Volker Lauschke | Institut für klinische Pharmakologie IKP

Major Projects

Development of microphysiological patient-derived tissue models of liver, pancreas, skeletal muscle and adipose tissue
Development of hepatic disease models for drug discovery
Micro- and nanoengineering of microfluidic devices
Integrated microfluidic models for studies of complex diseases
High-throughput drug development
Development of JAK inhibitors for COVID-19
Evaluation of the importance of rare genetic variants on hepatic metabolism and drug response

Selected References

Zandi Shafagh, R., Youhanna, S., Keulen, J., Shen, J.X., Taebnia, N., Preiss, L.C., Klein, K., Büttner, F., Bergqvist, M., van der Wijngaart, W., Lauschke, V.M. Bioengineered pancreas-liver crosstalk in a microfluidic co-culture chip identifies human metabolic response signatures in prediabetic hyperglycemia. Advanced Science 2022 26:e2203368

Zhou, Y., Herras Arribas, G., Turku, A., Jürgenson, T., Mkrtchian, S., Krebs, K., Wang, Y., Svobodova, B., Milani, L., Schulte, G., Korabecny, J., Gastaldello, S., Lauschke, V.M. Rare genetic variability in human drug target genes modulates drug response and can guide precision medicine. Science Advances 2021 7(36):eabi6856

Stebbing, J., Lauschke, V.M. JAK inhibitors: more than just glucocorticoids. New England Journal of Medicine 2021 385(5):463-465

Oliva-Vilarnau, N., Vorrink, S.U., Ingelman-Sundberg, M., Lauschke, V.M. A 3D cell culture model identifies Wnt/β-catenin mediated inhibition of p53 as a critical step during human hepatocyte regeneration. Advanced Science 2020 7(15):2000248

Sonnen, K., Lauschke, V.M., Franke, J., Falk, H.J., Petersen, Y., Funk, M.C., Beaupeux, M., François, P., Merten, C., Aulehla, A. Modulation of phase-shift between Wnt and Notch-signaling oscillations controls mesoderm segmentation. Cell 2018 172(5):1079-1090

Curriculum Vitae

Education and Professional Career

Current Academic Positions

Since 2023

Full Professor in Translational Pharmacology, Karolinska Institutet, Stockholm, Sweden

Since 2021

Deputy Head of the Dr Margarete Fischer-Bosch Institute of Clinical Pharmacology (IKP), Stuttgart, Germany

Since 2018

Director of the Biofabrication and Tissue Engineering facility at Korolinska Institute

Current Corporate Positions

Since 2021

Co-founder and CSO of PersoMedix AB

Since 2016

Co-founder and CEO of HepaPredict AB

Professional Experience

2014 - 2016

Postdoctoral Research Associate and MarieCurie Fellow;
Karolinska Institutet, Stockholm, Sweden, Supervisor: Prof. Magnus Ingelman-Sundberg

2013 - 2014

Bridging Postdoctoral Research Associate. Same as below.

2009 – 2013

Dr. rer. nat. (PhD) Grade 1.0;
Graduation Summa cum Laude (best possible grade)
European Molecular Biology Laboratory (EMBL) and the joint faculty of Science and Mathematics of the Ruperto-Carola University, Heidelberg, Supervisor: Dr. Alexander Aulehla

University Studies

2007 – 2009

Master of Science (M.Sc.) in Molecular Biosciences;
Grade: 1.0, Ruperto-Carola University, Heidelberg, Germany

2004 – 2007

Bachelor of Science (B.Sc.) in Molecular and Cellular Biology;
Grade: 1.6, Ruperto-Carola University, Heidelberg, Germany and University of Bergen, Norway

Additional Academic Qualifications

2016 – 2018

Master of Science (M.Sc.) in Business Administration and Economics;
Majors: International Management and Operations Research, University of Hagen, Germany

2012 – 2016

Bachelor of Science (B.Sc.) in Business Administration and Economics;
Majors: Audit, Taxation and Business Analysis, University of Hagen, Germany

Fellowships, Prizes and Awards

2022 Clarivate Highly Cited Researcher in Pharmacology & Toxicology (1 of 3 in Sweden)
2020 AAPS (American Association of Pharmaceutical Scientists) High Impact Award 2020
2017 Lennart Philipson Prize
2014 Marie Curie Fellowship
2009 EMBL International PhD Program Graduate Fellowship
2009 Top Master of Science (M.Sc.) Award
2006 Erasmus Fellowship (Ecotoxicology at the University of Bergen, Norway)
2002 Fördern, Fordern, Forschen Award

