Benedicte Alexandra Lie

Benedicte Alexandra Lie is a Professor in the Department of Medical Genetics at the University of Oslo. Her research focuses on understanding genetic and immunological mechanisms underlying autoimmune diseases, particularly rheumatoid arthritis, narcolepsy, and chronic pain conditions. She has led studies on HLA associations with drug immunogenicity, gene expression changes in rheumatoid arthritis patients under treatment, and the genetic basis of Modic changes in chronic low back pain.

Key research areas include:

• Genetic risk factors for autoimmune diseases
• HLA genotype associations with treatment responses
• Biomarker discovery in chronic pain and inflammatory conditions
• Single-cell profiling of immune cell development in the thymus
• Molecular pathways in systemic lupus erythematosus and giant cell arteritis

Her work integrates multiomics approaches to unravel disease mechanisms, with recent emphasis on epigenetic changes (DNA methylation) and gene expression profiles in patient cohorts. Collaborations include clinical trials evaluating antibiotic therapies for back pain and studies on vaccine-related narcolepsy pathogenesis.