معرفی
Alastair Kerr is a Senior Research Specialist and Group Leader at the Department of Medicine, Huddinge, Karolinska Institutet. His research focuses on elucidating how long noncoding RNAs (lncRNAs) regulate lipid metabolism and contribute to cardiometabolic disease in adipocytes. He leads the Long noncoding RNA in the adipocyte research group, which integrates human adipose tissue biopsies, population genetics, and advanced molecular tools like CRISPRi/a and his novel TROOPS method to study lncRNA functions.
Education & Career
- PhD in Molecular Biology (University of Oxford, 2017)
- Postdoctoral studies at Karolinska Institutet (2017–present)
Research Highlights
He discovered the lncRNA ADIPINT, which modulates pyruvate carboxylase activity to regulate triglyceride synthesis. His lab investigates lncRNA roles in lipid droplet metabolism and develops methods like TROOPS for high-throughput lncRNA interactome analysis. Current work links genetic variants in lncRNAs to metabolic dysfunction.
Awards & Funding
- Swedish Research Council grants
- Novo Nordisk Foundation support
- ERC Starting Grant (2024)
Laboratory Team
- Jordi Mengual Martí (Research Assistant)
- Katharina Schormair (PhD Student)
- Bingran Xie (Postdoctoral Researcher)
Opportunities
Open positions for students and researchers; contact alastair.kerr@ki.se for inquiries.
