Björn Redfors Group
Short description
Björn Redfors is professor at Sahlgrenska academy, University of Gothenburg and consultant cardiologist at Sahlgrenska university hospital.
About Redfors Lab
The Redfors lab is a translational team consisting of two integrated units: the clinical unit and the pre-clinical unit. Most group members contribute to both units. The clinical unit is located at the Department of Cardiology and focuses on prospective studies of patients with ST-elevation myocardial infarction (STEMI) who are treated with primary percutaneous coronary intervention. The cardiology clinic at Sahlgrenska University Hospital is the largest percutaneous coronary intervention center in Sweden. Approximately 20% of all patients with STEMI in Sweden are treated at Sahlgrenska, making the cardiology clinic at Sahlgrenska well suited for this type of research. The clinical unit of the Research lab is closely integrated with the Cardiology department’s research infrastructure, which includes facilities for invasive and non-invasive evaluation of cardiovascular function. Dr Redfors and several other group members are practicing cardiologists.
The preclinical unit is located at the Wallenberg laboratory and at the facilities for Experimental Biomedicine (EBM). The preclinical work focuses on animal models of myocardial ischemia-reperfusion injury, which is an experimental model for STEMI, as well as ex-vivo models of myocardial ischemia. The infrastructure of WCMTM, Wallenberglaboratory and the core facilities at Sahlgrenska Academy provide access to state-of-the-art experimental techniques as well as broad collaborative networks within molecular biology.
The clinical and preclinical units are intimately linked, with most team members conducting work within both units. Within the overarching aim of the research group, the research is dynamic and new hypotheses are developed and fine-tuned based on the interpretations of findings made in the clinical and preclinical setting. Observations made in the clinical context are subsequently examined in greater detail in the more controlled preclinical setting.
Dr. Redfors is a consultant cardiologist at the Department of Cardiology at Sahlgrenska University Hospital and Professor of Cardiology at the University of Gothenburg. He is also Professor of Medicine at Columbia University, New York. He is the recipient of several prestigious research grants and has authored over 150 original peer-reviewed manuscripts. Dr Redfors has an extensive international collaborative network within interventional cardiology.
Contact Information
Visiting address
Blå stråket 5 b wallenberglab/su
41345 Göteborg
Postal address
SU Sahlgrenska
41345 Göteborg
Group members
Aaron Shekka Espinosa, MD
Postdoc
Aaron Shekka Espinosa is a postdoctoral researcher in the group of Björn Redfors at the Department of Molecular and Clinical Medicine, University of Gothenburg. He is also a resident physician in radiology.
Aaron earned his Bachelor of Science in Biomedical Sciences from Karolinska Institute in 2014 and received his medical degree from the University of Gothenburg in 2020. He completed his PhD in Medical Science in 2025 under the supervision of Björn Redfors at Sahlgrenska Academy.
Aaron is a collaborative and team-oriented researcher who values working with colleagues from diverse backgrounds. In his spare time, he enjoys traveling, teaching, playing video games, and staying active through exercise.
Yalda Kakaei
PhD student
Yalda Kakaei is a PhD-student in Björn Redfors group at the Department of Molecular and Clinical Medicine at the University of Gothenburg. She received her MS degree in Molecular Biotechnology from Skövde University & Sahlgrenska cancer center, where she studied the relationship between cisplatin and redox signaling pathways with Dr. Naredi. Besides her research passion, she enjoys playing chess, solving puzzle games, watching movies, and traveling in her spare time.
Ahmed Elmahdy, MD
Postdoctoral Researcher
Ahmed Elmahdy is a researcher in the Björn Redfors Group at the University of Gothenburg. He obtained his PhD in cardiovascular sciences from the University of Gothenburg in 2025, under supervision of professor Redfors. In 2019, he was awarded the Swiss Government Excellence Scholarship to conduct a one-year research fellowship at Inselspital, Bern, Switzerland. He received his medical degree from Mansoura University, Egypt, in 2019.
