Research group Erik Melén

Our research projects aim to advance the understanding about the complex interplay between genetic and environmental factors involved in lung growth, respiratory and allergic diseases from childhood to adulthood. Our long-term goal is to develop knowledge and treatments for better lung health over a person’s lifetime.

Part of the Department of Clinical Science and Education, Södersjukhuset

Our research

Several of the projects are based on data from the Swedish birth cohort, BAMSE that allows for unique investigation of health and disease in a large number of subjects up to 24 years. In addition, detailed information about perinatal events, environmental exposures such as air pollution and tobacco smoke exposure from birth and onwards has been collected. In our ongoing genetics projects, genome-wide approaches are primarily used (GWAS, global methylation analyses and RNA sequencing / microarray approaches) together with detailed clinical and epidemiological data. As such, we are conducting translational research, from bench to bedside, using clinical and epidemiological data sets. For example our projects focus on the long-term consequence of preterm birth on lung function in young adulthood, identification of subgroups of the population that are particularly vulnerable to air pollution exposures and elucidation of new genetic mechanisms for disease development.

Projects

BAMSE: Barn, Allergi, Miljö, Stockholm, Epidemiologi – a birth cohort study including 4089 participants followed from birth to young adulthood with the aim to study lifestyle, environmental and genetic factors and health. PIs Erik Melén, Anna Bergström and Inger Kull. Web page BAMSE Project.

PERMEABLE: PERsonalized MEdicine Approach for asthma and allergy Biologicals SeLEction – a European collaborative project on allergy / asthma mechanisms, disease biomarkers and biological treatment. Swedish PI: Erik Melén.

EXPANSE: EXposome Powered tools for healthy living in urbAN Settings – a European collaborative project on healthy living, urban exposures and non-communicable diseases. Swedish PI: Erik Melén.

Collaborations

Extensive national and international collaborations in the respiratory and allergy fields are established, and our research group is also involved in international Precision Medicine and Exposome projects.

Research support

  • European Research Council
  • Swedish Research Council
  • Swedish Heart-Lung Foundation
  • ERA-PERMED (Horizon 2020)
  • National Institute of Health, USA
  • ALF, medicine
  • Karolinska Institutet, SFO Epidemiology

