Meet our researchers

Here you will find short bios & presentations to the researchers of our team. Welcome to contact us for further information about us and our operations.

Mikael Hedeland, Professor of Analytical pharmaceutical chemistry

Mikael Hedeland obtained his Ph.D. in analytical pharmaceutical chemistry in 1999, and was recruited to this professor chair in 2018, after a long stay at the National Veterinary Institute, SVA. There, he held different positions such as senior research scientist, associate professor, head of section and head of department. Mikael Hedeland worked with analysis of doping control samples from Nordic trotting and gallop, and he ran a GLP laboratory for drug analysis.

Mikael Hedeland focuses in his research on bioanalysis of drugs and endogenous substances with chromatography coupled to mass spectrometry (LC-MS/MS). Different research directions are doping control, drug metabolism, metabolomics, lipidomics and drugs in the environment.

David Balgoma, Affiliated researcher

David Balgoma is an affiliated researcher and is based at University of Valladolid, Spain. David obtained his doctorate in Biochemistry from University of Valladolid and Spanish National Research Council in 2009.

David Balgoma’s research focuses on the role and regulation of lipid oxidation in ferroptosis (a type of programmed cell death) in macrophages. To unravel the mechanisms of ferroptosis, David Balgoma’s aim is to develop and combine new analytical, bioinformatics, and biological tools in a holistic way.

Nina Bergman, PhD Student

Nina Bergman originates from a small city in Sweden called Motala, where her interest for chemistry started. A strong contributor to that was Nina’s grandfather, who was working with nuclear physics and chemistry and had a strong influence in her life. Nina Bergman studied analytical chemistry at Linköpings University where she obtained her Bachelor's degree. Her thesis dealt with solid phase extraction techniques and molecularly imprinted polymers, trying to detect 8-OHdG in plasma and urine samples. The techniques employed were electrochemical detection with UV/Vis and HPLC separation prior to the detection but after SPE/MIP extractions.

Nina thereafter relocated to Uppsala and obtained her Master's degree in analytical chemistry at Uppsala University. During this time, Nina had the opportunity to learn more about separation techniques such as HPLC, GC and CE, and also studied a lot more mass spectrometry. Nina’s Master's thesis focused on detection of low weight molecules using matrix assisted laser desorption/ionization (MALDI) and time-of-flight mass spectrometry.

Nina Bergman is currently a PhD student in analytical pharmaceutical chemistry, where she continues her studies of molecules with low molecular weight under the supervision of Mikael Hedeland and Jonas Bergquist.

Ulf Bondesson, Professor

Ulf Bondesson was a professor of chemistry at the National Veterinary Institute from 1993 to 2018. The activities included various chemical specializations with inorganic and organic analytical activities. The focus was mass spectrometric drug analysis of various biological sample materials, with a special focus on the area of doping control of horses and dogs.

Furthermore, Ulf Bondesson has worked with drug-related issues in employment at the Swedish Medical Product Agency, Apoteksbolaget (the Pharmacy company), Clinical Pharmacology at Karolinska Hospital, the Psyciatric Research Center at Ulleråker Hospital, adjunct professor at the Department of Analytical Pharmaceutical Chemistry and as a technical assessor for SWEDAC (Sweden's national accreditation body) and similar activities with international authorities and participated in the development of quality assurance such as accreditation and GLP-approval for the own laboratory. These appointments followed defense of a thesis at the Department of Organic Pharmaceutical Chemistry and a pharmacy degree at the Faculty of Pharmacy in Uppsala.

Mikael Engskog, Assoc. prof., Lecturer

Mikael Engskog came to Uppsala University in 2010 with a doctorate in analytical carbohydrate chemistry at Karolinska Institute. In his thesis, Mikael Engskog focused on the use of analytical techniques such as liquid and gas chromatography coupled to mass spectrometry but also NMR for structural analysis of lipopolysaccharides. During his time at Uppsala University, Mikael has partly been employed as a researcher, but now focuses on teaching in the field of analytical pharmaceutical chemistry.

Mikael Engskog focuses his research on the application of metabolomics with chromatography coupled to mass spectrometry in neurodegenerative diseases and cancer, but also on analytical method development and quality assurance for screening analyzes of small endogenous molecules in biological samples.