Mana Kalani
PhD student
Mana Kalani studied Master of science in Molecular Biology at University of Gothenburg in 2012. She worked for several years as research assistant, biologist and consultant in research projects, both in the private and public sector. Mana has experience with several different laboratory techniques and methods, and has worked with several different model organisms. Mana considers research to be a special lifestyle which requires a lot of passion and enthusiasm!
Angela Poller
PhD student
Angela Poller is a biomedical analyst at Clinical Physiology at the Sahlgrenska University Hospital and has been doing echocardiography since 2011. She is also a PhD-student in Björn Redfors group at the department of Molecular and Clinical Medicine at the University of Gothenburg. She joined the group in 2020. She is involved in all the clinical studies. She is responsible of the imaging modalities with special interests in echocardiography and MRI. In her spare time, she loves spending time with her family and friends and to work out, mainly cardio training. She spends a lot of time in the swimming arena since both of her children are competitive swimmers.
Sandeep Jha, MD
PhD student
Sandeep Jha is a consultant in internal medicine and cardiology at the Department of Cardiology, Sahlgrenska University hospital, and a PhD-student in Björn Redfors group at the Department of Molecular and Clinical Medicine at the University of Gothenburg. Sandeep was born and raised in Mumbai, India, and received his medical degree in 2007 from the St. Petersburg Medical I.P Pavlov Univeristy, Russia. Sandeep enjoys teaching, cooking and sports. When he is not at work, he spends time with his family and friends.
Rickard Zeijlon MD, PhD
Postdoc
Dr Rickard Zeijlon is a Postdoctoral Research Fellow in Clinical Cardiology at the department of Molecular and Clinical Medicine (Sahlgrenska Academy/University of Gothenburg, Sweden) and a member of Dr Björn Redfors group. He graduated medical school in 2011 (University of Lund, Sweden) and became a licensed physician in 2014 (Sahlgrenska University Hospital, Gothenburg). After residency at the Department of Internal Medicine at Sahlgrenska University Hospital, he became a consultant physician in 2020 and earned his PhD in medical science in 2022 (Sahlgrenska Academy). Rickard is also active in education as the Sahlgrenska University Hospital Head Director of Studies for medical interns. Outside of working hours, Rickard enjoys spending time with family and friends, playing guitar and occasionally soccer.
Sigurdur Thorleifsson, MD
PhD student
Sigurdur James Thorleifsson is a consultant in internal medicine and cardiology at the Department of Cardiology, Sahlgrenska University Hospital, and a PhD-student in Björn Redfors group at the department of Molecular and Clinical Medicine at the University of Gothenburg. Sigurdur was born and raised in Reykjavik, Iceland, and received his medical degree in 2009 from the University of Iceland. In his spare time he enjoys spending time with his family and friends, likes cooking and playing football.
Abhishek Jha
Research assistant
Abhishek Jha is research assistant in Björn Redfors Group.
I recently completed my pharmacy education from Karnataka University in India.
I enjoy work and to learn new tasks in the lab.
Apart from work I like to read and watch movies and series.
Christina Pettersson
PhD student
Christina Pettersson is a certified radiology nurse specialised in magnetic resonance imaging at the department of Radiology, Sahlgrenska University Hospital also, a PhD student and joined the Björn Redfors group in 2022. She graduated as a CRN with an BS degree in 2014. She has previously attended in other research projects, in 2021, she received her MSc degree in radiography. When not at work, she is spending time with family and friends or working out.
Julia Baranowska, MD
PhD student
Currently on leave
Julia Baranowska is a PhD-student in Björn Redfors group at the department of Molecular and Clinical Medicine at the University of Gothenburg.
She received her medical degree from the University of Gothenburg in 2019. During her studies she gained international experience through exchanges to England, Ireland, China and the US. She wrote her master thesis about aortic valve replacement at Weill Cornell Medicine in NYC. In her spare time she enjoys traveling, spending time with family and friends and appreciating various forms of art.
Monica Fagerberg
Research administrator
Monica Fagerberg is research administrator at the Department of Molecular and Clinical Medicine, University of Gothenburg. She is responsible for the general administration in the group and for coordinating internal and external matters.
