In autoimmune diseases, the immune system mistakenly attacks the body's own cells and tissues. Disease susceptibility arises from the combined effects of multiple genetic variants and is accompanied by changes in cellular phenotypes.
Because many autoimmune diseases share common biological mechanisms, we study several patient groups, including rheumatoid arthritis, juvenile idiopathic arthritis, myasthenia gravis, and narcolepsy. We also investigate the role of autoimmunity in ME/CFS (myalgic encephalomyelitis/chronic fatigue syndrome).
Our goal is to understand why these disease develops, why disease course varies between patients, and why some individuals respond better to treatment than others. To achieve this, we investigate disease mechanisms across multiple biological layers, including genetic variation, epigenetic modifications, gene expression, and protein profiles.
We use state-of-the-art single-cell and spatial technologies to characterize immune cells in both blood and disease-affected tissues. This enables us to study how different cell types contribute to disease pathogenesis and how they are influenced by treatment.
Another area of research is extracellular vesicles and their molecular cargo, which play important roles in cell-to-cell communication and may influence both disease development and treatment response.
Our studies are based on clinically well-characterized patient cohorts established through close collaboration with clinical research environments. We integrate data across multiple biological layers using multi-omics approaches to identify disease mechanisms and biomarkers with potential applications in precision diagnostics and personalized treatment.
Our long-term goal is to contribute to more precise diagnostics, improved understanding of disease mechanisms, and more targeted therapies for patients with autoimmune diseases.
Projects
- Immunogenetic studies in autoimmune diseases and ME/CFS (project group of Marte Viken).
- Characterizing immune cells in myasthenia gravis thymus by spatial transcriptomics and single cell sequencing to find pathogenic cell states and signatures for thymectomy outcome.
- Multiomics and single cell sequencing of immune cells from blood and synovial fluid, complemented with spatial transcriptomics of synovial tissue microenvironment, in rheumatoid arthritis and juvenile arthritis to characterize disease phenotypes and treatment response.
- Identification of phenotype- and treatment-related alterations in extracellular vesicles and their RNA and protein cargo in rheumatic diseases.
