Cecilia Sahlgren is a Professor at the Faculty of Science and Engineering , Department of Biochemistry and Cell Biology at Åbo Akademi University, affiliated with the InFLAMES Flagship (Innovation Ecosystem based on the Immune System) Solutions for Health. Her research focuses on cellular signaling mechanisms, particularly the Notch signaling pathway, and their roles in cancer biology, vascular homeostasis, and mechanobiology. She leads multiple high-impact projects funded by the European Commission, Finnish research councils, and foundations. Research Interests: Notch signaling pathway, cancer cell biology, vascular biology, mechanotransduction, and biomimetic modeling. Her work bridges basic science and translational research, addressing topics like blood-brain barrier delivery systems and tumor microenvironment modeling. Grants & Projects: NAP4DIVE (EU): Non-animal nanoparticle delivery platform for blood-brain barrier studies (2025–2028). Tumor-LN-oC (EU): Tumor lymph node-on-a-chip (2021–2025). SignalSheets: Multilayer mechanosignaling in vascular systems (2020–2024). Awards: 2018: Knight, First Class, of the Order of the White Rose of Finland. 2018: Member of The Finnish Society of Sciences and Letters. 2017: Member of the Swedish Academy of Engineering Sciences in Finland. 2013: ÅAU Chancellor’s Prize for best publication. Labs/Teams: Leads interdisciplinary teams in vascular biology, cancer research, and biomaterials, collaborating internationally on projects like OptoNotch (light-activated signaling) and computational arterial modeling.









