Sara Hägg

Sara Hägg

Lektor | Docent
E-postadress: sara.hagg@ki.se
Telefon: +46852482236
Besöksadress: ,
Postadress: C8 Medicinsk epidemiologi och biostatistik, C8 MEB II Hägg, 171 77 Stockholm
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Om mig

  • Jag är docent i molekylär epidemiologi vid Institutionen för medicinsk epidemiologi och biostatistik på Karolinska Institutet och min forskning handlar om åldrandet. Jag använder bland annat data från Svenska Tvillingregistret och UK biobank för att titta på biologiskt åldrande och associationer med åldersrelaterade sjukdomar.

    Utbildning
    * PhD i beräkningsbiologi, Linköpings universitet, 2009
    * MSc i molekylärbiologi, Stockholms universitet, 2003
    * BSc i datavetenskap, Stockholms universitet, 2003
    Postdoc
    * Genetisk epidemiologi, Medicinsk epidemiologi och biostatistik (MEB), KI, 2011-2014
    * Molekylär epidemiologi, Institutionen för medicinska vetenskaper, Uppsala universitet, 2013-2014
    Sabbatical
    * Stanford University School of Medicine, 2016

Forskningsbeskrivning

  • Gå till engensk sida och gruppsidan för mer information.

Artiklar

Alla övriga publikationer

Forskningsbidrag

  • Swedish Research Council
    1 January 2024 - 31 December 2026
    The increasing number of older people being disabled by aging threatens the sustainability of the health systems. Thus, there is an urgent need to counteract aging-induced disabling conditions as muscle wasting. The proposed project is based on longitudinal observations across the lifespan of adults in a cohort born in 1956/58 (SPAF-1958). This cohort has been followed from age 16 to 63 years using objective measures of physical performance, physical activity, and lifestyle variables at four time points, available and skeletal muscle biopsies (at 27 and 63 years) and blood samples (at ages 52 and 63 years). The SPAF-1958 cohort provides a unique opportunity to detect longitudinal changes, i.e., individual trajectories, thus elucidating the preclinical and clinical course of sarcopenia and revealing underlying factors at the individual level. In the proposed study, measurements will be repeated at age 67 years since it is reasonable to shorten the intervals between follow-ups as the effects of aging increase with time. A unique feature of the current study as individuals enter early-aging, is the combination of analyses of neurogenic components. This includes examination of motor and sensory nerve conduction, number of motor units combined with measurements of muscle mass and quality by MRI and muscle tissue morphology and gene expression from biopsies. The current study may also add information about biological aging biomarkers in blood and individual genetic makeup.
  • Swedish Research Council
    1 January 2023 - 31 December 2027
    Due to global aging, Alzheimer´s disease and related dementias (ADRD) are increasing in the population. No disease-modifying treatment currently exists, but recent advances in the field suggest multifactorial processes may be at play. Hence, it will be important to find specific disease characteristics of ADRD for prevention and treatment strategies in line with precision medicine initiatives. Therefore, the overall aim of this 5-year project is to provide individualized risk predictions, prevention and prognosis of ADRD.In aim 1, we will use a large cohort of biobanked samples linked to Swedish registers (AMORIS), UK Biobank and the Swedish Twin Registry to identify individuals at risk of ADRD. Variables used will be biological age, polygenic risk scores, APOE genotype, metabolic profile, cognition, age, sex and ADRD subtypes. In aim 2, using the same data, we will apply pharmaco-epidemiology to study if individuals at risk of ADRD benefit from preventive treatment with repurposed drugs in clinical trials for ADRD. In aim 3, we will use a clinical cohort of geriatric patients from the Stockholm region to analyze if patients with ADRD have better prognosis using these drugs.A postdoc and PhD-student will be recruited and two biostatisticians, a geriatrician, pharmaco-, and aging-epidemiologists collaborate. The project will advance our understanding of individualized treatments for ADRD and could guide future dementia strategy regarding primary prevention.
  • Swedish Research Council
    1 January 2023 - 31 December 2025