Link

Early years’ impact on long-term lung health

Publications

Selected publications

  • Article: PEDIATRIC ALLERGY AND IMMUNOLOGY. 2019;30(6):589-597
    Melen E; Guerra S; Hallberg J; Jarvis D; Stanojevic S
  • Editorial comment: JOURNAL OF ALLERGY AND CLINICAL IMMUNOLOGY. 2019;143(6):2011-2013.e1
    London SJ; Melen E
  • Article: ENVIRONMENTAL HEALTH PERSPECTIVES. 2019;127(5):57012
    Gruzieva O; Xu C-J; Yousefi P; Relton C; Merid SK; Breton CV; Gao L; Volk HE; Feinberg JI; Ladd-Acosta C; Bakulski K; Auffray C; Lemonnier N; Plusquin M; Ghantous A; Herceg Z; Nawrot TS; Pizzi C; Richiardi L; Rusconi F; Vineis P; Kogevinas M; Felix JF; Duijts L; den Dekker HT; Jaddoe VWV; Ruiz JL; Bustamante M; Anto JM; Sunyer J; Vrijheid M; Gutzkow KB; Grazuleviciene R; Hernandez-Ferrer C; Annesi-Maesano I; Lepeule J; Bousquet J; Bergstrom A; Kull I; Soderhall C; Kere J; Gehring U; Brunekreef B; Just AC; Wright RJ; Peng C; Gold DR; Kloog I; DeMeo DL; Pershagen G; Koppelman GH; London SJ; Baccarelli AA; Melen E
  • Article: PEDIATRIC ALLERGY AND IMMUNOLOGY. 2019;30(1):74-80
    Hallberg J; Ballardini N; Almqvist C; Westman M; van Hage M; Lilja G; Bergstrom A; Kull I; Melen E
  • Article: THORAX. 2018;73(6):538-545
    Ekstrom S; Hallberg J; Kull I; Protudjer JLP; Thunqvist P; Bottai M; Gustafsson PM; Bergstrom A; Melen E
  • Article: THE LANCET RESPIRATORY MEDICINE. 2018;6(5):379-388
    Xu C-J; Soderhall C; Bustamante M; Baiz N; Gruzieva O; Gehring U; Mason D; Chatzi L; Basterrechea M; Llop S; Torrent M; Forastiere F; Fantini MP; Carlsen KCL; Haahtela T; Morin A; Kerkhof M; Merid SK; van Rijkom B; Jankipersadsing SA; Bonder MJ; Ballereau S; Vermeulen CJ; Aguirre-Gamboa R; de Jongste JC; Smit HA; Kumar A; Pershagen G; Guerra S; Garcia-Aymerich J; Greco D; Reinius L; McEachan RRC; Azad R; Hovland V; Mowinckel P; Alenius H; Fyhrquist N; Lemonnier N; Pellet J; Auffray C; van der Vlies P; van Diemen CC; Li Y; Wijmenga C; Netea MG; Moffatt MF; Cookson WOCM; Anto JM; Bousquet J; Laatikainen T; Laprise C; Carlsen K-H; Gori D; Porta D; Iniguez C; Bilbao JR; Kogevinas M; Wright J; Brunekreef B; Kere J; Nawijn MC; Annesi-Maesano I; Sunyer J; Melen E; Koppelman GH
  • Article: AMERICAN JOURNAL OF RESPIRATORY AND CRITICAL CARE MEDICINE. 2017;195(10):1373-1383
    Gref A; Merid SK; Gruzieva O; Ballereau S; Becker A; Bellander T; Bergstrom A; Bosse Y; Bottai M; Chan-Yeung M; Fuertes E; Ierodiakonou D; Jiang R; Joly S; Jones M; Kobor MS; Korek M; Kozyrskyj AL; Kumar A; Lemonnier N; MacIntyre E; Menard C; Nickle D; Obeidat M; Pellet J; Standl M; Saaf A; Soderhall C; Tiesler CMT; van den Berge M; Vonk JM; Vora H; Xu C-J; Anto JM; Auffray C; Brauer M; Bousquet J; Brunekreef B; Gauderman WJ; Heinrich J; Kere J; Koppelman GH; Postma D; Carlsten C; Pershagen G; Melen E
  • Article: AMERICAN JOURNAL OF HUMAN GENETICS. 2016;98(4):680-696
