Ulf Hedin

Ulf Hedin

Professor/Senior Physician
Visiting address: Karolinska Institutet, BioClinicum J8:20, Visionsgatan 4, 17164 Solna
Postal address: K1 Molekylär medicin och kirurgi, K1 MMK Kärlkirurgi, 171 76 Stockholm
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About me

  • Research group leader of the group Vascular Surgery.
    Education
    Högskoleexamen - Karolinska Institutet, Läkarutbildningen, 1985

    Doktorsexamen - Karolinska Institutet, Medicinsk Cellbiologi, 1989

    Postdoktorvistelser - Post-doc: Senior Vascular Fellow Dept Surgery, Div Vascular Surgery, Univ Washington, Seattle, USA, 1995-1996

    Docentkompetens - Docent, Karolinska Institutet, 1994

    Specialistexamen - Kirurgi, 1997; Kärlkirurgi, 1997 (efter tillkomst av grenspecialitet)

    Nuvarande anställning - Professor/överläkare, Kärlkirurgiska sektionen, Institutionen för molekylär medicin och kirurgi, Karolinska Institutet samt Kärlkirurgiska kliniken, Karolinska Universitetssjukhuset, Solna.

    Gruppledare , Vascular Surgery Research Group , Institutionen för molekylär medicin och kirurgi Solna , Karolinska Institutet.

    Tidigare befattningar
    Utbildningsbidrag KI 1985-09-01 till 1988-06-30; Doktorand-tjänst, KI 1988-07-01 till 1989-11-01; Stipendium vid MFR för övergång till klinisk forskning 1991-1993; Forskarassistenttjänst i Molekylär Medicin, Karolinska Sjukhuset/Institutet 93-97 (50%); Särskild forskartjänst (lektor 50%) kardiovaskulär forskning Hjärt- Lungfonden 1998-2004; Universitetslektor/Överläkare Kärl-kirurgiska kliniken, Karolinska Sjukhuset 2001-03-01; Biträdande prefekt, MMK, Karolinska Institutet 2005-2009; Förslag professor vaskulärbiologi , Linköpings universitet , 2001; Förslag professor i kirurgi , Kings College , London , Storbritannien, 2009; Verksamhetschef Kärlkirurgiska kliniken, Karolinska Universitetssjukhuset 2010-2016

    Academic honours, awards and prizes
    Förtroendeuppdrag
    Styrelseledamot: Scandinavian Society for Atherosclerosis Research 1994-1999; Inst Kir, KI/KS 2001-; Beredningrupp VR 2000-2006; SPESAK Stockholms län (SLL) 2006-2011; Nationell representant European Society for Vascular Surgery 2008-2011; Forskningsrådet Hjärt-Lungfonden 2011-2015; International Surgical Group 2011-; Forskningsrådet Lundbeck Foundation 2012 -; Elektor VR 2015; Valberedning VR 2015; Nominerad Prefekt Inst Mol Med Kir, KI 2016; Socialstyrelsens Prioriteringsgrupp Strokeriktlinjer 2016.

    Sakkunnig uppdrag
    Extern sakkunnig: Docentur: Lunds Universitet 6 st; Sahlgrenska Akademin 2 st; KI 8 st. Uppsala Universitet 1 st. Lektorat: Lunds Universitet 2 st. Professur Kärlkirurgi: Köpenhamns Universitet 2013; Syddansk Universitet 2012; Helsingfors Universitet 2014; Lunds Universitet 2015; Harvard Medical School 2015. Söderbergska Priset, Svensk Kirurgisk Förening 2013. Syddansk Center of Excellence 2015.

    1. Fakultetsopponent: 15 st (Yenfeng Wang, Wihuri Res Inst, Helsinki, Finland, 1999; Lars Lohikangas, Uppsala Universitet, Uppsala, 2000; Audrey Niemann-Jönsson, Lunds Universitet, Malmö, 2000; Sara Moses, Lunds Universitet, 2002; Marie-Louise Moes Grönholdt, Rigshospitalet, Köpenhamn, Danmark, 2003; Helena Peilot, Sahlgrenska Akademin, Göteborg, 2003; Per Fogelstrand, Sahlgrenska Akademin, Göteborg, 2004; Andreas Bergdahl, Lunds Universitet, 2004; Nikolaj Eldrup, Köpenhamns Universitet, 2008; Per Wastesson, Sahlgrenska Akademin, 2008; Niklas Bergh, Sahlgrenska Akademin, 2009; Tomas Block, Uppsala Universitet, 2010; Martin Graebe, Köpenhamns Universitet, 2010; Louise Rosenörn de la Motte, Köpenhamns Universitet, 2013; Charlotte Eklund, Göteborgs Universitet, 2014); Halvtidskontroller 24 st; Betygsnämnd 22st

    2. Referee 17 Tidskrifter

    Utmärkelser
    Forskargrupp graderad ’excellent’ efter internationell utvärdering av alla forskargrupper vid Karolinska Institutet