Sabin Salahuddin
PhD-student
Sabin Salahuddin is PhD student in Björn Redfors group at the Department of Molecular and Clinical Medicine at the University of Gothenburg. Sabin completed both her Masters in Dental Surgery (DDS) and obtained her diploma as a medical doctor (MD) from the University of Gothenburg.
Sabins role entails working within the clinical projects in the group with a special interest towards intensive care.
When not working Sabin enjoys time with family and friends, sports and travel.
Tetiana Pylova
Researcher
Dr. Tetiana Pylova is a researcher at the Department of Molecular and Clinical Medicine at the University of Gothenburg. Take part in experimental cardiology research in Björn Redfors group. Obtain medical degree in Kharkiv National Medical University (Ukraine) in 2015. Tetiana has a clinical and research experience in Cardiology and Intervention cardiology. She has PhD degree in Medicine (field of interest- Cardiology). Fond of physical activities, especially volleyball and squash, travelling, spending time with family or friends and baking desserts.
Valentyna Sevastianova
Researcher and specialist
Dr. Valentyna Sevastianova is a researcher and specialist in internal medicine, from Ukraine. Her PhD is dedicated to optimization of diagnosis and treatment of cardiac failure in ischemic heart disease with concomitant autoimmune thyroiditis. She has been working in the department of radiation pathology of SO «Grigoriev Institute for Medical Radiology and Oncology of the National Academy of Medical Sciences of Ukraine». Now she is working as a researcher in Björn Redfors group at the department of Molecular and Clinical Medicine at the University of Gothenburg. In her spare time, she enjoys spending time with family and studying Swedish.
Axel Andersson
Scientific coordinator
Dr. Axel Andersson is the scientific coordinator of Björn Redfors group at the Department of Molecular and Clinical Medicine at the University of Gothenburg. He attended Umeå University and performed research projects studying molecular aspect of ALS, endocannabinoid pharmacology, 3D pancreas imaging, and glioblastoma metabolomics until 2017 when he obtained his MSc in Biomedicine. Before joining the Redfors group, he received a PhD in Medical Sciences from the Sahlgrenska Academy in early 2022 for researching cerebrovascular aspects in preclinical models of different neonatal brain injuries under Dr. Joakim Ek and Prof. Carina Mallard. When he is not working, he is generally found at a concert, out for a walk, with friends, or in the kitchen.
Research opportunities in the Laboratory
Key Publications
- Poller A, Jha S, Molander L, Espinosa AS, Andersson EA, Simons K, Bobbio E, Salahuddin S, Sevastianova V, Thorleifsson SJ, Nyberg J, Zeijlon R, Omerovic E, Bech-Hanssen O, Redfors B. Global and segmental longitudinal and radial strain in Takotsubo versus ST-elevation myocardial infarction. Int J Cardiol. 2025 Nov 15;439:133668. doi: 10.1016/j.ijcard.2025.133668. Epub 2025 Jul 23. PMID: 40712674.
- Jha S, Poller A, Shekka Espinosa A, Molander L, Sevastianova V, Zeijlon R, Simons K, Bobbio E, Pirazzi C, Martinsson A, Mellberg T, Gudmundsson T, Torild P, Sundstrom J, Andersson EA, Thorleifsson S, Salahuddin S, Elmahdy A, Pylova T, Rawshani A, Angeras O, Ramunddal T, Skoglund K, Omerovic E, Redfors B. Prospective comparison of temporal changes in myocardial function in women with Takotsubo versus anterior STEMI. Clin Res Cardiol. 2025 Dec;114(12):1705-1717. doi: 10.1007/s00392-025-02633-4. Epub 2025 Mar 20. PMID: 40111441; PMCID: PMC12708765.
- Jha S, Shekka Espinosa A, Molander L, Poller A, Sevastianova V, Simons K, Baranowska J, Gudmundsson T, Bobbio E, Zeijlon R, Pirazzi C, Martinsson A, Mellberg T, Torild P, Sundstrom J, Andersson EA, Thorleifsson S, Salahuddin S, Elmahdy A, Pylova T, Angerås O, Ramunddal T, Skoglund K, Omerovic E, Redfors B. Prospective Comparison of Temporal Myocardial Function in Men Versus Women After Anterior ST-Elevation Myocardial Infarction With Timely Reperfusion. Am J Cardiol. 2025 Jun 1;244:48-57. doi: 10.1016/j.amjcard.2025.02.015. Epub 2025 Feb 21. PMID: 39988035.