    The purpose of this project is to increase our understanding of the etiology of Parkinson’s disease (PD). The project aims to: 1) investigate whether inflammatory gastrointestinal conditions, conditions related to perturbed gut microbiota, and gastrointestinal surgery are associated with PD risk, 2) investigate whether healthy dietary patterns, for example mediterranean and anti-inflammatory patterns, and antibiotics are associated with PD risk, 3) using network Mendelian randomization, test whether the gut microbiota composition is associated with PD risk or age at onset. Over four years, we will use cutting-edge conventional, genetic, and molecular epidemiological designs that aid causal inference, including Mendelian randomization and within-family studies. Resources will combine samples from the entire Swedish population (using the patient register), the unique database ESPRESSO with histopathological reports from gastrointestinal biopsies, the SIMPLER cohort with large numbers of DNA and fecal samples, as well as very large PD case control datasets with genetic information that were assembled in international genetic consortia.This research shifts the focus from identifying risk and protection factors associated with PD to establishing those likely to cause the disease, a step that will further understanding of disease etiology and pathogenesis. This will potentially lead to novel therapies, preventive strategies, and more individualized treatment of PD patients.
  • Swedish Research Council
    1 January 2023 - 31 December 2025
    The aim of this 4-year project is to map the genetic heterogeneities of Alzheimer’s Disease (AD), to accelerate the development of personalized treatments. A novel approach will be used to estimate an individual’s genetic risk load in key disease pathways, such as immune-system related pathways, by incorporating knowledge about gene expression, interactions among gene products etc. We will study how specific gene pathways influence AD risk and disease related endophenotypes, and their interplay with two major inherited risk factors: sex and the high-penetrance APOE ε4 allele. This will be possible by using data from two deeply phenotyped longitudinal cohorts on aging, Betula and SATSA, as well as large-scale data from the IGEMS consortia and the UK Biobank. We will focus on the following outcomes: AD risk, cognitive ability, brain atrophy, and plasma-based biomarkers of AD pathology (tau) and chronic inflammation. Finally, we will identify existing drugs with a genetic link to AD, as potential candidates for drug-repurposing, with focus on drugs where an epidemiological link to AD has been suggested (e.g. anti-inflammatories). Results from this project is expected to reveal differences in the pathophysiological mechanisms of AD among individuals with different inherited risk profiles. This will allow to perform clinical trials of drugs designed to target a specific pathway in a limited group of individuals where this pathway is most likely to be disrupted.
  • Swedish Research Council
    1 December 2021 - 30 November 2025
    We need post-COVID research on the most severely affected group in the pandemic – older adults. Focus has so far mainly been on younger individuals, although older adults are likely to be severely affected because of their lower resilience to stressors. We will therefore provide results based on large unselected longitudinal nationwide data.Among older adults, we aim to 1) Investigate use of healthcare and eldercare among COVID-19 survivors (including creating an indicator of post-COVID in older adults)
    2) Identify risk factors for post-COVID
    3) Study outcomes of post-COVID
    and 4) Explore the role of medications and dementia in post-COVID.We will analyze several Swedish registers of people aged &gt
    =65 years (n~2.6 million) and the Swedish Dementia Registry (n~100 000), and also include international comparisons. We will study the use of healthcare (e.g. hospitalizations, medications) and eldercare (home care services, nursing home admission) among COVID-19 survivors compared to non-infected. Adjusted regression models (e.g. Cox proportional hazard, propensity matching) will be used to study outcomes (e.g. mortality) and different risk factors (e.g. sociodemography, multimorbidity, depression and cardiovascular diseases). Also medications (e.g. polypharmacy, diuretics and anticoagulants) and dementia will be analyzed in detail.The findings will lead to mitigating the long-term effects of the pandemic as well as other infectious diseases like the seasonal influenza.
  • Swedish Research Council
    1 December 2021 - 30 November 2025
    We urgently need research on the most severely affected in the COVID-19 pandemic – older adults. In Sweden, ~90% of the deaths have occurred in people aged &gt
