Bojmar Lab

PhD, Assistant Professor, Docent

Linda Bojmar. Photo credit John Karlsson Linda Bojmar did her graduate studies in Linköping Sweden, where she was born. Thereafter, Linda performed her postdoctoral studies in the lab of Dr. David Lyden at Weill Cornell Medicine, New York. Here, Linda studied extracellular vesicles and their role in cancer progression. Together with Memorial Sloan Kettering, Linda performed the first studies of the hepatic pre-metastatic niche in pancreatic cancer patients. These projects set the stage for Linda’s translational lab in Sweden, working on the systemic effects of cancer, and how to employ them to improve care, together with clinicians and pre-clinicians. Linda’s passion is to work in multi-disciplinary teams, and when not running between the hospital and the lab, Linda likes to spend her time outside, preferably with family, friends and horses!

MD, PhD, Pathologist

Hakon Andersen Blomstrand was born in Uppsala, Sweden. He graduated from medical school at University of Gothenburg in 2013. He is interested in all aspects of pancreatic cancer, an interest that started while working clinically with cancer patients. His PhD focused on the prognostic aspects of localised and metastatic pancreatic cancer. He is currently working at the Department of Clinical Pathology at Linköping University Hospital. In his spare time, Hakon enjoys hiking and climbing.

PhD candidate

Elena Arlaman was born and raised in Syria. She spent three years studying pharmacy at Damascus University before relocating to Sweden in 2014. In Sweden, she studied medicine at Linköpings University and graduated with a master's degree in medicine in January 2023.

Elena's passion for research has been a driving force throughout her academic journey. She actively participated as a research assistant during her medical studies, working with a research group at Linköping University focused on studying thrombocytes and coagulation factors.

However, Elena's goal has always been to become an oncologist and cancer researcher. In April 2023, she embarked on a new academic adventure as a PhD candidate in cancer research under the supervision of Linda Bojmar. Her particular research interest lies in the study of cancer-derived extracellular vesicles and their role in cancer progression, as well as their potential utility as biomarkers.

MD, PhD, Adjunct professor

The research Bergthor Björnsson conduct is largely based on collaborations in various networks. After his defense in 2014, he ran a randomized trial at US (Linköping) where the value of minimally invasive pancreatic surgery was evaluated. At the same time, his unit led a multicenter and multinational study comparing different liver surgeries. It became clear that to tackle the larger clinical issues, large networks are needed. Therefore, he participate in the research for clinical projects described on his employee page.

Translational research often requires closer collaboration than clinical research and there can be difficulties with large distances. Therefore, the translational part of his research is mainly conducted in collaboration with other researchers at Linköping University.

PhD candidate

Photo credit Emma Busk Winquist Jonas Burman grew up in Karlstad but moved to Linköping for his bachelor’s studies in Biology. During this time, he discovered his growing interest in understanding how humans worked, rather than the study of animals and ecology and went on to pursue a master’s degree in Experimental and Medical Biosciences at the university hospital in Linköping, graduating in 2022. For his master’s thesis, he focused on the role of the putative tumor suppressor TAp73 in radiosensitivity under the supervision of Xiao-Feng Sun. After his master’s degree he decided to dive further into the topic of enhancing treatment of colorectal cancer by enrolling in graduate studies under Linda Bojmar as a PhD candidate.

He is interested in molecular factors which differentiate patients that respond well to radiotherapy to those that do not, and the mechanisms behind this, using bioinformatics and wet-lab assays. Already during his master’s degree, the small molecule APR-246, or Eprenetapopt, which appears to have cause cell death in cells with mutant p53, but also could be useful in improving response rate to conventional treatment piqued his interest. Recently, the topic that has been of interest is the study of the potential of cargo from extracellular vesicles shed from the primary tumor, to alter the tumor microenvironment, establishing a pre-metastatic niche in distant tissues, as well as how this relates to treatment response in colon and rectal cancer.

MD, PhD

Karin Johansen, originally from Gothenburg, graduated from medical school at Linköping University in 2018. She continued to do her PhD at the department of surgery in Linköping on the subject of pancreatic surgery, with a focus on cost-effectiveness and quality of life. After beginning her surgical residency with a 2-year position at Landspitali University Hospital, Reykjavik, she is currently back in Linköping and working at the department of surgery.