Ann-Marie Garzinsky, PostDoc

Ann-Marie Garzinsky started her postdoctoral project in summer 2023, which is conducted in collaboration between the University of Uppsala and the German Sport University Cologne. At the latter, Ann-Marie last worked on her PhD in analytical chemistry, where she focused on preventive doping research, more specifically on the characterization of alternative and complementary matrices for doping controls. Prior to her work in Cologne, Ann-Marie studied pharmacy at the University of Münster and graduated in 2017 as a licensed pharmacist.

Ann-Marie Garzinsky’s current research is also related to doping analysis. The objective is to distinguish anabolic steroids based on their excretion profiles as well as to investigate relevant plasma protein bindings.

Jakob Haglöf, PhD, Lecturer

Jakob Haglöf obtained his doctorate in analytical pharmaceutical chemistry in 2010 with a thesis on chiral separations with capillary electrophoresis and liquid chromatography. He currently works as a university lecturer and director of studies in analytical pharmaceutical chemistry and is part of the pharmaceutical faculty's committee for undergraduate education. Since 2020, he also works part-time as a pedagogical developer at Uppsala University's unit for pedagogical development, and since 2021 can title himself excellent teacher.

Jakob Haglöf's research concerns the development of analysis methods for oligonucleotides with LC-MS, with a particular focus on the use of new stationary phases for liquid chromatographic methods. He also supports the group's research in metabolomics, above all with expertise in liquid chromatography and chemometrics.

Rupender Kumari, Researcher

Rupender Kumari started her journey as a Researcher in Analytical Pharmaceutical Chemistry in October 2023 at the Department of Medicinal Chemistry. The greatest contributor to her successful expedition up until Uppsala University has been her high-spirited mother, Sushila Devi, who put in great efforts and constantly overcame the odds for her daughter to be well-educated and empowered which progressively made it possible for Rupender to achieve what she ever could on her own.

Rupender Kumari received her PhD in Analytical Chemistry in 2015 from the Council of Scientific and Industrial Research – Indian Institute of Toxicology Research (CSIR-IITR), Lucknow, India. Before her commitment to Uppsala University, Rupender had prior experience of working as a Scientist in the field of Forensic Toxicology. Her research focused on developing miniaturized extraction techniques, analyzing a wide range of multi-class organic compounds, and identifying characteristic chemical or metal profiling that could aid in toxicological assessments, predicting potential hazards to human health and the environment.

Rupender Kumari's current research concentrates on exploring dynamic sample preparation/analysis methods, employing high-resolution LC-MS for analyzing small molecules, and understanding high-throughput metabolome patterns to support novel antibacterial drug discoveries.

Jenny Nilsson, PhD Student

Jenny Nilsson started her doctoral studies in 2021 in analytical pharmaceutical chemistry. Jenny graduated as a pharmacist at Uppsala University in 2020. After her degree, she has worked with the analysis of oligonucleotides using 2D-LC/MS methods at the Department of Medicinal Chemistry at Uppsala University.

Jenny Nilsson's research focuses on metabolomics and lipidomics to increase the understanding of liver cancer and its treatment using liquid chromatography coupled to mass spectrometry.

Sofia Nilsson, PhD, Lecturer

Sofia Nilsson is, since 2019, working as lecturer in Analytical Pharmaceutical Chemistry at the Department of Medicinal Chemistry, Uppsala University. Sofia holds a BSc degree in Pharmacy from Linnaues University, a MSc degree in Pharmacy with focus on Medicinal Chemistry and Drug Development from Uppsala University, and a doctoral degree in the field of Analytical Pharmaceutical Chemistry from Helsinki University. Sofia’s PhD thesis is entitled ”Miniaturized devices for reaction monitoring using online mass spectrometry and developments towards reaction control”, and can be read following this link: https://helda.helsinki.fi/handle/10138/306828.

Sofia teaches and is course coordinator for courses at undergraduate and graduate level in Analytical Pharmaceutical Chemistry within the study programs of BSc in Pharmacy and MSc in Pharmacy at Uppsala University. She is furthermore coordinator for the complementary study program to supplement from BSc in Pharmacy to MSc in Pharmacy and acts as teacher representative in the Committee for the BSc Program in Pharmacy at Uppsala University.

