TRANslational Theranostics Group
Our Team
I earned my PhD in Biomedical Radiation Sciences from Uppsala University in 2009 and spent a year in the industry before joining Lund University's Bioimaging Center in 2010. I established and led the centre's radiochemistry and preclinical PET/SPECT/CT platform.
In 2016, I received my docent/readership in experimental oncology at Lund University. Later that year, I joined the Karolinska Radiopharmacy at Karolinska University Hospital, becoming the head of R&D there in 2018. In 2020, I started the TRANslational Theranostics group at the Department of Oncology and Pathology, Karolinska Institutet. In 2023, I co-founded the Theranostics Trial Center (TTC) at Karolinska, focusing on bringing radiopharmaceuticals from bench to bedside.
My research research interest focuses on developing theranostics, which are radiopharmaceuticals for both therapy (molecular radiotherapy or radionuclide therapy) and diagnostics (PET imaging). This involves identifying targets, screening drugs, developing radiolabelling methods, conducting in vitro and in vivo evaluations, and translating these into early clinical studies.
Johnathan Siikanen, PhD
jonathan.siikanen@ki.se
Dr. Siikanen received his Master’s in Medical Physics from Lund University in 2006. While working part-time as a medical physicist, he completed his PhD in 2015, specializing in radionuclide production at Lund University Hospital’s Cyclotron Unit.
In 2014, he began working at Karolinska’s Nuclear Medicine Department, managing clinical duties with PET/CT systems, radionuclide treatments, and cyclotron radiation safety responsibility. With vast experience in cyclotron production and patient care, Dr. Siikanen’s research is focused on personalized medicine using the theranostic approach.
Mélodie Ferrat, PhD
melodie.elnaz.ferrat@ki.se
Dr. Ferrat is a passionate chemist with a diverse background, originally inspired by my grandmother’s love for chemistry. From Nice, France, I embarked on a journey that led me to specialize in organic and pharmaceutical chemistry at the University of Paris-Saclay. With a penchant for challenges, I pursued a Ph.D. in radiochemistry at the Karolinska Institutet, focusing on theranostics and PET imaging for cancer diagnosis and treatment. My research involves synthesizing and evaluating PARP inhibitors for PET imaging of solid cancers, as well as developing targeted therapies for colorectal and pancreatic cancers using innovative molecules like TH9619, which selectively trigger cell death in cancer cells. Beyond the lab, I enjoy hiking, cooking, music, and exploring different cultures.
Klas Bratteby, PhD
klas.bratteby@ki.se
Dr. Bratteby recieved his MSc degree in civil engineering in biotechnology from the Faculty of engineering at Lund University in 2017. After this, he proceeded to do his Ph.D. in Matthias Herth’s research group at the University of Copenhagen, focusing on 18F-radiolabeling of base-sensitive compounds and pretargeting.
After receiving his PhD. in 2021 he worked for one year at the cyclotron unit and Lund University Hospital before joining the Tran lab at Karolinska in 2022 as a postdoc and as a R&D radiochemist at Karolinska Radiopharmacy. His current main postdoctoral project is developing TROP2-targeted theranostics.
Emma Jussing, PhD
emma.jussing@ki.se
Dr. Jussing has been working as a radiopharmacist at Radiopharmacy, Karolinska University Hospital, for over 10 years. She defended her PhD thesis in 2022, focusing on developing radiometal-based labelling techniques and tracers for non-invasive molecular imaging.
Currently, she is a qualified person (QP) at the Dept of Radiopharmacy and a postdoc at OnkPat KI, with research interests in the automation of labelling methods using new radiometals and how these can optimize and facilitate radiopharmaceuticals manufacturing for early clinicial trials.
Henrik Alfredéen, MSc
henrik.alfredeen@ki.se
Henrik
received his MSc degree in organic chemistry from Stockholm University in 2011.
After the degree he started working with radiochemistry at Karolinska
Institutet, in Christer Halldin research group, and in 2016 he joined the
Radiopharmacy group at Karolinska University Hospital.
In 2023, he started as a PhD student with a focus on developing targeted alpha therapy for
high-risk neuroblastoma.
Karl Pettersson Palm, MSc
karl.pettersson.palm@ki.se
Karl began his studies in the Medical Program at Karolinska Institutet in 2019, combining studies and research. In In 2023, he joined our group, where he focused on preclinical developments of TROP2-targeted antibody-based theranostics of solid cancers.
His research interest lies in personalized medicine using a theranostic approach.
Brendan Ng, MSc
brendan.ng.weijie@ki.se
Brendan majored in Biological Sciences from Nanyang Technological University (NTU), Singapore 2023. He was accepted during the fall 2023 as a PhD student in the joint PhD program KI-NTU.
His current research interests focus on the therapeutic and diagnostic benefits of peptide-based radiopharmaceuticals in oncology, He will utilize and optimize site-specific conjugation methods using peptide ligases for the development of next-generation radiopharmaceuticals. The project is a close collaboration with Prof Chuan Fa’s lab at NTU.
Samar Omer, MSc
samar.saadeldin.abdelmotalab.omer@ki.se
Samar received her bachelor of Pharmacy from the University of Medical Sciences and Technology, Khartoum Sudan in 2015. After working within the industries including as a product manager, analyst and regulatory affairs pharmacist in Sudan between 2015-2020, she returned to the university. She obtained her MSc witthin Drug discovery and development from Uppsala University, Sweden.
Currently, she is a research assistant with a focus on developing radiolabelling methodologies, carrying out stabilities studies, in vitro and in vivo studies in several projects.