University of Gothenburg
  2. About
  3. Find staff
  4. Claes Ohlsson

Claes Ohlsson

Professor/ Chief Physician

Institute of Medicine
Telephone
+46 31-342 28 73
+46 706-83 29 66
Mail
claes.ohlsson@medic.gu.se
Visiting address
Vita stråket 11, SU
413 45 Göteborg
Postal address
Vita stråket 11, SU
413 45 Göteborg

Avd-/Sektionschef, Inst

Department of Internal Medicine and Clinical Nutrition
Telephone
+46 706-83 29 66
Mail
claes.ohlsson@medic.gu.se
Visiting address
Vita stråket 11, SU
413 45 Göteborg
Postal address
Vita stråket 11, SU
413 45 Göteborg

About Claes Ohlsson

About Claes Ohlsson

Claes Ohlsson is Professor (2000-) and Head of the Department of Internal Medicine and Clinical Nutrition at the Institute of Medicine, Sahlgrenska Academy at University of Gothenburg. In addition, he is a senior physician at the Sahlgrenska University Hospital in Gothenburg.

Research

His research within the field of osteoporosis has a translational profile, combining cell and molecular biology with experimentation on animals and human tissues, as well as randomized clinical trials. His research is mainly focused on the genetics of bone mass and fractures as well as on how the gut microbiota affects bone. The overall aim is to improve the prevention, diagnosis, and treatment of osteoporosis.

The following recent major findings are further evaluated in his ongoing research:

He recently developed a protein-based risk score that improves hip fracture prediction. This risk score is a new tool for clinically relevant hip fracture prediction (Nature Aging 2024,4:1064).

He has characterized the genetics of fracture susceptibility (Nature Genetics 2023 55:1820-1830; Cell Reports Medicine 2022, 3:100776).

He has translated human genetic signals to new mechanisms for the regulation of bone health (Nature Medicine 2014,20:1279; BMJ 2018,362:k3225; Nature Genetics 2023,55:1277; Nature Genetics 2023,55:1820).

He demonstrated that the gut microbiota is a major regulator of bone mass and this finding opened up a completely new research field. This is a true translational project, starting with experimental studies of the skeleton of germ free mice and probiotic treated mice, followed by a large randomized clinical trial (JBMR 2012,27:1357; Lancet Rheumatology 2019,1(3):e154).

In translational studies, he has identified a new mechanism for the regulation of cortical bone mass and fracture susceptibility. This finding opens up novel avenues for specific prevention or treatment of non-vertebral fractures, a significant and unmet medical need (Nature Medicine 2014;20 (11):1279-88).

Publications (PubMed)

Citations: 94,680 citations; h-index 136 (February 2025, google scholar)

Awards

Major National Awards

  • 2025, elected member of the Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences.
  • 2021, Wallenberg Clinical Scholar prolongation grant (individual grant of 15 MSEK), selected by the Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences.
  • 2016, Wallenberg Clinical Scholar (15 MSEK), selected by the Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences and Knut and Alice Wallenberg Foundation. This grant is given to outstanding Swedish scientists within clinical research.
  • 2001, Selected by the Swedish Strategic Foundation (SSF) to be given the individual INGVAR grant (1.1 million €) for promising future research leaders, including an advanced training program in scientific leadership as a part of the “INGVAR Program”.
  • 1998, The Fernström award for Gothenburg.
  • 1995, The Jubileums award from the Swedish Society of Medicine.

Major International Awards

  • 2023, ERC Advanced Grant.
  • 2020, Lawrence G. Raisz Award from The American Society for Bone and Mineral Research. This is an international award given for outstanding achievements in translational bone research.
  • 2019, selected for the first individual Distinguished Investigator Grant–within Endocrinology & Metabolism by the Novo Nordisk Foundation (14 million SEK).
  • 2018, The main Anders Jahre´s prize, which is awarded for excellent research in basic and clinical medicine in the Nordic region. The prize, which is awarded by the University of Oslo, is among the largest in the medicine field in the Nordic region (1 million NOK).
  • 2017, The European Calcified Tissue Society (ECTS), Mike Horton Award. This award is given to individuals who have made a significant basic or translational contribution to the field of bone and calcified tissue.
  • 2008, The European Journal of Endocrinology award for “significant contribution to the advancement of knowledge in the field of endocrinology”.
  • 2006, The SalusAnsvar foundation/Folksam Nordic medical prize, which is one of the largest medical prizes in the Nordic countries. The prize is given for “particularly outstanding scientific achievement”. The research should involve medical problems that directly affect people's every-day life.
  • 1994, According to Harvard Health letter “published one of the ten most significant papers in the medical field during 1994” (NEJM 1994, 331:889).