    Joubert BR; Felix JF; Yousefi P; Bakulski KM; Just AC; Breton C; Reese SE; Markunas CA; Richmond RC; Xu C-J; Kupers LK; Oh SS; Hoyo C; Gruzieva O; Soderhal C; Salas LA; Baiz N; Zhang H; Lepeule J; Ruiz C; Ligthart S; Wang T; Taylor JA; Duijts L; Sharp GC; Jankipersadsing SA; Nilsen RM; Vaez A; Fallin MD; Hu D; Litonjua AA; Fuemmeler BF; Huen K; Kere J; Kull I; Munthe-Kaas MC; Gehring U; Bustamante M; Saurel-Coubizolles MJ; Quraishi BM; Ren J; Tost J; Gonzalez JR; Peters MJ; Haberg SE; Xu Z; van Meurs JB; Gaunt TR; Kerkhof M; Corpeleijn E; Feinberg AP; Eng C; Baccarelli AA; Neelon SEB; Bradman A; Merid SK; Bergstrom A; Herceg Z; Hernandez-Vargas H; Brunekreef B; Pinart M; Heude B; Ewart S; Yao J; Lemonnier N; Franco OH; Wu MC; Hofman A; McArdle W; Van der Vlies P; Falahi F; Gillman MW; Barcellos LF; Kumar A; Wickman M; Guerra S; Charles M-A; Holloway J; Auffray C; Tiemeier HW; Smith GD; Postma D; Hivert M-F; Eskenazi B; Vrijheid M; Arshad H; Anto JM; Dehghan A; Karmaus W; Annesi-Maesano I; Sunyer J; Ghantous A; Pershagen G; Hollands N; Murphy SK; DeMeo DL; Burchard EG; Ladd-Acosta C; Snieder H; Nystad W; Koppelman GH; Relton CL; Jaddoe VWV; Wilcox A; Melen E; London SJ
  • Article: AMERICAN JOURNAL OF RESPIRATORY AND CRITICAL CARE MEDICINE. 2016;193(2):171-177
    Schultzl ES; Hallberg J; Bellander T; Bergstrom A; Bottai M; Chiesa F; Gustafsson PM; Gruzieva O; Thunqvist P; Pershagen G; Melen E
  • Article: NEW ENGLAND JOURNAL OF MEDICINE. 2010;363(13):1211-1221
    Moffatt MF; Gut IG; Demenais F; Strachan DP; Bouzigon E; Heath S; von Mutius E; Farrall M; Lathrop M; Cookson WOCM; Kumar A; Burney P; Jarvis D; Wjst M; Kogevinas M; Jogi R; Janson C; Franklin KA; Omenaas E; Leynaert B; Pin I; Heinrich J; Probst-Hensch NM; Anto JM; Sunyer J; Maldonado J-A; Martinez-Moratalla J; Urrutia I; Payo F; Kauffmann F; Dizier M-H; Siroux V; Boznanski A; Braun-Fahrlaender C; Genuneit J; Glas J; Horak E; Kabesch M; Pillai SG; Helms PJ; Carlsen K; Carlsen K-H; Gerritsen J; Silverman M; Sly P; Tsanakas J; Von Berg A; Whyte M; Blumenthal M; Imboden M; Rochat T; Thun GA; Gerbase MW; Curjuric I; Gaspoz J-M; Liu L-JS; Wouters IM; Sigsgaard T; Heederik D; Basinas I; Schlunssen V; Omland O; Cullinan P; Vermeulen R; Henderson J; Granell R; McArdle WL; Smith GD; James AL; Hui J; Palmer LJ; Beilby J; Musk AW; Laprise C; Hudson TJ; Lemire M; Daley D; Becker A; Chan-Yeung M; Sandford A; Kozyrskyj AL; Pare P; Ferguson A; Dimich-Ward H; Watson WT; Freidin MB; Bragina EI; Deev IA; Deeva EV; Kobyakova OS; Puzyrev VP; Ogorodova LM; Khusnutdinova EK; Karunas AS; Fedorova YY; Hall IP; Sayers I; Tobin MD; Wan YI; Heaney LG; Al-Momani BAH; Mansur AH; Manney S; Thomson NC; Chaudhuri R; Brightling CE; Bafadhel M; Singapuri A; Niven R; Simpson A; Holloway JW; Howarth PH; Polonikov AV; Ivanov VP; Solodilova MA; Melen E; Pershagen G; Bergstroem A; Kull I; Nyberg F; Wickman M; Soderhall C; Kere J; Postma DS; Kerkhof M; Brunekreef B; Smit HA; de Jongste JC; Wijga A; Aalberse RC; Hoekstra MO; Koppelman GH; Binia A; Chung KF; Bhavsar P; Chow F; Macedo P; Menzies-Gow A; van Stiphout N; Bush A; Lee Y-A; Esparza-Gordillo J; Nickel R; Wahn U; Lau S; Marenholz I; Haahtela T; von Hertzen L; Jousilahti P; Laatikainen T; Makela MJ; Vartiainen E; Laitinen T; Balding DJ; Peden JF; Corda E; Lechner D; Besse C; Zelenika D; Boland A; Bacq D; Demonchy S; Blanche H; Kamatani Y; von Mutius E; Farrall M; Lathrop M; Cookson WOCM

Staff and contact

Group leader

All members of the group