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Fredrik Bäckhed

Professor

Department of Molecular and Clinical Medicine
Telephone
+46 702-18 23 55
Mail
fredrik.backhed@gu.se
Visiting address
Wallenberglab, Bruna stråket 16, SU/S
41345 Göteborg
Postal address
Wallenberglab, Bruna stråket 16, SU/S
41345 Göteborg

About Fredrik Bäckhed

About Fredrik Bäckhed

Fredrik Bäckhed is professor of molecular medicine and has a PhD in infectious biology from Karolinska Institutet. He undertook post-doctoral training with Jeffrey Gordon at Washington University, St Louis, where he discovered that the gut microbiota can affect energy metabolism and contribute to the regulation of fat storage and obesity.

Research

Fredrik Bäckhed and his research group combine clinically oriented research with gnotobiotic mouse models to understand the role of the gut microbiota in health and metabolic diseases.

During his postdoctoral training in Jeffrey Gordon's group at Washington University, St Louis, Fredrik Bäckhed identified the gut microbiota as a factor that controls fat storage in the host. At the Wallenberg Laboratory for Cardiovascular and Metabolic Research, his group focuses on improving our understanding of how the gut microbiota contributes to cardiometabolic diseases. His studies have shown, for example, that the gut microbiota is altered in individuals with prediabetes and untreated type 2 diabetes. His research also aims to identify "next generation" probiotics aimed at preventing the onset of metabolic diseases.

One goal is to use the knowledge gained to develop new microbiota-based therapies. A key finding towards this goal was the group’s identification of microbial metabolites as potential regulators of cardiometabolic diseases. Fredrik Bäckhed recently received the prestigious ERC Advanced Grant to translate this discovery into treatment. The idea is to prevent bacterial production of a metabolite that contributes to fibrosis in the heart, liver and other organs, and thereby reduce the risk of heart failure and the liver disease metabolic dysfunction-associated steatohepatitis (MASH, previously NASH).

Other

From November 1, 2024, Fredrik Bäckhed will be director of a new international center, the Microbiome and Health Initiative (MHI), which is financed by the Novo Nordisk Foundation in Denmark. MHI is a virtual center that unites several international research groups. The core question for the center will be whether gut bacteria can cause obesity, type 2 diabetes and cardiovascular disease in humans. The goal is to generate knowledge that can lead to new prevention or treatment options for people living with, or at risk of developing, these diseases.

Fredrik Bäckhed is also director of the Wallenberg Laboratory for Cardiovascular and Metabolic Research at Sahlgrenska University Hospital, part of the Department of Medicine, where his research group operates alongside around ten other research groups.

In 2020, Fredrik Bäckhed received the Royal Swedish Academy of Engineering Science Gold Medal, and he is often mentioned as one of Sweden's most successful researchers. Together with his research group, he has managed to attract large grants and regularly publishes in the most prestigious scientific journals, including Nature and Cell.

Professor Bäckhed attributes the group’s success to a combination of hard work and a pleasant atmosphere. Factors for success include the diversity within the group and the importance of having a range of competences to tackle problems together. Good results are also achieved by combining research fields and collaborating with researchers from all over the world.

More about

Fredrik Bäckhed

The research group - Bäckhed Lab

To full list of publications: ORCID: 0000-0002-4871-8818