Division of Cardiovascular Medicine

A brief overview of the Research at the Division of Cardiovascular Medicine,  Department of Medical and Health Sciences, Linköping University.

The research of the division is focused on basic, methodological and clinical research. Below it is described very briefly together with the name of the leader of each research group. For information in depth contact the research leader.

Basic research

• Lena Jonasson, Professor: Studies on the perturbed immune system in patients with ischemic heart disease with focus on protective immunity. One specific aim is to characterize, in vivo and ex vivo, the functional phenotypes of NK cells and T-cells.
• Toste Länne, Professor: Studies on etiology of vessel wall remodelling related to the cardiovascular system. Focus on mechanical properties of vessel walls and the effect of specific genetic polymorhisms.
• Fredrik Nyström, Professor: Studies on mechanisms and risks related to obesity, insulin resistance, hypertension and type 2 diabetes and hyperalimentation. Experimental approach is focused on molecular biological techniques in human fat cells.
• Birgitta Schmekel, Professor Emerita: Studies on bronchial wall remodelling related to tobacco smoking. Focus on prediction of disease progression in COPD and the effect of biomarkers and specific genetic polymorhisms.

Methodological research

• Tino Ebbers, Professor: Magnetic resonance imaging, technical development of multidimensional methods for motion and flow characterization in heart and central circulation
• Jan Engvall, Associated Professor: Ventricular function studied by magnetic resonance, development and evaluation of methods for 3- dimensional function and deformation, intraventricular flow and turbulence, for studying pathophysiology and development of surgical treatment options.
• Eva Nylander, Professor: Cardiac function studied by ultrasound methods and exercise hemodynamics, in normal physiology with emphasis on sports physiology as well as in severe heart failure and in valve disease.

Clinical research

• Henrik Ahn, Professor: Studies on experimental evaluation of new mechanical heart pumps and their clinical application. Development of clinical methods for perioperative monitoring of myocardial perfusion and oxygenation.
• Ulf Dahlström, Professor: Studies on heart failure. Ongoing studies involve basic, genetic, epidemiological, methodological and clinical aspects. Focus on biomarkers, mechanisms and cardiovascular genetics.
• Stergios Kechagias, Professor: Studies on Non-Alcoholic Fatty Liver Disease (NAFLD) with focus on long-term clinical course, prognostic markers and therapeutic interventions. Validation of non-invasive diagnostic techniques.
• Rolf Svedjeholm, Adjunct Professor: Our research is focused on metabolic and physiologic aspects in cardiac surgery to prevent and treat postoperative heart failure – the major determinant of outcome - in a more prudent way than conventional methods permit.
• Eva Swahn, Visiting Professor: Studies on Acute Coronary Syndromes (ACS). Ongoing are studies linking inflammation and infection to the progress of atherosclerosis. In all research there is a gender perspective.