September 2025
April 2025!
Amir Ata Saei, Assistant professor
Amir holds a doctorate in pharmaceutical sciences degree and received his PhD in Proteomics and Bioinformatics working with Prof. Roman A. Zubarev at Karolinska Institutet in 2019. He pioneered several mass spectrometry-based chemical proteomics approaches for drug/mechanism deconvolution for small molecules. He then worked as a Swedish Research Council postdoctoral fellow, with Prof. Steven P. Gygi’s laboratory at Harvard Medical School, applying chemical proteomics to study metabolism. In 2022, he joined Prof. Michael N. Hall’s laboratory at Biozentrum, to identify and characterize the targets and functions of polyamines. Receiving an Ambizione Fellowship from the Swiss National Science Foundation in 2023, he continued as a PI at Biozentrum. He received a faculty-funded assistant professorship position from Karolinska Institutet and is currently a group leader at the Center for Translational Microbiome Research at the Department of Microbiology, Tumor and Cell Biology at Karolinska Institutet. Amir has supervised 30 students at BSc. to Ph.D. levels and was the supervisor for 9 MSc. theses since 2014.
Aleksandra Wielento, PostDoc
I received my Bachelor’s and Master’s degrees in Biochemistry from the Jagiellonian University in Krakow, Poland. After that, I started my doctoral studies and joined Prof. Jan Potempa’s lab at the Department of Microbiology at Jagiellonian University, obtaining a doctoral degree in December 2023, investigating a novel mechanism of manipulation of host immune responses by oral pathogen Porphyromonas gingivalis. For me, host-pathogen interactions are very fascinating and complex phenomena with many aspects that are still unexplored. That is why as a postdoctoral fellow I will combine my cell microbiology background with my previous experience in metabolism to study how gut microbiome, especially microbial metabolites, promote colon cancer.
Mücahit Varlı, PostDoc
I completed my Ph.D. in February 2024 at Sunchon National University under Prof. Hangun Kim, focusing on the role of KITENIN in colorectal cancer metabolism and drug discovery. My research explores how metabolic pathways like glucose utilization, the TCA cycle, and tryptophan metabolism are reprogrammed in cancer. Currently, I am a postdoctoral researcher at Karolinska Institutet, studying oncometabolites in liver cancer.
Xueyao Wang, Ph.D. student
I completed my MD with a focus on pediatric diseases. After years of clinical practice, as a PhD student in bioinformatics, now I am excited to explore how data-driven approaches can help our understanding and treatment of disease. My research interest is integrating multi-omics data, applying system biology and advanced machine learning approaches to deconstruct the complex interactions within host cells at a molecular level, to find new biomarkers and therapeutic targets for metabolic disease.
Hanna Hjärpsgård, Ph.D. student
I earned both my Bachelor’s and Master’s degrees in Bioengineering from the Royal Institute of Technology (KTH) in Stockholm. During my Master’s thesis at Erasmus MC, where I focused on prostate cancer, I developed a strong interest in pursuing a PhD in cancer research. Currently, my research focuses on investigating the metabolism of colon cancer. Specifically, I aim to explore how certain metabolites promote cancer growth by interacting with oncogenic proteins. Using advanced chemical proteomics, I seek to identify the oncogenic targets of these metabolites and clarify their roles in driving colon cancer progression.
Arthur Champain, Research Assistant
I completed my Master’s degree in Molecular Techniques in Life Sciences jointly at the Karolinska Institute, Stockholm University and Royal Institute of Technology (KTH) in Stockholm. During my Master thesis, I studied the biophysics of the plasma membrane using advanced microscopy methods and grew deeply interested in omics analysis and proteomics in particular. In my current research, I am studying the proteome-wide dynamics of metabolite-protein interactions in tumor microenvironment.
Han Liuchenxin, Research Assistant
I received a Bachelor degree in Bioinformatics from The Chinese University of Hong Kong and a Master degree in Biomedical Engineering from Johns Hopkins University. My research experience spans computational drug screening, single-cell RNA-seq analysis, and gene regulatory network reconstruction. I’ve worked extensively with both wet lab techniques (cell culture, animal models) and computational methods (Python/R, machine learning). It is a very valuable chance for me to apply my integrated background in proteomics and bioinformatics to study adipocyte biology and metabolic mechanisms.
Hezheng Lyu, Ph.D. student (co-supervisor)
Bohdana Sokolova, Ph.D. student (co-supervisor)
Zhaowei Meng, Ph.D. student (co-supervisor)
Anirudh Nair, M.Sc. student
I am a visiting student from Uppsala University and I contribute to projects focused on understanding host-microbe interactions and identifying biomarkers associated with complex diseases. My work will involve the application of machine learning and knowledge-based approaches. I look forward to expanding my practical skills in integrative multi-omic analysis and deepening my understanding of translational bioinformatics.
Lorenzo Mancuso, M.Sc. student
I completed my bachelor’s degree in Medical Biotechnology at Universitá del Piemonte Orientale (UPO), in Italy. I then moved to Uppsala to start a Master’s degree in Applied Biotechnology at Uppsala University. Currently I’m working on my Master thesis, focused on validating the interaction of specific metabolites with oncogenic proteins in colon cancer. By applying genetic engineering and chemical proteomics, I aim to identify binding sites, and characterize the thermodynamics of binding interactions to discover new drug targets and advance the design of innovative therapeutics.
Karolis Krinickis, M.Sc. student
I hold a dual bachelor’s degree in Genetics and Bioinformatics from Vilnius University. My scientific journey began at Thermo Fisher Scientific Baltics where I explored in silico modeling of proteins and protein chimerization both in dry and wet labs. Currently I am pursuing a master’s degree in Translational Physiology and Pharmacology at Karolinska Institute, while working at Saei lab trying to characterise protein binding pockets via proteomics and structural bioinformatics.
Luan Gardenalli De Freitas Aragao, M.Sc. student
I have a bachelor’s degree in molecular bioinformatics from the University of Skövde, where I was introduced to data-driven life sciences through independent projects focused on sequencing data quality control and assembly. I am currently pursuing a master’s in systems biology, shifting my focus to proteomics. For my thesis, I will work with the Saei Lab to analyse multidimensional proteome remodelling effects of interferons.
Alumni
Dimitrios-Marinos Karadedos, Visiting MSc. student
I am an Erasmus+ Trainee with a background in molecular biology, genetics, and bioinformatics. I earned both my BSc in Molecular Biology and Genetics and my MSc in Translational Research in Biomedicine from Democritus University of Thrace in Greece. During my Master’s thesis, I developed a keen interest in host-microbiome interactions. I am investigating how oral pathogens interact with colorectal cancer.
Marcel Esen, Visiting BSc. student
I am a visiting student from the University of Heidelberg and in the Saei Lab, I am studying host-microbiota interactions in colorectal cancer for my bachelor’s thesis.
Xenia Tzavara, Visiting BSc. student (Amgen Scholar)
Xenia is a student at the University Collage London.
SaeiLab 