The Systems Virology team

  Joakim Esbjörnsson

  Associate Professor

  Ph.D. Virology 

  Read about Joakim in the Research Portal

  Joakim's publications

" The overarching aim of my research is to understand the key mechanisms of HIV transmission and the rate of disease pathogenesis. I am particularly interested in the virus-host interactions that take place when HIV establishes infection, and how HIV-2 can be used as a model to identify an HIV-1 vaccine or functional cure."

  Sara Karlson

  Senior Laboratory Assistant

  MSc. Biomedicine

  Read about Sara in the Research Portal

  Sara's publications

" HIV research has always been very intriguing to me and this contributes to my long-term interest in the field. Working as a lab technician for three different groups gives me the opportunity to work with several projects with different aims and approaches. This equips me with a wide array of techniques and skills. I also have the privilege to train students with different academic backgrounds."

 Malin Neptin

 Biomedical Scientist

 BSc. Biomedical Laboratory Science

 Read about Malin in the Research Portal

 Malin's publications

" I joined the group in January 2020 after more than 20 years of work in two other groups at Lund University (9 years of work with MS and Rheumatoid arthritis and 12 years with Diabetes type 2) and now it´s time to change to a new field. I´m looking forward to learning a lot of new techniques and get knowledge about HIV-research."

Pia Svensson

Associate Researcher

PhD, Public Health

Read about Pia in the research portal

"With a PhD in public health, I have focused my research on human behaviors, intercultural communication, and critical health literacy, particularly, but not exclusively, related to sexual and reproductive health and rights, and migration. I am part of the research group Social Medicine and Global Health. I am also excited to  be part of  this group and the coordination team for the thematic initiative and collaboration platform, Pandemics and Alertness, which aims to enhance our knowledge and preparedness for future pandemics."

Jamirah Nazziwa

  PostDoc

  Ph.D. Molecular Virology | MSc. Bioinformatics 

  Read about Jamirah in the Research Portal

  Jamirah's publications

" I believe that with a systems virology approach, we are able to understand and develop solutions relating to the complexity of HIV. As a Ph.D. student, I hope to contribute to the knowledge in the field of HIV-1 plasma proteomics during acute infection and also characterize key drivers of HIV transmission and spread in Subsaharan Africa." 

Projects

•    Methods paper: Single Genome Amplification
•    Quantification of the blood proteome during acute HIV-1 infection
•    Viral evolution and innate immune responses during acute infant HIV-1 infection and their association with disease pathogenesis
•    HIV-1 molecular epidemiology in Nigeria: origin, demography and geographical spread
•    Linking HIV-1 disease progression with virus escape mechanisms and immune selection

Milena Samojlovic

PostDoc

Ph.D. Veterinary virology and immunology

Read about Milena in the Research Portal

Milena´s publications

My research interests focus on understanding virus-host interactions, factors for virus entry, pathogenicity and immunogenicity, mechanisms of viruses to evade immune system, humoral immune response and possibilities of vaccine development. I have always been interested in zoonoses, vector-borne diseases and One Health approach since viruses know no boundaries. Joining this team has given me an excellent opportunity to approach my research goals from different perspective. By studying SARS-CoV-2 spike protein mutations, its ability to diversify and adapt, as well as antibody interactions we aim to create a pipeline to enable better understanding of these and future pathogens and ways to fight them in early stages through vaccines and new drug development.

Project:

• Disentangling and visualizing the key epitopes for neutralizing antibodies against SARS-CoV-2 at the atomic level - Implications for development of vaccines against COVID-19.