Ellinor Haglund

Ellinor Haglund serves as Associate Professor and Graduate Chair at the University of Hawaii, conducting research on protein folding mechanisms through integrated computational and experimental approaches to decipher how proteins achieve biologically active structures.

Her educational background:

• Master of Science in Molecular Biology and Chemistry from Umeå University, Sweden
• Ph.D. from Stockholm University, Sweden under Professor Mikael Oliveberg

Postdoctoral training included positions at University of California, San Diego (2010) and Rice University (2015) with Professor José Onuchic at the Center for Theoretical Biological Physics. Her research pioneered pierced lasso topologies (PLTs)—threaded structural motifs present across all life kingdoms that constitute 18% of disulfide-bridged proteins—with particular focus on leptin's PLT relevance to human health and disease. This work bridges chemistry, biology, and physics to explore nature's molecular machinery.

As Graduate Chair, she oversees academic programs and student mentorship while leading grant-supported investigations into protein folding dynamics.

The Haglund Research Group employs multidisciplinary methodologies to advance understanding of PLTs and their biological implications, maintaining active experimental and computational research lines.