- Pylova T, Elmahdy A, Krasnikova M, Jha A, Andersson EA, Kakaei Y, Shekka Espinosa A, Al-Awar A, Zulfaj E, Nejat A, Sevastianova V, Kalani M, Ryberg H, Tivesten Å, Omerovic E, Redfors B. Associations between female sex hormones, estrous cycle, ischemic preconditioning and myocardial infarct size after ischemia-reperfusion injury. Basic Res Cardiol. 2025 Apr;120(2):321-333. doi: 10.1007/s00395-025-01099-9. Epub 2025 Feb 13. PMID: 39945823; PMCID: PMC11976772.
- Elmahdy A, Shekka Espinosa A, Kakaei Y, Pylova T, Jha A, Zulfaj E, Krasnikova M, Al-Awar A, Sheybani Z, Sevastianova V, Berger E, Nejat A, Molander L, Andersson EA, Omerovic E, Hussain S, Redfors B. Ischemic preconditioning affects phosphosites and accentuates myocardial stunning while reducing infarction size in rats. Front Cardiovasc Med. 2024 Mar 15;11:1376367. doi: 10.3389/fcvm.2024.1376367. PMID: 38559672; PMCID: PMC10978780.
- Poller A, Jha S, Shekka Espinosa A, Zeijlon R, Thorleifsson SJ, Andersson EA, Bobbio E, Pirazzi C, Gudmundsson T, Mellberg T, Martinsson A, Bech-Hanssen O, Redfors B. Inter- and intra-observer variability in the echocardiographic evaluation of wall motion abnormality in patients with ST-elevation myocardial infarction or takotsubo syndrome - A novel approach. Echocardiography. 2023 Jul;40(7):711-719. doi: 10.1111/echo.15638. Epub 2023 Jun 26. PMID: 37363868.
- Shekka Espinosa A, Hussain S, Al-Awar A, Jha S, Elmahdy A, Kalani M, Kakei Y, Zulfaj E, Aune E, Poller A, Bobbio E, Thoirleifsson S, Zeijlon R, Gudmundursson T, Wernbom M, Lindahl B, Polte CL, Omerovic E, Hammarsten O, Redfors B. Differences between cardiac troponin I vs. T according to the duration of myocardial ischaemia. Eur Heart J Acute Cardiovasc Care. 2023 Jun 2;12(6):355-363. doi: 10.1093/ehjacc/zuad017. PMID: 36848390.
- Zeijlon R, Jha S, Le V, Chamat J, Shekka Espinosa A, Poller A, Thorleifsson S, Bobbio E, Mellberg T, Pirazzi C, Gudmundsson T, Martinsson A, Angerås O, Råmunddal T, Omerovic E, Redfors B. Temporal electrocardiographic changes in anterior ST elevation myocardial infarction versus the Takotsubo syndrome. Int J Cardiol Heart Vasc. 2023 Feb 18;45:101187. doi: 10.1016/j.ijcha.2023.101187. PMID: 36861065; PMCID: PMC9969279.
- Zeijlon R, Chamat J, Enabtawi I, Jha S, Mohammed MM, Wågerman J, Le V, Shekka Espinosa A, Nyman E, Omerovic E, Redfors B. Risk of in-hospital life-threatening ventricular arrhythmia or death after ST-elevation myocardial infarction vs. the Takotsubo syndrome. ESC Heart Fail. 2021 Apr;8(2):1314-1323. doi: 10.1002/ehf2.13208. Epub 2021 Jan 28. PMID: 33511788; PMCID: PMC8006718.
- Jha S, Zeijlon R, Enabtawi I, Espinosa AS, Chamat J, Omerovic E, Redfors B. Electrocardiographic predictors of adverse in-hospital outcomes in the Takotsubo syndrome. Int J Cardiol. 2020 Jan 15;299:43-48. doi: 10.1016/j.ijcard.2019.06.021. Epub 2019 Jun 19. PMID: 31279663.