 

Her current research mainly focuses on clinical aspects of pancreatic and liver surgery, but from 2025 she is also involved in Linda Bojmar’s research group with the collection of clinical data for the ongoing projects.

 

Research Engineer

Carolin Jönsson. Carolin Jönsson grew up in the South of Germany and graduated as a research technician at the Max-Planck Institute in Freiburg, Germany.

She then worked at Friedrich Miescher Institute in Basel Switzerland and The Hospital for Sick Children in Toronto Canada.

She moved 1993 to Sweden and worked at Uppsala University and Lund University until she finally came to Linköping University in 2003.

Throughout the years Carolin has worked in many different research fields.

She joined the Bojmar group in 2022. Carolin is responsible for collecting and “processing” all patient material and is involved in different projects concerning the understanding of the pre-metastatic niche in pancreatic cancer and the role of extracellular vesicles as a biomarker for metastasis.

In her spare time she enjoys kayaking, gardening and arts.

MD, PhD, Adjunct Assistant Lecturer

Erik Lundqvist is a surgeon and clinical researcher from Söderköping, Östergötland. He earned his medical degree from Linköping University and completed his internship and surgical training at Vrinnevi Hospital in Norrköping.

His research focuses on early-onset colorectal cancer, particularly risk factors and clinical outcomes in younger patients. His PhD explored these aspects, building on earlier work investigating hereditary patterns of colorectal cancer in the South-East Healthcare Region.

Erik is currently a surgical consultant affiliated with Linköping University. Since 2022, he has collaborated with Linda Bojmar’s group, contributing to translational research that integrates clinical data with molecular analyses. In 2023, he initiated systematic sampling of colorectal cancer patients undergoing surgery in Norrköping.

His overall goal is to improve the diagnosis and management of colorectal cancer, which affects nearly 7,000 individuals annually in Sweden.

MD

Paulina Velasco Riestra. Paulina Velasco Riestra graduated as an MD from Tecnológico de Monterrey University in Mexico City. She began her career as a researcher at MD Anderson, delving into mucin secretion within the Pulmonary Medicine division. Motivated by a profound interest in pediatric oncology, she transitioned to clinical training, discovering her passion for both the clinical and research facets of the field. Under the guidance of Dr. Sebastián Rodríguez Llamazares, she contributed to establishing the pleural clinic at the Mexican National Institute of Respiratory Diseases.

Currently, Paulina collaborates in Linda Bojmar's research group, focusing on cancer-derived extracellular vesicles. She cherishes moments with friends and family, finding joy in baking. Her commitment to both professional and personal spheres underscores her lagom approach to life.

MD

Verena Unterkircher grew up in a small town in the Alps in Northern Italy, close to the border Austria. She graduated from the Medical University of Innsbruck in 2024, where she developed her love for general surgery, research and teaching. During her studies she worked as a research assistant for the Department of Vascular Surgery and as a student assistent for the Anatomical Institute in Innsbruck. Her goal is to become a general surgeon and researcher, which led her join the Bojmar group in fall 2024. Currently she is focusing on portal biomarkers in different GI-cancers, mostly pancreatic cancer, and their potential clinical use.

MD, MRes, Adjunct Associate Professor

Constantinos Zambirinis. Constantinos Zambirinis, is a surgeon-scientist, originally from Paphos, Cyprus. He graduated from the University of Athens Medical School in Greece, and completed a Masters of Research in Translational Cancer Medicine at King's College London, UK. He spent 12 years in the U.S. during which he completed clinical training in General Surgery (Harlem Hospital Center, NY, and Rhode Island Hospital of Brown University, RI) and Complex General Surgical Oncology (Rutgers Cancer Institute of New Jersey). He also spent several years in the lab, first at New York University and subsequently at Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center, studying the role of inflammation in pancreatic carcinogenesis as well as the liver pre-metastatic niche.

His research focuses on immune-mediated mechanisms of pancreatic cancer progression and metastasis, and the development of novel approaches for radiomic and molecular profiling of pancreatic cancer in order to predict outcomes and tailor treatment to each patient's individual tumor.

PhD, postdoc researcher

My research focuses on cancer metabolism and metabolic reprogramming, with a particular interest in developing ex vivo and computational models to study tumor–host interactions. I aim to improve translational relevance and reduce animal use by integrating stable isotope tracing, mass spectrometry, and systems biology approaches.

