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Twana Alkasalias

Twana Alkasalias

Assistant Professor
Visiting address: BioMedicum A4, Solnavägen 9, 17165 Solna
Postal address: K6 Kvinnors och barns hälsa, K6 NOGRH Gemzell Danielsson Lalit Kumar, 171 77 Stockholm

About me

  • I am an Assistant Professor at the Department of Women’s and Children’s Health (KBH) at the ̽»¨¾«Ñ¡ (KI), where I am specialized in cancer research. I completed my doctoral studies at KI, focusing on the tumor microenvironment under the mentorship of Professor George Klein. Successfully defended my Ph.D. thesis under the supervision of Prof. Kaisa Lehti.

    Following the completion of my doctoral studies, I joined Prof. Sonia Lain at KI's Department of Microbiology, Tumor, and Cell Biology (MTC) to start a postdoctoral study focusing on drug development approaches aimed at fighting cancer.

    Later, I transitioned to the Department of Women’s and Children’s Health (KBH) at KI, where I worked under the mentorship of Prof. Kristina Gemzell Danielsson. Currently, as an assistant professor, I lead pioneering research initiatives within the Gemzell group. I collaborate closely with Prof. Martin Widschwendter and his team at the Institute of European Translational Oncology Prevention & Screening (EUTOPS) in Austria.

     

Research

  • Throughout my academic journey, I have demonstrated a keen focus on the tumor microenvironment, particularly investigating the interactions between normal stromal cells and cancer cells to understand tumor growth and invasion. My early work with Prof. Klein laid the foundation for my research direction, emphasizing the significance of the microenvironment in cancer initiation.

    In Lehti lab, I developed expertise in 3D co-culture models, specifically studying the interaction between cancer-associated fibroblasts and ovarian cancer cells. During my postdoctoral studies with Prof. Lain, He delved into combinatorial drug development projects, expanding my independent research portfolio.

    Under the guidance of Prof. Danielsson, I lead projects focusing on cancer prevention, particularly studying endometriosis-associated ovarian cancer, and investigating the impact of progesterone signaling on healthy women with pathogenic variants of BRCA mutation. I have contributed significantly to scientific literature, with publications in collaboration with prominent researchers.

    As an assistant professor, I continue to innovate, having developed a high-throughput 3D model to study hormone signaling in normal and breast cancer. 

