Anna Karlsson

Anna Karlsson

Professor/Specialistläkare | Docent
E-postadress: anna.karlsson@ki.se
Telefon: +46852483914
Besöksadress: Nobels väg 7, 17165 Solna
Postadress: H5 Laboratoriemedicin, H5 Klin Mikrobiologi Anna Karlsson, 141 52 Huddinge
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Om mig

  • Jag har sedan många år en forskargrupp som har fokus på utveckling av bättre behandling av virussjukdomar och cancer. Vi studerar hur byggstenarna till DNA tillverkas och hur man i den syntesvägen kan stoppa DNA-syntesen för virus samt för cancerceller. Genom vårt smala fokus har vi genom åren varit framgångsrika och bidragit med flera upptäckter. Jag är också verksam som läkare inom virologisk diagnostik och har en kombinationstjänst vid mikrobiologiska kliniken på Karolinska Universitetssjukhuset. I min verksamhet vid Karolinska Institutet har jag haft många uppdrag. Jag har under många år varit aktiv i Disputationskommitté Syd och därefter i Docenturnämnden. Jag var under en period vice ordförande i Rekryteringsutskottet. Jag har tidigare varit lärarrepresentant i Styrelsen för Forskarutbildning och är under nuvarande mandatperiod lärarrepresentant i Forskningsstyrelsen samt i Forskningsstrategiska kommittén. Ett viktigt externt uppdrag som jag har sedan flera år är som Vetenskaplig sekreterare på Cancerfonden.

    Utbildning
    Läkarlinjen, Karolinska Institutet (1978-1985)
    Läkarexamen, Karolinska Institutet (January 18, 1985)
    1985-1990, Forskarutbildning, Karolinska Institutet (Thesis Adviser: Prof. Peter Reichard and Prof. Britta Wahren)
    April 27, 1990, Degree of Doctor in Medical Sciences (Ph.D)
    1994- 1995, Postdoc position, Pasteur Institute, Paris, France
    1996, Docent i Medicinsk Biokemi, Karolinska Institutet
    1998, Residence in Clinical Virology, Huddinge University Hospital, Stockholm
    2000- 2006, Senior Research Position, Swedish Cancer Society
    2008, Specialist in Clinical Virology, Karolinska Hospital
    2008, Professor in Clinical Virology, Karolinska Institute

    Akademiska priser och utmärkelser
    1994, European Molecular Biology Organization (EMBO), fellowship
    1994, Wennergren foundation, fellowship
    1995, Institut National de la Santé et de la Recherche Médicale (INSERM), fellowship
    1996, Citation Impact in AIDS Research, 1993-1995
  • 11.64 Cites per paper, Rank 21, (among authors publishing 20 papers or more). Source: ISI’s Science Indicators Database
    2001, Descartes Prize “Outstanding research results from transnational collaboration”

Forskningsbeskrivning

  • My research focus is nucleotide metabolism/ chemotherapy with special focus on anti-viral and anti-cancer therapy. During the 1990s I was greatly involved in the international network developing the combination treatment strategies for HIV infection that today is established in clinical use. My focus was to determine the RT mutations occurring and to elucidate treatment strategies to circumvent resistance development. During these years I was ranked among the most cited scientists in HIV research. In recent years I have initiated a project with a novel concept for antiviral treatment that is based on a different strategy focusing on viral entry.

    During the years my research group has identified and characterized several nucleoside and nucleotide kinases. We were the first to clone and characterize the mitochondrial thymidine kinase 2 and deoxyguanosine kinase as well as the multisubstrate nucleoside kinase from Drosophila melanogaster that we also demonstrated to be an excellent gene candidate for suicide gene therapy. Some of the enzymes we have identified have mitochondrial translocation signal whereas other have nuclear or cytosolic expression. We have studied the importance of the intracellular location of nucleoside kinases for the cytotoxicity of nucleoside analogs and also how intracellular compartment can be used in suicide gene constructs. We have established the first model to study deficiency of mitochondrial thymidine kinase 2 (TK2) by creating a strain of TK2 knock-out mice. The phenotype clearly demonstrates the importance of mitochondrial TK2 for cell growth and survival and thus consequently reveals this enzyme as a possible target to arrest tumor growth. We are presently developing treatment strategies to compensate for the mitochondrial deficiency that may be of clinical relevance in mitochondrial disease and related disorders.

Artiklar

Alla övriga publikationer

Anställningar

  • Professor/Specialistläkare, Laboratoriemedicin, Karolinska Institutet, 2008-

Examina och utbildning

  • Docent, Biokemi, Karolinska Institutet, 1996

Nyheter från KI

Kalenderhändelser från KI