Pernilla Wittung Stafshede

Pernilla Wittung Stafshede is a Professor of Chemical Biology at Chalmers University of Technology, leading a research group focused on metalloproteins in cancer and protein misfolding in Parkinson’s disease. She held prior professorships in the USA (Tulane and Rice Universities) and Umeå University before joining Chalmers in 2015. She served as Department Head (2015–2018) and currently leads the Gender Initiative for Excellence (Genie), a 10-year program to advance gender equality in academia.

Her research integrates biophysics, biochemistry, and structural biology to investigate copper ion interactions in diseases, amyloid protein formation, and their roles in cancer and neurodegenerative disorders. Recent work explores amyloid catalytic activity, cross-reactivity with gut microbiota proteins, and copper chaperone roles in metastasis.

Pernilla has authored over 260 research articles and popular science texts. Her projects include studies on α-synuclein amyloid toxicity, copper-mediated redox activity in breast cancer, and lipid remodeling in adipose tissue. She collaborates on initiatives like the Chalmers-led Genie initiative, addressing systemic barriers to gender equality in STEM.

Key contributions include identifying bacterial amyloids’ roles in Parkinson’s pathology, revealing amyloid-catalyzed DNA damage, and developing methods to inhibit amyloid formation using fish proteins. She also investigates copper’s role in Wilson disease and oncogenic processes.