Articles

  • Article: INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF MOLECULAR SCIENCES. 2024;25(14):7590
    Utjes D; Boggavarapu NR; Rasul MF; Koberg I; Zulliger A; Ponandai-Srinivasan S; von Grothusen C; Lalitkumar PG; Papaikonomou K; Alkasalias T; Gemzell-Danielsson K
  • Article: CANCERS. 2024;16(6):1186
    Haran S; Chindera K; Sabry M; Wilkinson N; Arora R; Zubiak A; Bartlett TE; Evans I; Jones A; Reisel D; Herzog C; Alkasalias T; Newman M; Kim J; Radestad AF; Gemzell-Danielsson K; Rosenthal AN; Dubeau L; Lowdell MW; Widschwendter M
  • Article: HELIYON. 2024;10(1):e23831
    Mollick T; Darekar S; Dalarun B; Plastino F; Zhang J; Fernandez AP; Alkasalias T; Andre H; Lain S
  • Article: CELL DEATH DISCOVERY. 2022;8(1):464
    Alkasalias T; Zhang J; Madapura H; Dalarun B; Reina OB; Lewensohn R; Viktorsson K; Salihi A; Darekar S; Lain S
  • Article: EMBO MOLECULAR MEDICINE. 2020;12(4):e11177
    Moyano-Galceran L; Pietila EA; Turunen SP; Corvigno S; Hjerpe E; Bulanova D; Joneborg U; Alkasalias T; Miki Y; Yashiro M; Chernenko A; Jukonen J; Singh M; Dahlstrand H; Carlson JW; Lehti K
  • Journal article: CLINICAL CANCER RESEARCH. 2019;25(22_Supplement):gmm-041-gmm-041
    Moyano-Galceran L; Turunen SP; Pietilä E; Alkasalias T; Corvigno S; Hjerpe E; Joneborg U; Bulanova D; Eriksson M; Dahlstrand H; Carlson J; Lehti K
  • Article: JOURNAL OF CELLULAR AND MOLECULAR MEDICINE. 2018;22(1):163-172
    Ujvari D; Jakson I; Oldmark C; Attarha S; Alkasalias T; Salamon D; Gidlof S; Hirschberg AL
  • Article: CLINICAL CANCER RESEARCH. 2017;23(16):4769-4779
    Liu C; Zhang Y; Lim S; Hosaka K; Yang Y; Pavlova T; Alkasalias T; Hartman J; Jensen L; Xing X; Wang X; Lu Y; Nie G; Cao Y
  • Article: PROCEEDINGS OF THE NATIONAL ACADEMY OF SCIENCES OF THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA. 2017;114(8):E1413-E1421
    Alkasalias T; Alexeyenko A; Hennig K; Danielsson F; Lebbink RJ; Fielden M; Turunen SP; Lehti K; Kashuba V; Madapura HS; Bozoky B; Lundberg E; Balland M; Guven H; Klein G; Gad AKB; Pavlova T
  • Article: JOURNAL OF EXPERIMENTAL & CLINICAL CANCER RESEARCH. 2015;34(1):62
    Alexeyenko A; Alkasalias T; Pavlova T; Szekely L; Kashuba V; Rundqvist H; Wiklund P; Egevad L; Csermely P; Korcsmaros T; Guven H; Klein G
  • Article: PROCEEDINGS OF THE NATIONAL ACADEMY OF SCIENCES OF THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA. 2014;111(48):17188-17193
    Alkasalias T; Flaberg E; Kashuba V; Alexeyenko A; Pavlova T; Savchenko A; Szekely L; Klein G; Guven H

All other publications

  • Preprint: MEDRXIV. 2024
    Utjés D; Boggavarapu NR; Rasul M; Koberg I; Zulliger A; Ponandai-Srinivasan S; von Grothusen C; Lalitkumar PG; Papaikonomou K; Alkasalias T; Gemzell-Danielsson K
  • Corrigendum: CELL DEATH DISCOVERY. 2022;8(1):472
    Alkasalias T; Zhang J; Madapura H; Dalarun B; Reina OB; Lewensohn R; Viktorsson K; Salihi A; Darekar S; Lain S
  • Preprint: RESEARCH SQUARE. 2022
    Lain S; Alkasalias T; Zhang J; Madapura H; Dalaroun B; Reina OB; Lewensohn R; Viktorsson K; Salihi A; Darekar S
  • Review: MOLECULAR MEDICINE REPORTS. 2022;26(1):233
    Salihi A; Al-Naqshabandi MA; Khudhur ZO; Housein Z; Hama HA; Abdullah RM; Hussen BM; Alkasalias T
  • Review: FOOD AND CHEMICAL TOXICOLOGY. 2021;150:112087
    Smail SW; Saeed M; Alkasalias T; Khudhur ZO; Younus DA; Rajab MF; Abdulahad WH; Hussain HI; Niaz K; Safdar M
  • Conference publication: CLINICAL CANCER RESEARCH. 2019;25(22):104
    Moyano-Galceran L; Turunen SP; Pietila E; Alkasalias T; Corvigno S; Hjerpe E; Joneborg U; Bulanova D; Eriksson M; Dahlstrand H; Carlson J; Lehti K
  • Review: INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF MOLECULAR SCIENCES. 2018;19(5):E1532-1532
    Alkasalias T; Moyano-Galceran L; Arsenian-Henriksson M; Lehti K
  • Doctoral thesis: 2017
    Alkasalias THA

Employments

  • Assistant Professor, Department of Women's and Children's Health, ̽»¨¾«Ñ¡, 2023-2028

Degrees and Education

  • Degree Of Doctor Of Philosophy, Department of Microbiology, Tumor and Cell Biology, ̽»¨¾«Ñ¡, 2018

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