New approaches for molecular diagnostics

Molecular diagnostics will increasingly impact medical practice. Our group develops, applies, and commercializes advanced molecular tools for diagnostic analyses of nucleic acids and proteins in situ and in solution. We welcome students interested in medical applications of the methods.

Aim

Students will help us identify important diagnostic needs and connect these with unique, powerful molecular tools that we develop, as well as with suitable patient samples and molecules to target, as a basis for more extensive research projects.

Background

Our group follows a strong tradition in Uppsala by developing new molecular methods for molecular medicine. Many of our earlier techniques for analysis of nucleic acids and proteins are now available from companies that we have established or who have obtained licenses. Former students are leading companies or pursuing successful academic careers.

Our techniques can offer entirely new insights in disease for instance by measuring unprecedented numbers of proteins in plasma samples, imaging the expression of protein and their complexes in situ, or identifying rare mutant DNA sequences in plasma from tumor patients, to name a few opportunities that are applied in ongoing investigations.

Project plan

Students are welcome (after evaluation) to join ongoing projects, working side by side in the lab with our postdocs and PhD students. We are also interested in enlisting students that may help us develop ideas about how to apply our techniques to solve important medical problems, with the aim to establish new diagnostic techniques in clinical routine. The projects will initially involve discussions and theoretical analyses of i) the match of diagnostic needs and techniques currently available or under development, ii) the state of the art for meeting these diagnostic needs, iii) specific molecules to target for the analyses, iv) availability of suitable patient samples and of necessary reagents, etc. The projects will also involve proof of principle experiments. Successful project may lead on to more extensive investigations beyond the scope of these initial projects.

Contact details

Name: Ulf Landegren
Group: Molecular Tools
Email: ulf.landegren@igp.uu.se
Phone number: 0708 962604