Marc Friedländer, PhD
Principal investigator
Associate professor
My key aim for the group is to address fundamental questions in RNA biology by bringing numbers and quantitative statements to the field.
marc.friedlander@scilifelab.se
+46 73 712 1558
Inna Biryukova, PhD
Staff scientist
Biologist interested in RNA-based regulation of neurogenesis, development and innate immunity, quantitative and systems biology.
Panagiotis Kalogeropoulos
PhD student
My PhD project revolves around the discovery and profiling of regulatory RNAs in tissues and single cells. I develop custom computational pipelines to mine big cohort transcriptomic data in an unbiased, reference free manner in order to identify small RNAs that are unique to cancer. At the same time I am working on a tool to infer miRNA activity in single-cells.
panagiotis.kalogeropoulos@scilifelab.se
Konstantin Danilov
PhD student
My research focuses on single-cell transcriptomics. In my PhD project, I aim to investigate the role of microRNAs in individual cells using differentiating neurons as a model. We will use AgoTRIBE, a method developed in our lab, to profile microRNA targets at the single-cell level. This approach will allow us to explore differences between cell types as well as variations among individual cells within the same type.
konstantin.danilov@scilifelab.se
Valentin Poltorachenko
PhD student
My scientific interests center on fundamental questions concerning the role of non-coding RNAs in the lives of all organisms across the biosphere, as well as in the ecological interactions that connect them. I am particularly fascinated by how these molecules may contribute to the stability of biodiversity within ecosystems. In addition, I have a broad interest in the biology of protists in all its aspects.
My PhD project focuses on the development of software tools for the analysis of environmental RNA (eRNA) data, making use of transcripts such as microRNAs and ribosomal RNAs as informative features.
valentin.poltorachenko@scilifelab.se
Elham Yazdkhasti
Postdoctoral Researcher
My project focuses on developing and refining methods to profile RNA fragments from environmental samples. Using next-generation sequencing and targeted assays, I investigate how these molecules can be detected and analyzed to provide new biological insights. A central application is in food products, where RNA profiling can help improve food safety.
elham.yazdkhasti@scilifelab.se
Nina Trubanova
Postdoctoral Researcher
I am developing an easy-to-use, reference-free bioinformatics pipeline for comparative transcriptomics across diverse species. This tool aims to discover how their genes are regulated in response to significant environmental stressors, such as ocean acidification or extreme temperatures.
In the spirit of open science, this open-source tool will be freely available worldwide, democratising advanced molecular research. It will enable scientists to uncover the secrets of adaptation in any species, regardless of the availability of genomic resources. The project’s findings will generate vital knowledge for biodiversity conservation and contribute to our understanding of how life survives and thrives under extreme conditions.
By utilising publicly available FAIR data, this project strongly aligns with my passion for promoting open and reproducible research. My background is in quantitative and comparative genomics, and this work will equip me with new skills to answer the many questions I have regarding nature and life.
Noha Elkayal
Visiting Researcher
I am a microbiologist with a Master’s degree in Microbiology and Immunology and am currently pursuing a Ph.D. in the same field. My previous research focused on the freshwater microbiome, specifically how microbial community composition and functional profiles affect ecosystem adaptability and public health. My current research focuses on analyzing bacterial RNA sequences from ancient and historical samples. This work combines ecological classification, authenticity assessment, and computational pipelines for microbial RNA to differentiate real infections from post-mortem invaders and contemporary contaminants. It continues my interest in using microbial ecology and bioinformatics tools to address a wide range of biological questions and challenges.
Jialin Zeng
Master student
I am a student in the SciLifeLab master program with a passion for biology and data science. My research is focused on developing and applying RNA-based methodologies for food authentication. By analyzing the RNA profiles of food products, I aim to build robust systems for tracing their origin and authenticity, helping to solve real-world challenges in food safety and transparency.
Former group members
Morteza Aslanzadeh
PhD student, 2019-2025
Ioannis Alexopoulos
Master student, 2024-2025
Mees van der Vleugel
Master Student, 2024-2025
Maria Alejandra Ulloa
Internship student, 2024-2025
Daniela Almeida
Visiting scientist, 2023-2024
Tiago Figueiredo
Erasmus student, 2023-2024
Christina Kulka
Master Student, 2024
Vaishnovi Sekar
PhD student, 2018-2024
Nina Ulmer
Internship student, 2023
Jonatan Jönsson
Project student, 2023
Laura Stanicek
Post-doc, 2020-2023
Amelie Carlström
Master’s student, 2022
Emilio Mármol Sánchez
Post-doc, 2020-2022
Senior data scientist in Computational Biology at AstraZeneca
Izabela Nowak
Project Student, 2021
Bastian Fromm, PhD
Senior researcher
Group Leader at UiT Norges Arktiske Universitet, Tromso, Norway
Evangelos Doukoumopoulos
Project Student
Project student at Alexander Espinosa’s lab in CMM at KI, Stockholm
Yrin Eldfjell
Software developer for miRTrace
Marcel Tarbier
PhD Student
Post-doc researcher with Vicent Pelechano at KI/Scilifelab, Stockholm
Wenjing Kang
PhD Student
Post-doc researcher with Magda Bienko at KI/Scilifelab, Stockholm
Kavan Gor
Master’s Student, 2019-2020
PhD student with Olivier Duss at EMBL, Heidelberg
Mika Ito
Master’s Student, 2019–2020
Cecilia Furugård
Project Student, 2019
Regulatory Associate at Medhouse, Stockholm
Maxine van Hagen
Intern, 2019
Till Schwämmle
Intern, 2018
PhD student with Edda Schulz at MPI for Molecular Genetics, Berlin
Franziska Bonath, PhD
Post-doc, 2015-2018
Staff Scientist at NGI Sweden in Stockholm (Applications Development)
Sebastian Mackowiak, PhD
Post-doc, 2015-2018
Staff Scientist at Charité (BIG) Berlin
Etka Yapar
Erasmus student, 2017
PhD student in biodiversity at Lund University
Kostas Tsirigos
Intern, computational researcher, 2017
Project manager at Open Targets, Copenhagen
Silvana Sidhom
Erasmus student, 2017
Nam Vu
Intern, 2016
Fullstack Software Developer at 29k, Stockholm
Samuel Gerner
Erasmus student, 2016
PhD student with Thomas Rattei at University of Vienna
Stefanie Ende
Erasmus student, 2016
PhD student with Friedemann Horn at Fraunhofer IZI, Leipzig