Anders Helander

Professor Anders Helander at Karolinska Institutet's Department of Laboratory Medicine leads research in alcohol and drug biomarker diagnostics, focusing on ethyl glucuronide (EtG), ethyl sulfate (EtS), phosphatidylethanol (PEth), and carbohydrate-deficient transferrin (CDT). His work optimizes routine testing for treatment compliance and forensic applications, particularly in the STRIDA project tracking new psychoactive substances (NPS).

• Role: Professor & Adjunct Lecturer, Clinical Chemistry
• Keywords: Alcohol Biomarkers, NPS, Mass Spectrometry, Forensic Toxicology

Research Interests

• Developing high-resolution mass spectrometry protocols for NPS detection in urine and blood
• Validating PEth for short-term and long-term alcohol use monitoring
• Investigating serotonin-alcohol interactions and aldehyde dehydrogenase inhibition

Publications span 2018-2025, emphasizing clinical and forensic toxicology of designer drugs like spice (synthetic cannabinoids) and fentanyl analogs. Collaborative work includes studies on postmortem alcohol detection and occupational drug testing.