معرفی
Erik Melén is a Professor of Pediatrics and Head of the Department of Clinical Science and Education at Södersjukhuset, Karolinska Institutet. He is also a Pediatric allergist at Sachs' Children's Hospital and serves as the Principal Investigator of the BAMSE study, a major Swedish birth cohort investigating respiratory and allergic diseases in children up to adulthood.
His educational background includes:
- 2019: Professor of Pediatrics, Karolinska Institutet
- 2017: Specialist in Pediatric allergy
- 2012: Associate Professor of Epidemiology and Specialist in Pediatrics
- 2009-10: Postdoc at Channing Laboratory, Brigham and Women's Hospital and Harvard Medical School, Boston, USA
- 2006: PhD in Epidemiology from Karolinska Institutet
- 2005: License to practice medicine
- 2001: MD from University of Uppsala, Sweden
Professor Melén's research focuses on understanding the complex interplay between genetic and environmental factors in lung growth, respiratory and allergic diseases in children. His work primarily utilizes the Swedish birth cohort BAMSE, which enables unique investigation of lung function and respiratory diseases from birth through adulthood. His research employs genome-wide approaches (GWAS, methylation analyses, RNA sequencing) combined with detailed clinical and epidemiological data. He has established extensive national and international collaborations through projects such as PERMEABLE, GABRIEL, EAGLE, MeDALL, and the EXPANSE consortium. His current research explores areas including the long-term consequences of preterm birth on lung function, identification of populations vulnerable to air pollution, and clarification of genetic mechanisms for disease development.
His recent publications (2023-2025) span multiple high-impact journals and focus on respiratory health across the lifespan, gene-environment interactions in allergic diseases, exposome research, and the impact of environmental factors like air pollution on child health. These works demonstrate his leadership in longitudinal cohort studies and interdisciplinary research bridging genetics, epidemiology, and clinical medicine.
His scientific achievements have been recognized with several prestigious awards:
- Prins Daniel's young investigator award from The Swedish Heart-Lung Foundation (2015)
- Major research award from The Swedish Association For Allergology (2016)
- PhARF / EAACI Allergy Award (2017)
- ERC Starting grant (2017)
Professor Melén leads a robust research team including associate professors, postdocs, bioinformaticians, and PhD students. His research is supported by diverse funding sources including the European Research Council (ERC), The Swedish Heart-Lung Foundation, the Swedish Research Council (VR), ALF funding, SFO Epidemiology at Karolinska Institutet, ERA-PERMED, and Horizon 2020. He has supervised numerous PhD students, including Fredrik Larsson (2024) and Shizhen He (2020), focusing on neonatal conditions and air pollution effects respectively.
His research group at Södersjukhuset includes Jenny Hallberg (Associate Professor), Sophia Björkander, Susanna Klevebro, Petra Um-Bergström, Gang Wang, Björn Lundberg (all MDs and postdocs), Simon Kebede Merid (Bioinformatician), Ashish Kumar (Bioinformatician/Statistician), and PhD students Maura Kere and Fredrik Larsson. This multidisciplinary team combines clinical expertise with advanced bioinformatics and statistical approaches to tackle complex questions in pediatric respiratory and allergic diseases.
