About
Lotta Happonen is an Associate Professor at Lund University's School of Medicine, affiliated with the Infection Medicine department within BMC (BMC Faculty of Medicine). She serves as a Researcher Supervisor, Associate Researcher, Project Manager for BioMS and Structural Infection Medicine (STRIME), and Affiliated Researcher with Infect@LU. Her research focuses on structural and molecular mechanisms of host-pathogen interactions, particularly investigating disordered bacterial virulence factors and their interactions with the innate immune system.
She employs advanced techniques including affinity-purification mass spectrometry (AP-MS), crosslinking (XL-MS), hydrogen-deuterium exchange (HDX-MS), cryoEM, and X-ray crystallography. Her work addresses fundamental questions in medical microbiology, aiming to identify therapeutic targets for pathogen-mediated diseases. She leads an active project (2023–2027) funded by the Swedish Research Council exploring disordered bacterial proteins' interactions with human hosts.
Her recent articles (2024) highlight studies on tuberculosis pathogenesis, streptolysin O mechanisms, engineered antibodies, and S. pyogenes enzymes. She supervises doctoral projects and chairs a board/committee. Her research contributes to UN Sustainable Development Goals related to health, innovation, and sustainable cities.
