high. The need to develop more effective treatment is great. Solid tumors can be considered heterogeneous entities consisting of tumor cells with different degrees of differentiation or maturity. Individual cells in these tumors resemble normal stem cells in the body, with the ability to renew themselves while simultaneously maturing and developing into different cell types. From a treatment point of view, these cells are important as they are resistant to various treatments. The project aims to identify new molecules for targeted therapy and to characterize the microenvironment in medulloblastoma and neuroblastoma, with the goal of developing more effective therapies. To make this possible, increased knowledge of the tumor cell's molecular pathology is required. By using molecular biological techniques to study how medulloblastoma and neuroblastoma cells differ from normal cells in the nervous system and how the tumor cells contribute to the establishment of a microenvironment that favors tumor formation, we hope to find molecular signatures specific to tumor cells and to find specific drugs that kill these cells . We want to find new molecular targets for therapy that can lead to better survival and fewer side effects for children with medulloblastoma and neuroblastoma. We want to try to understand how the cancer cell interacts with the surrounding normal cells and how a microenvironment that supports the tumor's growth and spread arises. The ultimate goal is to cure the majority of children with medulloblastoma and neuroblastoma.
  • New therapy for medulloblastoma and neuroblastoma
    Swedish Cancer Society
    1 January 2018
    Medulloblastoma and neuroblastoma are tumors that develop in the nervous system and are the most common solid tumors in children. The tumors often respond poorly to the treatment given, and mortality is high. The need to develop more efficient treatment is great. Solid tumors can be considered as heterogeneous entities including tumor cells with varying degrees of differentiation or maturity. Single cells in medulloblastoma are similar to normal stem cells in the body, with the ability to renew themselves and at the same time mature and develop into different cell types. From a therapeutic point of view, these cells are of importance as they are resistant to various treatments. The project aims to identify new molecules for targeted therapy and to characterize the microenvironment in medulloblastoma and neuroblastoma, with the aim of developing more effective therapies. To enable this, extended knowledge of the tumor cell's molecular pathology is required. When using molecular biological techniques to study how medulloblastoma and neuroblastoma cells differ from normal cells in the nervous system and how the tumor cells contribute to the establishment of microenvironment that benefits tumor formation, we hope to find molecular signatures specific to tumor cells and to find specific drugs that kill these cells. The ultimate goal is to find new molecular targets for therapy that can lead to better survival and less side effects for children with medulloblastoma and neuroblastoma. We want to try to understand how the cancer cell interacts with the surrounding normal cells and how a microenvironment that supports the growth and spread of the tumor occurs.
  • New therapy for medulloblastoma and neuroblastoma
    Swedish Cancer Society
    1 January 2017
    Medulloblastoma and neuroblastoma are tumors that develop in the nervous system and are the most common solid tumors in children. The tumors often respond poorly to the treatment given, and mortality is high. The need to develop more efficient treatment is great. Solid tumors can be considered as heterogeneous entities including tumor cells with varying degrees of differentiation or maturity. Single cells in medulloblastoma are similar to normal stem cells in the body, with the ability to renew themselves and at the same time mature and develop into different cell types. From a therapeutic point of view, these cells are of importance as they are resistant to various treatments. The project aims to identify new molecules for targeted therapy and to characterize cancer stem cells in medulloblastoma and neuroblastoma, with the aim of developing more effective therapies. To enable this, extended molecular knowledge of the tumor cell's molecular pathology is required. When using molecular biological techniques to study how medulloblastoma and neuroblastoma cells differ from normal cells in the nervous system and how the tumor cells contribute to the establishment of microenvironment that benefits tumor formation, we hope to find molecular signatures specific to tumor cells and to find specific drugs that kill these cells. . The ultimate goal is to find new molecular targets for therapy that can lead to better survival and less side effects for children with medulloblastoma and neuroblastoma. We want to try to understand how the cancer cell interacts with the surrounding normal cells and how a microenvironment that supports the growth and spread of the tumor occurs. We also want to try to characterize cancer stem cells in these child tumors and find new treatments that are specifically corrected for these cells.
  • New therapy for medulloblastoma and neuroblastoma
    Swedish Cancer Society
    1 January 2016