Sofia’s research interests focus on development and application of miniaturized system coupled online to detection techniques for reaction monitoring and molecularly imprinted polymers (MIPs) to steer the selectivity of reactions, as well as for use as sample preparation systems with high selectivity. Sofia’s publications can be found here: https://www.webofscience.com/wos/woscc/summary/d08e61b8-94c2-4432-b4d4-c46c0bb5b3ad-62026c0b/relevance/1.

Curt Pettersson, professor emeritus

Curt Pettersson received his PhD in analytical pharmaceutical chemistry in 1984 and was employed as a research assistant from 1984-1990 at the Department of Analytical Pharmaceutical Chemistry. Shortly thereafter Pettersson was hired as a university lecturer and in 2000 promoted to Professor in Analytical Pharmaceutical Chemistry.

Pettersson has focused his research on separation techniques such as HPLC, UPLC, SFC and CE. During the 70’s and 90’s this research included the development of new techniques to separate and determine enantiomers in products- and bioanalysis. Later on UPLC, CE and SFC was used for the investigation of enantiomers in pharmaceutical environmental studies. Other parts of Pettersson’s research have consisted of developing methods for the determination of protein binding, and solubility of pharmaceuticals using HPLC. Pettersson’s research is currently focused on metabolomics, metabolism studies of pharmaceuticals, drugs in the environment and doping control.

Pettersson worked for 12 years as head of the Department of Medicinal Chemistry and as Director of studies in Analytical Pharmaceutical Chemistry for over 20 years. In 2017 he was awarded the Elder Gustaf Adolf medal in gold for his work at the Faculty of Pharmacy and the d Disciplinary Domain of Medicine and Pharmacy at Uppsala University.

Emelie Sedvall, PhD Student

Emelie Sedvall started her PhD studies in 2019 and her projects are conducted in collaboration with Umeå University. Emelie has a Master of Science degree in chemical engineering from Uppsala University where she graduated 2019.

Emelie Sedvalls research area is drugs in the environment. Her main focus is the study of pharmaceuticals in aquatic invertebrates using liquid chromatography coupled to mass spectrometry.

Cari Sänger – van de Griend, Associate Professor

Cari Sänger – van de Griend obtained her PhD in analytical pharmaceutical chemistry in 1999 while she was employed in the pharmaceutical industry. Her thesis deals with chiral separation of drugs using capillary electrophoresis and can be read as a guideline for method development of chiral CE. She continued to work in the pharmaceutical industry in Sweden and then the Netherlands. In 2011 she started her own company, Kantisto, which deals with scientific support and teaching in pharmaceutical analytical chemistry with a focus on Analytical Quality by Design. She is an expert in capillary electrophoresis but also has experience in other separation techniques as well as various drug characterization techniques such as solid-phase analysis, dissolution studies, NMR, etc. In 2013, she became Associate Professor at the department.

Cari Sänger's research is focused on industrial drug analysis, mainly biotherapeutic drugs and vaccines. She is Chair of the European Pharmacopoeia Working Group on Capillary Electrophoresis and a member of the Analytical Quality by Design Working Group.

Pham Long Vo, Senior research engineer

Pham Long Vo successfully defended his Ph.D dissertation in 2015 at Umeå University, then continued to work there for 1 additional year. Long moved to Uppsala in the end of 2016 when he got a new position as Research Engineer at Department of Chemistry – Ångström Laboratory. He worked there for 5 years to 2021 and he additionally got another position at Ångström Advanced Battery Center (ÅABC) as Laboratory Manager and Chemical Safety Officer in 2019-2020 period. Long also has a worked a short period at a Snus & Tobacco company in Enköping in 2022 before coming back to Uppsala University to work at both the Department of Medicinal Chemistry and Department of Chemistry – BMC.

Pham Long Vo’s research concentrates on the method developments and validations of analytical methods for metabolites in biological samples (e.g. plasma, cerebrospinal fluid – CSF, urine, etc) by employing UHPLC coupled to MS detectors.