I have a PhD in Molecular Biology and my core expertise is within translational research of recombinant biopharmaceutical. I have been leading malaria vaccine projects from discovery to pre-clinical to production to clinical testing. Besides immunological vaccine projects, my expertise is centred around protein:receptor interactions involving glycosaminoglycans.

My main research areas are focusing on translational research. The majority of my project portfolio is centred on the VAR2CSA protein that is expressed by the malaria parasites and mediates parasite adhesion to Chondroitin Sulfate A in the placenta. I have been leading a group dedicated to the full understanding of this interaction aiming at developing a prophylactic vaccine. My research showed that this Chondroitin Sulfate A modification, besides being present in the placenta, is also expressed in the vast majority of tumors. A part of my research is now to understand why tumors express this molecule, how it is synthesised and the structure of the molecule, again aiming at developing cancer targeting compounds based on the recombinant malaria protein. Another part of my research is focused on developing novel virus like particle platforms for effective delivery of vaccines.

My current research is focusing on developing prophylactic vaccines against placental malaria, developing therapeutic compounds to treat cancer and to develop the recombinant malaria protein VAR2CSA to a novel cancer diagnostic tool.

VAR2Pharmaceuticals is a spinout company from University of Copenhagen and has the IP rigths to use VAR2CSA for cancer treatment. I am a shareholder in VAR2pharmaceuticals.