Gala Dinner Speaker

Professor Lars Engstrand

Lars Engstrand, MD, Professor of clinical microbiology and communicable diseases, Karolinska Institute, Stockholm. He holds the director position at the Center for Translational Microbiome Research (CTMR).

His research group aims at creating a scientific environment with a broad interdisciplinary approach to the interface between epidemiology and the microbiological, immunological and genetic aspects of chronic infectious diseases to clarify the pathogenic mechanisms and to improve the prospects for primary prevention. Engstrand has published 200+ papers in the field of Helicobacter pylori diagnostics, treatment, pathogenesis and epidemiology since 1985.

He established CTMR in January 2016. The center builds on a deep understanding of translational microbiome research and has established a broad technical, biological, clinical and epidemiological platform for studying complex microbiological communities in well-defined human materials on a large-scale level. CTMRs infrastructure was used for diagnosis of the virus and to study SARS Cov2 variants of concern during the pandemic in Sweden. More than 50% of all virus isolates in the country were sequenced at CTMR 2020-2023.

The research activities form a solid foundation for understanding the contribution of the microbiome to normal physiology and pathophysiology and opens opportunities for development of novel therapies and personalized treatment.