Søren Nielsen, PhD
Principal Investigator
My specific research interest is the acute metabolic roles of long, non-coding RNAs (lncRNAs) in brown and white adipocytes. I investigate the lncRNA processing and structure upon a metabolic stimulus and how lncRNAs can interact and control the activity of cytosolic organelles.
Naja Zenius Jespersen, MD, PhD
Post Doc
My primary area of research is how brown adipose tissue is regulated in humans. In my present research project I will study the effect of repeated cold exposure on human brown adipose tissue function and investigate if obesity-induced whitening of brown fat can be reversed to counteract type 2 diabetes.
Julie Abildgaard, MD, PhD
Post Doc
My research focuses on the effects of estrogen on visceral adipose tissue. In my current project I will investigate the effects of exercise compared with estrogen administration on visceral fat mass in women after a prophylactic bilateral oophorectomy.
Tora Henriksen, PhD
Post Doc
My research focuses on the effects of long non-coding RNAs on brown adipocyte metabolism. In my present research project I am investigating how growth factor signaling can alter the expression and structure of lncRNA and thereby impact brown adipose development and function.
Sonu Kumari
Master’s student
I am currently a student of M.Sc Bioinformatics at University of Copenhagen. I am very much interested in RNA-sequencing and gene expression. I am also interested in using bioinformatics tools to further analyze the data. I am doing a small project of 6 weeks with Søren's group and later in mid January I will be starting my master's thesis project here at CFAS.
Christoph Andreas Engelhard, PhD
Post Doc
I am interested in the transcriptomic changes within adipocytes apart from the standard coding genes. In particular, I investigate how long noncoding RNAs (lncRNAs) and the usage of alternative transcripts within a gene contribute towards shaping the molecular transition of adipocytes between an inactive and a thermogenically active state. For this I use short and long-read sequencing (Oxford Nanopore, PacBio) as well as computational methods.
Aiste Aleliunaite, PhD
Post Doc
My research is focused on the roles of long non-coding RNAs (lncRNAs) in development and activation of brown adipocytes. I use microscopy and various molecular biology methods to investigate the function of lncRNA translocation from nucleus to cytoplasmic organelles upon metabolic stimuli.
Laura Mølgaard Thomsen
Research assistant
I am a human physiologist with a background in physical activity and cancer.
In the Nielsen group I am involved in a study where we use thermography scans to measure brown fat activity in HER2-positive breast cancer patients.