Lene Broeng Oddershede

Lene Broeng Oddershede is a Senior Lecturer at the Niels Bohr Institute, University of Copenhagen, and leads the optical tweezers research group. She is also the director of the Danish National Research Foundation-funded StemPhys Center of Excellence, which focuses on controlling stem cell differentiation. Her research spans physics-biology interfaces, mechanical properties of cells/molecules, and nanoparticle-based therapies.

Her work includes pioneering optical tweezers for single-molecule studies (e.g., DNA/RNA mechanics) and developing STED/light-sheet microscopy inspired by Nobel Prize-winning discoveries. She collaborates with physicians to target cancer cells using nanoparticle-induced hyperthermia, supported by the Novo Nordisk Foundation.

• EliteForsk Award recipient (2015)
• Published >100 papers in high-impact journals
• Leader in interdisciplinary physics-biomedicine research

Her academic journey began with a MSc in physics and mathematics from University of Southern Denmark (1995), followed by a PhD there (1998). She has trained numerous PhD students and postdocs and maintains strong ties to Nobel laureates Eric Betzig and Stefan Hell.