Helene Rundqvist

Dr. Helene Rundqvist is a Senior Researcher at the Department of Laboratory Medicine, Karolinska Institutet, where she combines basic science research in Exercise Oncology with patient intervention studies. She serves as co-PI of two H2020-funded exercise oncology clinical trials, PREFERABLE EFFECT and PREFERABLE LION, leading multinational research efforts to understand how structured exercise affects outcomes for patients with metastatic breast cancer.

Dr. Rundqvist earned her PhD in Physiology from Karolinska Institutet in 2008, building on her foundational degree in Molecular Biology. Her postdoctoral training included significant work at the University of California, San Diego, studying immune contributions to metastasis, and at Karolinska Institutet's Department of Oncology and Pathology, investigating exercise interventions in cancer models.

Her research demonstrates that exercise interventions reduce symptom burden, enhance physical functioning, and improve health-related quality of life for cancer patients. A significant portion of her work focuses on immune surveillance mechanisms, particularly how exercise mobilizes cytotoxic T-cells and NK-cells to control solid tumor progression. Her current efforts involve detailed characterization of immune cell metabolism, homing capabilities, and antitumoral effects in both animal models and patients with advanced breast cancer.

Analysis of Dr. Rundqvist's recent publications (2024-2025) reveals a comprehensive research program spanning clinical trials (particularly the PREFERABLE series), immune mechanisms, cardiovascular effects of cancer treatment, and quality of life outcomes. A consistent theme is the investigation of exercise-induced immune cell mobilization and function, with growing attention to health economic analyses evaluating the cost-effectiveness of exercise interventions in cancer care.

Dr. Rundqvist has extensive teaching experience across all academic levels, delivering instruction in Statistics, Physiology, Immunology, Cell Biology, Tumor Microenvironment, and Metabolism. She leads a 5-week course in Scientific Theory and Statistics at Karolinska Institutet and supervises graduate students and postdoctoral fellows. Her research is supported by significant Horizon 2020 funding for the PREFERABLE EFFECT and PREFERABLE LION trials, which investigate structured exercise programs for metastatic breast cancer patients.

Dr. Rundqvist's laboratory work combines basic science approaches with clinical applications, focusing on immune cell characterization following exercise interventions using both animal models and patient samples. Her research bridges molecular mechanisms with practical clinical applications, requiring close collaboration across oncology, immunology, and exercise physiology disciplines to investigate how exercise affects cancer progression and patient outcomes.