MSC

Huajing Wu graduated from Uppsala University with a degree in biochemistry. She developed an interest in the mode of immunosuppressive function of bone marrow-derived mesenchymal stem cells (MSCs) and joined Katarina Le Blanc’s group at Karolinska Institute for her master’s thesis about the mechanism of interactions between MSCs and monocytes. She worked as a research assistant in Johanna Ungerstedt’s Group at Linköping University, focusing on the role of monocytes in chronic inflammation, clinical symptoms, and disease propagation and progression in CMML, with a specific focus on monocyte extracellular trap (MET) formation.

Currently, she is a research assistant in Linda Bojmar’s group. Her work involves helping with projects on cancer-derived extracellular vesicles and the role of NK cells in pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma (PDAC).

In her free time, she enjoys playing badminton and spending time with her dog, as well as visiting new places.

Alexander Sandberg PhD

Alexander Sandberg completed his graduate studies at the Department of Chemistry at Linköping University, where he investigated protein misfolding in tauopathies. He then continued as a Principal Research Engineer at the Division of Cell and Neurobiology, focusing on ongoing research in neurodegeneration. In 2024, he joined the Linda Bojmar research lab, shifting his focus to abdominal cancers and, in particular, the role of extracellular vesicles in these diseases.

PhD, postdoc

My research focuses on analyzing large-scale biological data using computational approaches, including machine learning, statistical modeling, and systems biology. I both support biomedical research groups as a computational resource and develop new tools to uncover disease-driven intracellular changes. I began my research career in 2014 with training in mechanistic modeling and systems biology. After my master’s, I pursued a PhD in bioinformatics, focusing on inferring reliable gene regulatory networks from RNA-seq data. I then worked as a postdoc in collaboration with pharmaceutical companies, where I led a project developing variational autoencoders to identify disease-specific gene networks.

Currently, my work emphasizes method development and the application of computational tools to real-world biomedical data. My long-term goal is to establish a platform that supports the interpretation of diverse large-scale biological datasets across the life sciences.

PhD, postdoc

I started my education at Linköping University, where I graduated from the Bachelor programme in Medicinsk biologi (Biomedicine) followed by the Master programme in Experimental and Medical Biosciences. In parallel, I was employed at Clinical Pathology at Region Östergötland, where I gained valuable experience in the diagnostic workflow.

During my time as a PhD student at Karolinska Institutet, supervised by Dr. Med. Marco Gerling and with outstanding training and support from my co-supervisor Dr. Med Carlos Fernández Moro, I developed an increasing interest for the pancreas, both regarding its functionality during normal, healthy conditions, and regarding the events of tumor initiation and progression. Here, I studied how tumors, primarily pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma and neuroendocrine tumors of the pancreas spread in the pancreatic parenchyma. For example, I noticed how differentially the surrounding parenchyma of the pancreas was affected in different tumor types.

Now, I continue my research track in digital pathology and pancreatic cancer as a Postdoctoral researcher supervised by Dr. Docent Linda Bojmar and Dr. Med. Hakon Blomstrand.

When a tumor is resected from a patient, it can be studied by microscopy. Today, the microscopy slides are scanned, which enables more advanced computer-assisted analyses. Histology is a great tool, where the previously living tissue is captured as a snapshot in time. Thus, a tumor can be visualized in the context of all the surrounding, non-malignant cell types, which can help us to better understand how the tumor can spread through the pancreas. This might also help us to deduce what tumor characteristics that are informative in the clinical setting.

In the current project, we develop a deep-learning platform to segment (identify) various tissue components in pancreatic cancer, supported by Wallenberg Centre for Molecular Medicine Postdoc-program.

I have an interdisciplinary background with experience in both experimental and computational research. I am currently working in the Integrative Systems Biology (ISB) group and Bojmar’s Lab. My studies include a B.Sc. in Computer Science and Biomedical Informatics and a M.Sc. in Protein Biotechnology.

My work in the ISB group has been focused on understanding the intracellular metabolic changes linked to Alzheimer's disease. I work on the modelling side of a method called 13C Metabolic Flux Analysis (MFA), to study metabolic changes in brain cells during disease.

I am also working in Bojmar's Lab investigating cancer cell metabolism. My research focuses on metabolic competition involving creatine between pancreatic cancer and immune cells. We also develop tumor and liver organoid models to explore how and when liver metastasis occurs.