Pauliina Elisabet Damdimopoulou

I am a Professor of Reproductive Biology at the Department of Women's and Children's Health.

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, and I serve as the Swedish Ambassador for the European Research Council since 2025.

In addition, I teach and supervise students at various levels, participate in university administration, and engage in stakeholder activities.

I have received multiple grants and honors for my research, have served as a scientific expert for national and international organizations, and I frequently present my work at international conferences.

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 over 20 undergraduate students and MSc thesis projects. I have also served as the main supervisor for five PhD students, guiding them to successful graduations. I have formal training in higher education pedagogy, leadership, and the supervision of doctoral students.