I am an associate professor in neurobiology, and my laboratory focuses on preclinical Alzheimer’s research with the aim of investigating the molecular underpinnings of disease mechanisms to identify novel therapeutic strategies. We focus on autophagy as a key cellular clearance mechanism in the brain involved in both amyloid beta and tau metabolism, and we believe that autophagy may be the link between these two key pathological events. After completing my Ph.D. at Uppsala University and a postdoc at RIKEN Brain Science Institute, where I learned how to develop animal models for Alzheimer’s and use them to unravel disease mechanisms, I set up a research group at Karolinska Institutet, Dept of Neurobiology, Care Sciences and Society in 2016 which now consists of three Ph.D. students, one postdoc, one assistant professor, and two senior researchers. Today, our group is focusing on elucidating Alzheimer’s disease mechanism with a focus on autophagy with the goal of finding therapeutic strategies to improve protein homeostasis in the Alzheimer’s disease brain using autophagy as a drug target. My group is involved in several larger European and American consortia. Since 2020, I have been the Vice Head of the Division of Neurogeriatrics, Department of Neurobiology, Care Sciences and Society, Karolinska Institutet, comprising 12 research groups.

Learn more about Dr. Nilsson here.