Pernilla Wittung-Stafshede

Pernilla Wittung-Stafshede is a Professor and research group leader in the Chemical Biology division of the Life Sciences department at Chalmers University of Technology since 2015 (serving as division head from 2015-2018). She leads the Wittung-Stafshede Protein Biophysics lab and has previously held professorships at Tulane and Rice universities in the United States for 12 years, followed by 7 years at Umeå University.

Her research focuses on two major areas: protein folding and misfolding processes, with emphasis on metal-binding and oligomeric proteins, and cellular copper transport mechanisms. She investigates alpha-synuclein aggregation in Parkinson's disease and copper chaperone functions related to Wilson disease protein. Her lab employs diverse biophysical and biochemical techniques including spectroscopy, calorimetry, NMR, X-ray, SPR, stopped-flow, AFM, EM, and DLS combined with protein mutagenesis.

• Published over 260 peer-reviewed papers as of 2022
• Head of Genie, Gender Initiative for Excellence since January 2019
• Research spans from single-molecule to living cell levels

Her work has significant implications for understanding and developing treatments for diseases ranging from cancer to neurodegeneration. The lab actively welcomes summer students, graduate students, and postdocs with open positions for exceptional researchers.