    2013 Harry Broström Memorial Lecture, Svenska föreningen för invärtesmedicin

Research

  • Background
    Apart from cardiac embolism, most ischemic strokes occur as a consequence to end-stage atherosclerotic disease. Atherosclerosis leads to formation of plaques in the intima of major arteries with accumulation of lipids, inflammation, fibrosis, cell death and calcification. Stable lesions are generally asymptomatic but when plaques become unstable from enhanced inflammation and proteolysis, destabilization of the fibrous cap may lead to plaque rupture, thrombosis (atherothrombosis), embolism and cerebral ischemia. More than 50% of ischemic strokes are caused by thromboembolism from extracranial vessels, as unstable plaques in the carotid bifurcation. The condition can cause transient ischemic attack (TIA), retinal symptoms (amaurosis fugax) or complete stroke. The significance of this process has been confirmed in studies demonstrating that surgery for carotid stenosis, carotid endarterectomy (CEA), in patients with symptomatic (unstable) lesions prevents stroke. Today, there are no diagnostic methods available to predict or identify plaque rupture and thus to prevent stroke from unstable atherosclerosis. Selection of patients for intervention instead rests on surrogate variables for stroke risk, such as the degree of luminal narrowing by the stenosis. In our unit, approximately 60-70 symptomatic patients undergo CEA annually, >85% within two weeks after index event (national guideline), and with an estimated efficacy of 10 prevented strokes whereas 10-15 asymptomatic patients undergo CEA with less than one prevented stroke estimated.

    Work plan
    This project is based on current studies utilizing an established biobank (BiKE) of plaque and plasma samples from n>800 patients treated at our clinic, which have been prospectively processed for RNA, DNA, proteomic, in situ and in vitro analyses. The biobank is combined with data of phenotypic information, transcriptomic array profiles and genome wide SNP data. The resource has progressively developed and over the years been extensively utilised to identify gene signatures in atherosclerotic plaque instability. The project is currently being expanded to include large-scale characterization of plasma- and tissue proteins as well as non-coding RNAs (miRs) of human atherosclerosis in correlation to transcriptomic profiles, ultimately aiming at detection of plausible biomarkers for unstable end-stage atherosclerosis. Through established collaborations with international and national resources (SciLife; SCAPIS; Göteborgs Universitet; Stanford; King’s College, London), we are implementing state-of-the-art proteomics (mass spectroscopy and affinity-based) of plasma- and tissue samples from patients with stable- and unstable carotid stenosis, next generation methodology for RNA expression analyses in situ, and pre-operative imaging of patients with new MRI- and ultrasound based technology with the ultimate goal of developing targeted bioimaging for the localization of unstable atherosclerotic lesions.

    Aims
    Through the identification of circulating signature molecules (biomarkers) for the unstable atheroma and the development of diagnostic tools for morphological characterization of unstable carotid plaques this project will improve stroke-prevention by:

    optimizing risk intervention improving selection of patients for stroke preventive surgery and supporting development of plaque-stabilizing drugs

Teaching

  • Huvudhandledning
    Joy Roy, MD PhD, 010831
    Piotr Religa, MD PhD, 030214
    Monsur Kazi, MD PhD, 030328
    Kiet Tran, MD PhD, 050218
    Karin Tran Lundmark, MD PhD, 080307
    Anton Razuvaev, MD PhD, 090603
    Jing Wang, post-doc, 2008-2010
    Cecilia Österholm-Corbascio post-doc, 2010-2014
    Ljubica Perisic, post-doc , 2012-
    Silvia Aldi, post-doc, 2014-
    Linnea Eriksson, post-doc, 2014-

    Bihandledning
    Chi-Nan Tseng, MD PhD, 150410
    Ya Ting Chang, MD PhD, 150612
    Carl Montán, MD PhD, 150529
    Alireza Daraypeyma, MD PhD, 150424

    Undervisning
    Kursarrangör Forskarutbildningskurser 6st
    Kursarrangör ST utbildningskurser Kärlkirurgi 16st
    Studierektor Biomedicinarprogrammet Molekylär Medicin, KI 1996-1998; bitr Studierektor Biomedicinarprogrammet Molekylär Medicin, KI 1999; Utbildningsansvarig Läkarprogrammet Kärlkirurgi 1997-2003
    Handledning projektarbeten Läkarprogrammet, KI 13 studenter

Articles

All other publications

Employments

  • Professor/Senior Physician, Experimental Vascular Surgery, Department of Molecular Medicine and Surgery, Karolinska Institutet, 2006-
  • Professor/Senior Physician, Experimental Vascular Surgery, Dept of Surgical Science (K3), Karolinska Institutet, 2003-2005

Supervision

  • Supervision to doctoral degree

    • Ulrika Hahn-Lundström, Renal function decline and optimized planning for kidney replacement therapy, 2025

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