    Medulloblastoma and neuroblastoma are tumors that develop in the nervous system and are the most common solid tumors in children. The tumors often respond poorly to the treatment given, and mortality is high. The need to develop more efficient treatment is great. Solid tumors can be considered as heterogeneous entities including tumor cells with varying degrees of differentiation or maturity. Single cells in medulloblastoma are similar to normal stem cells in the body, with the ability to renew themselves and at the same time mature and develop into different cell types. From a therapeutic point of view, these cells are of importance as they are resistant to various treatments. The project aims to identify new molecules for targeted therapy and to characterize cancer stem cells in medulloblastoma and neuroblastoma, with the aim of developing more effective therapies. To enable this, extended molecular knowledge of the tumor cell's molecular pathology is required. When using molecular biological techniques to study how medulloblastoma and neuroblastoma cells differ from normal cells in the nervous system and how the tumor cells contribute to the establishment of microenvironment that benefits tumor formation, we hope to find molecular signatures specific to tumor cells and to find specific drugs that kill these cells. . The ultimate goal is to find new molecular targets for therapy that can lead to better survival and less side effects for children with medulloblastoma and neuroblastoma. We want to try to understand how the cancer cell interacts with the surrounding normal cells and how a microenvironment that supports the growth and spread of the tumor occurs. We also want to try to characterize cancer stem cells in these child tumors and find new treatments that are specifically corrected for these cells.
  • New therapy for medulloblastoma and neuroblastoma
    Swedish Cancer Society
    1 January 2015
    Medulloblastoma and neuroblastoma are tumors that develop in the nervous system and are the most common solid tumors in children. The tumors often respond poorly to the treatment given, and mortality is high. The need to develop more efficient treatment is great. Solid tumors can be considered as heterogeneous entities including tumor cells with varying degrees of differentiation or maturity. Single cells in medulloblastoma are similar to normal stem cells in the body, with the ability to renew themselves and at the same time mature and develop into different cell types. From a therapeutic point of view, these cells are of importance as they are resistant to various treatments. The project aims to identify new molecules for targeted therapy and to characterize cancer stem cells in medulloblastoma and neuroblastoma, with the aim of developing more effective therapies. To enable this, extended molecular knowledge of the tumor cell's molecular pathology is required. When using molecular biological techniques to study how medulloblastoma and neuroblastoma cells differ from normal cells in the nervous system and how the tumor cells contribute to the establishment of microenvironment that benefits tumor formation, we hope to find molecular signatures specific to tumor cells and to find specific drugs that kill these cells. . The ultimate goal is to find new molecular targets for therapy that can lead to better survival and less side effects for children with medulloblastoma and neuroblastoma. We want to try to understand how the cancer cell interacts with the surrounding normal cells and how a microenvironment that supports the growth and spread of the tumor occurs. We also want to try to characterize cancer stem cells in these child tumors and find new treatments that are specifically corrected for these cells.
  • Novel Neuroblastoma Biomarkers of Clinical Relevance
    Swedish Foundation for Strategic Research
    1 January 2015 - 31 December 2019
  • Targeted therapy for children with medulloblastoma
    Swedish Cancer Society
    1 January 2014
    Medulloblastoma is an embryonic tumor that develops in the central nervous system and is the most common brain tumor in children. In many cases, the tumors respond poorly to the treatment given and mortality is high. In addition, today's treatment often causes severe physical and cognitive problems for the patient. There is therefore a great need to develop more efficient treatments. The project aims to identify new molecules for targeted therapy and to characterize cancer stem cells in medulloblastoma. A subpopulation of cells in the tumor has features similar to those of normal stem cells in the body, with the ability to renew themselves and at the same time mature and develop into different cell types. Cancer stem cells are believed to have the capacity to establish and drive cancer development. From a therapeutic point of view, these cells are probably of great importance as they have proved very resistant to various treatments. To enable the development of more effective therapies, increased molecular knowledge of tumor cells with stem cell properties is required. The ultimate goal of developing more effective therapies based on biological understanding for children with medulloblastoma. In using molecular biological techniques to study how medulloblastoma cells differ from normal cells in the brain, we hope to find molecular signatures specific to different subgroups of medulloblastoma and to be able to recapitulate these in preclinical models. This allows to find new molecular targets for therapy that can lead to better survival and less side effects for children with medulloblastoma.
  • Stiftelsen Dam
    31 December 2000 - 31 July 2002

Employments

  • Principal Researcher, Department of Women's and Children's Health, Karolinska Institutet, 2022-

Degrees and Education

  • Docent, Karolinska Institutet, 2010

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