Recent Key publications

1. Austin TR, Nethander M, Fink HA, Törnqvist AE, Jalal DI, Buzkova P, Barzilay JI, Carbone J, Gabrielsen ME, Grahnemo L, Lu T, Hveem K, Jonasson C, Kizer JR, Langhammer A, Mukamal KJ, Gerszten RE, Psaty BM, John A. Robbins JA, Sun YV, Skogholt AH, Kanis JA, Johansson H, Åsvold BO, Valderrabano RJ, Zheng J, Richards JB, Coward E, Ohlsson C. A Protein-Based Risk Score Improves Hip Fracture Prediction. Nature Aging 2024;4:1064-1075.

2. Nethander M, Movérare-Skrtic S, Kämpe A, Coward E, Reimann E, Grahnemo L, Borbély É, Helyes Z, Funck-Brentano T, Cohen-Solal M, Tuukkanen J, Koskela A, Wu J, Li L, Lu T, Gabrielsen ME, Mägi R, Hoff M, Lerner UH, Henning P, Ullum H, Erikstrup C, Brunak S, Langhammer A, Tuomi T, Oddsson A, Stefansson K, Pettersson-Kymmer U, Ostrowski SR, Pedersen OBV, Styrkarsdottir U, Mäkitie O, Hveem K, Richards JB, Ohlsson C. An atlas of genetic determinants of forearm fracture. Nature Genetics 2023;55:1820-1830.

3. Chen Y, Lu T, Pettersson-Kymmer U, Stewart ID, Butler-Laporte G, Nakanishi T, Cerani A, Liang KYH, Yoshiji S, Willett JDS, Su CY, Raina P, Greenwood CMT, Farjoun Y, Forgetta V, Langenberg C, Zhou S, Ohlsson C, Richards JB. Genomic atlas of the plasma metabolome prioritizes metabolites implicated in human diseases. Nature Genetics 2023;Jan;55(1):44-53.

4. Grahnemo L, Nethander M, Coward E, Gabrielsen ME, Sree S, Billod JM, Sjögren K, Engstrand L, Dekkers KF, Fall T, Langhammer A, Hveem K, Ohlsson C. Identification of three bacterial species associated with increased appendicular lean mass: the HUNT study. Nature Communications 2023;14(1):2250.

5. Nethander M, Coward E, Reimann E, Grahnemo L, Gabrielsen ME, Wibom C, Mägi R, Funck-Brentano T, Hoff M, Langhammer A, Pettersson-Kymmer U, Hveem K, Ohlsson C. Assessment of the genetic and clinical determinants of hip fracture risk: Genome-wide association and Mendelian randomization study. Cell Reports Medicine 2022;Oct 18;3(10):100776.

6. Grahnemo L, Nethander M, Coward E, Elvestad Gabrielsen M, Sree S, Billod J, Engstrand L, Langhammer A, Hveem K, Ohlsson C. Cross-sectional associations between the gut microbe Ruminococcus gnavus and features of the metabolic syndrome. Lancet Diabetes Endocrinol 2022;10:481-483.

7. Nilsson KH, Henning P, Shahawy ME, Nethander M, Andersen TL, Ejersted C, Wu J, Gustafsson KL, Koskela A, Tuukkanen J, Souza PPC, Tuckermann J, Lorentzon M, Engström Ruud L, Lehtimäki T, Tobias JH, Zhou S, Lerner UH, Richards JB, Movérare-Skrtic S, Ohlsson C. RSPO3 increases trabecular bone mass via cell-autonomous effect in osteoblasts in mice and is directly associated with trabecular bone mineral density and indirectly with fractures in humans. Nature Communications 2021;12:4923.

8. Ohlsson C, Bygdell M, Sonden A, Rosengren A, Kindblom JM. Association between excessive BMI increase during puberty and risk of cardiovascular mortality in adult men: a population-based cohort study. Lancet Diabetes Endocrinol 2016;4:1017-1024.

9. Movérare-Skrtic S, Henning P, Liu X, Nagano K, Saito H, Börjesson AE, Sjögren K, Windahl SH, Farman H, Kindlund B, Engdahl C, Koskela A, Zhang FP, Eriksson EE, Zaman F, Hammarstedt A, Isaksson H, Bally M, Kassem A, Lindholm C, Sandberg O, Aspenberg P, Sävendah L, Feng JQ, Tuckermann J, Tuukkanen J, Poutanen M, Baron R, Lerner UH, Gori F, Ohlsson C. Osteoblast-derived WNT16 represses osteoclastogenesis and prevents cortical bone fragility fractures Nature Medicine 2014;Nov;20(11):1279-88.