Short presentation

ResearcherID: E-1215-2015

Scopus ID: 35511536800

Knowledge of languages

CV

• Born 10th of september 1975 in Slagelse, Denmark
• Originally from Korsør, Denmark, but has lived in Copenhagen since 1996

         Degress and positions held

• 2013-present: Associate professor, Section of Molecular Physiology(MOLPHYS), Department of Nutrition, Exercise and Sports, University of Copenhagen.· 2009 – 2012: Danish Research Council post doctoral fellowship, MOLPHYS

• 2010 – 2011: Post doctoral fellow, Program of Cell Biology (Principal investigator Amira Klip), Hospital for Sick Children, Toronto.

• 2005 - 2008: PhD in skeletal muscle cell signaling and glucose metabolism (supervisor Erik A. Richter), MOLPHYS.

• Sep 2002-Jul 2003: M.Sc. in Exercise Physiology. Masters project at the Garvan Institute of Medical Research, Sydney, Australia (supervisors David E. James and Erik A. Richter).

  Research interests
  Cell signaling; exercise; skeletal muscle;hypertrophy;atrophy; actin; mTORC1;AMPK;Rac1;actin;mass spectrometry;microscopy

Primary fields of research

Skeletal muscle is a plastic tissue that responds and adapts to external stimuli during physical activity and inactivity. Increased knowledge of the molecular signaling mechanisms that control this adaptation is not only important for understanding how the muscle reacts to work and training, but also lifestyle and aging-related diseases such as diabetes, obesity and cancer.

Teaching

Current research

Inactivity and aging are associated with reduction of skeletal muscle mass and metabolic health, and exercise is effective in prevention of these adverse phenotypic changes.

Molecularly, mechanistic Target of Rapamycin Complex 1 (mTORC1) is a key regulator of muscle size, the cellular renovation process known as autophagy and metabolism, but the molecular regulation of mTORC1 remains incompletely understood, particularly in the context of muscle and exercise.

The overall goal of my current research is to:

a) improve the understanding of mTORC1 regulation and function in active and inactive muscle, specifically its regulation by mechanical stress during exercise and the role of subcellular organization,

b) identify novel drug targets to modulate muscle phenotype and mTORC1 signaling.

In a major international research effort, made possible to a large part by a Novo Nordisk Foundation Excellence grant from 2015-2020, my research team will engage in a combination of powerful omics-based discovery tools (phosphoproteomics, membrane proteomics) and hypothesis-driven studies using state-of-the-art molecular cell biology and advanced microscopy techniques in muscle cells, rodent and human muscle.

The results of this research are expected to have a major scientific impact on our basic knowledge of mTORC1 regulation and function in muscle and possibly drug development targeting human disease. 

For possible student projects and other possibilities, contact [email protected]