Cecilia Sahlgren

Cecilia Sahlgren is a part-time Associate Professor at Eindhoven University of Technology (TU/e) and a full Professor of Cell Biology at Åbo Akademi University in Finland. Her research focuses on Notch signaling pathways, mechanobiology, and stem cell regulation in cardiovascular tissue engineering.

Academic Background:

• PhD from Åbo Akademi University (Finland), studying intermediate filaments in cell fate decisions.
• Postdoc at Karolinska Institutet (2005–2008).
• Founded the Cell Fate Lab at Turku Centre for Biotechnology.
• Moved to TU/e in 2013 as Assistant Professor, promoted to Associate Professor, then transitioned to part-time at TU/e in 2016 while becoming a full Professor at Åbo Akademi.

Research Interests: Her work explores how mechanical forces influence Notch signaling in stem cells, with applications in regenerative medicine and engineered tissue development. Key areas include vascular smooth muscle cell phenotypes, mechanotransduction, and biomaterial-based therapies.

Grants & Awards:

• ERC Consolidator Grant (2016) for the ForceMorph project on blood flow and cell signaling interactions.
• Funding from the European Union's Horizon 2020 program (ERC StG MechanoSignaling and ERC CoG ForceMorph).

Lab & Teams: Affiliated with TU/e's Cell-Matrix Interact. Cardiov. Tissue Reg. and Soft Tissue Biomech. & Tissue Eng. groups, and the Institute for Complex Molecular Systems (ICMS).