Grants and Funding

Consolidator Grant by the Board for Research (PI)
German Consortium for Translational Cancer Research (co-PI)
Swedish Research Foundation (VR) Project Grant (PI)
Bioprinting Infrastructure Grant (PI)
CIMED grant in Personalized Medicine (co-PI)
Knut and Alice Wallenberg Foundation COVID19 Grant (PI)
Ruth och Richard Julins Foundation for Gastroenterology (PI)
International Network Medicine Consortium (INMC) Seed Grant (PI)
Karolinska Institutet Senior Scientist Grant (PI)
Organ-On-A-Chip Technologies Network Grant (co-PI)
Swedish Research Foundation (VR) 3R Grant (PI)
Swedish Strategic Research Program in Stem Cells and Regenerative Medicine (PI)
ERC Synergy grant SPHERES (Partner)
IMI2 EUbOPEN (Partner)
HepaPredict admitted into the Karolinska Innovations DRIVE program
Harald Jeansson Grant (PI)
Rolf Luft Grant for Diabetes Research (PI)
Lennart Philipson Grant (PI)
Swedish Research Foundation (VR) Starting Grant (PI)
Swedish Research Foundation (VR) 3R Grant (PI)
KI Fonder Grant (PI)
Swedish Research Foundation (VR) Proof-of-concept (co-PI)
KI Early Verification Grant (PI)
Lars Hierta Research Grant (PI)
Sigurd och Elsa Goljes Minne Research Grant (PI)
Eva och Oscar Ahréns Grant for Medical Research (PI)

In addition, we receive generous funding from Karolinska Institutet, the Robert Bosch Foundation for Medical Research, Merck KGaA and Eli Lilly and Company.

Teaching Portfolio

Teaching activities include seminars and practical courses in local anaesthetics, cardiovascular pharmacology, pharmacokinetics and receptor pharmacology for biomedical, medical and dentistry students.

Commissions of Trust and Memberships in Scientific Societies

Since 2021: Co-founder and CSO of PersoMedix AB
Since 2021: TATA Fellow of the Institute of Liver and Biliary Sciences (ILBS), New Delhi, India
Since 2021: Co-founder and CSO of PersoMedix AB
Since 2019: International Union of Basic & Clinical Pharmacology Young Investigator Committee
Since 2019: Board member of the Swedish Society of Medicine (Section of Pharmacology)
Since 2019: Member of the Management Committee of the COST Action “Prospective European Drug-Induced Liver Injury (DILI) Network”
Since 2019: Member of the International Network Medicine Consortium (INMC) Steering Group

Editorial Board Member

Associate Editor:

The Pharmacogenomics Journal (Board Member since 2020; Associate Editor since 2023)
Human Genomics (Board Member since 2017; Associate Editor since 2022)
Computational & Structural Biotechnology Journal (Since 2020)

Senior Editor:

Annals of Human Genetics (Since 2019)

Editorial Board Member:

Pharmacological Reviews (Since 2023)
Frontiers in Pharmacology (Since 2017)
Frontiers in Medicine (Since 2018)
Drug Metabolism Reviews (Since 2019)
Current Drug Metabolism (Since 2019)
Current Research in Pharmacology and Drug Discovery (Since 2020)
Pharmacogenomics Research and Personalized Medicine (Since 2020)
Precision Cancer Medicine (Since 2020)

Reviewer for National Agencies

Welcome Trust (2018)
Health Canada & GenomeBC Canada (2017, 2018, 2019)
Hong Kong Innovation and Technology Commission (2019)
Swiss Science Foundation (2020)
Dutch Research Foundation (2020, 2021, 2023)
French Research Council (2021, 2022)
Israeli Science Foundation (2021)
German Science Foundation – Network of University Medicine (2021)
Brazilian Science Foundation (2021)
Austrian Science Fund (2021)
India Alliance Fellowship (2022)
Auckland Medical Research Foundation (2022)
Finnish Research Council (2023)
German Research Foundation (DFG; 2023)

Research Group

Microphysiological Tissue Models

Prof. Dr. Volker Lauschke