Katarina Ejeskär

The research project focuses on examining how eye movements and biomarkers are affected by moderate alcohol consumption. The study aims to conduct and evaluate digital measurements of eye movements and biomarkers.

The aim of the research project is to investigate whether digital tools offering cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT) can be used to enhance interventions targeting individuals with risky alcohol use.

We are investigating whether the risk of developing diabetes can be reduced by avoiding gluten in the diet and whether probiotic supplements (Probion Active) can have a similar effect.

We focus on the molecular link between androgen excess and the development of reproductive disorders, obesity, and type-2 diabetes in females. Our overall aim is to investigate new treatments and identify the underlying mechanisms that improves or protect against the development of diabetes and decreased fertility. My line of research has evolved from more than 10 years of experience in whole-animal physiology studies involving endocrinology, metabolism and re-production.

The scientific work that will be performed in this project is to explore new pathways of cancer treatment with particular focus on pancreatic cancer. These new ways of treatment are based on changing the functions of different signaling and metabolic pathways such as NADPH oxidase (NOX), reactive oxygen species (ROS) and metabolism which are known to be up-regulated or malfunctioning in cancer cells. By using different chemicals such as NOX inhibitors, digitoxin and ketone bodies inhibit their activity and thereby decrease the cell viability of the cancer cells. Focusing treatment on the differences between normal / cancer cells would help develop methods that inhibit cancer cells with less negative effects on normal cells.

We investigate genes that cause cancer aggressiveness. We specifically focus on the childhood cancer tumor neuroblastoma, which occurs in the nervous system of young children. Some tumors are more aggressive than others, and the difference is what has happened to the genes in the tumor. If the tumor has lost some of the genes on chromosome 11, the child has a poor prognosis. We test the properties of genes that have been lost, to see if those specific lost properties are something that will benefit the tumor cell. We want to replace those properties through different types of treatments, and in this way kill the tumor cell. We analyze clinical/genetic data and make experiments in cultured cells and in fruit flies.