Martin Schalling

Martin Schalling is Professor of Medical Genetics at the Department of Molecular Medicine and Surgery and the Center for Molecular Medicine at Karolinska Institutet and Karolinska University Hospital. He has supervised 20 doctoral students to completion, with 9 currently under supervision along with 3 postdoctoral researchers. His research group consists of approximately 30 people including affiliated clinics. Schalling is also an adjunct professor at the University of Sao Paulo and has previously held adjunct positions at UCSD. He serves as coordinator of KI's collaboration with the Mayo Clinic and the University of Minnesota, and is a member of steering committees for the Center for Molecular Medicine and the Swedish Twin Registry.

Schalling's research focuses on identifying genetic, epigenetic and environmental factors that increase the risk of psychiatric and metabolic diseases including depression, anorexia, obesity, schizophrenia, malnutrition and kidney diseases. His work employs genetic and functional studies in tissues and cell cultures, and includes KIgene, a KI core facility focused on genetic and genomic analyses. His most recent publications demonstrate a strong emphasis on lithium treatment response in bipolar disorder, neuroimmunology in schizophrenia, and advanced genomic approaches to psychiatric conditions.

Schalling has published 290 articles and 120 conference reports, with over 17,000 citations and an H index of 66. His research group received the grade 'Outstanding' in KI's research evaluation (ERA 2011). He has been involved in over 10 world congresses, serving as chairman of the World Congress of Psychiatric Genetics in 2009.

• Florman Prize for the best thesis of the year from the Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences
• Alvarenga Prize for the best medical publication in Sweden from the Swedish Medical Association
• Ireland Award from the National Alliance for Research on Schizophrenia and Depression
• Fulbright Scholar appointment

Beyond his research, Schalling is chairman of the Swedish Psychiatric Foundation, writes medical debate articles, lectures to the public including politicians, and participates in innovation processes to bring scientific discoveries to market. He leads a group within CMM focused on strengthening researchers' societal engagement opportunities.