    =70 years. Still, few studies on COVID-19 among older adults have based their findings on big data. To address these major knowledge gaps, we will provide results based on large unselected longitudinal nationwide data. Among older adults, we aim to 1) Identify risk profiles for severe outcomes of COVID-19
    2) Show outcomes of medication treatment and dementia
    3) Study long-term consequences of COVID-19
    and 4) Investigate coverage and outcomes of vaccination. We will analyse several Swedish registers of people aged &gt
    =65 years (n~2.6 million) and the Swedish Dementia Registry (n~95 000), and also include international comparisons. Adjusted regression models (e.g. Cox proportional hazard, propensity matching, nested case-control design) will be used to estimate independent risk of outcomes (e.g. hospitalisation, mortality, long-term consequences and vaccination) of different factors (e.g. sociodemography, place of residence, nursing home/own home, eldercare, frailty, multimorbidity, polypharmacy, dementia, depression, diabetes, cancer and cardiovascular diseases). Also medications (e.g. ACE inhibitors, statins and anticoagulants) will be analysed. The findings will contribute to mitigating the effects of this pandemic as well as future ones. Thus, long-term advantages are expected, including for the seasonal influenza.
  • Swedish Research Council
    1 January 2021 - 31 December 2023
  • Swedish Research Council
    1 January 2021 - 31 December 2024
  • Swedish Research Council
    1 January 2020 - 31 December 2022
  • Swedish Research Council
    1 January 2017 - 31 December 2019
  • Swedish Research Council
    1 January 2016 - 31 December 2019
  • Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft
    1 January 2016
    The Swedish Adoption/Twin Study of Ageing (SATSA) is an internationally renowned prospective cohort study that was established in the 1980ies to longitudinally investigate the psychobiological determinants of normative and pathological ageing. By integrating data from self-report questionnaires and blood specimens that have been sampled in this study since 1992, the present research proposal is concerned with the identification and characterization of the epigenetic markers of general and internalizing psychopathological symptomatology (henceforth referred to as depressive mood) during late adulthood.In order to pursue these goals, Dr. Sara Hägg (Karolinska Institute, Stockholm, Sweden) invited me to investigate the longitudinal association between according symptoms and the epigenom in the SATSA as a visiting fellow. An according research stay in Dr. Häggs laboratory is currently scheduled from August 2016 until December 2016, and is supposed to achieve the following aims:(A) Exploratory and confirmatory identification of epigenetic markers that are predictive of the manifestation of general psychopathology and its subsidiary factors with a particular focus on depressive mood.(B) Separation of the predictive epigenetic variance into components that are attributable to common genetic effects, as well as common and unique environmental effects, which is enabled by the twin design of the SATSA.(C) Investigation of the temporal dynamics (i.e. the individual stability and cross-lagged impact) of epigenetic markers towards psychopathological symptomatology, and vice versa, which is enabled by the longitudinal sampling protocol of the SATSA.Besides conventional approaches to the analysis of high-dimensional omics data, the outlined research aims will be adressed using different statistical models, that enable the proper quantification of intraindividual stability and variability of epigenetic markers.
  • Swedish Research Council
    1 January 2013 - 31 December 2016

Anställningar

  • Lektor, Medicinsk epidemiologi och biostatistik, Karolinska Institutet, 2023-

Examina och utbildning

  • Docent, Molekylär epidemiologi, Karolinska Institutet, 2015

Uppdrag

Handledning

  • Handledning till doktorsexamen

    • Karolina Gustavsson, Muti-omics of aging and risk for dementia, 2024-
    • Bowen Tang
    • Katalin Vincze
    • Sara Licaj

Uppdrag i kommitté

Redaktör för vetenskaplig tidskrift

Expert

  • Evaluator of research applications in national competition, Swedish Research Council, 2024
  • Reviewer of candidates proposed for academic positions, University of Oulu, 2024
  • Evaluator of research applications in national competition, Public Health panel, Academy of Finland, 2023
  • Reviewer of candidates proposed for academic positions, Evaluator for fellowship, Medical Research Council, 2023
  • Evaluator of research applications in international competition, Different panels, National Institute on Aging, 2018

Konferenser och events

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