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

Fredrik Bäckhed, an expert in cellular microbiology and mouse physiology, combines clinical oriented research with gnotobiotic mouse models to address the role of the normal gut microbiota in metabolic diseases.

Professor Bäckhed has received several prestigious awards.

Rewards and distinctions

Minkowski prize (2018)
Appointed Torsten Söderberg Professor in Medicine (2017)
Elected to The Royal Swedish Academy of
Engineering Sciences (2015)
Göran Gustafsson Award in Medicine (2014)
ERC consolidator (2013)
The “Prince Daniel´s Grant to young promising researchers”(2013)
The DuPont Young Professor Award (2013)
The DPLU/LUDC Nordic Prize for an Outstanding
Young Diabetes Investigator (2010)
Dr Eric K Fernström Foundation’s Prize to Young
Swedish Scientists (2010)
Ingvar Carlsson Award (2006)
Chorafas Prize (2003)

He has been elected to the Young Academy of Sweden hosted by the Royal Academy of Sciences (2011) Royal Academy of Engineering (2016) and Royal Academy of Sciences (2017).

Highly cited researcher

Fredrik Bäckhed is one of the world´s most cited researchers in 2019, according to Web of Science, Clarivate Analytics. Read more here (NB: in Swedish)

For a profile about Professor Bäckhed and his group, please read the article from Research Media (opens in a new window):

Gut Instincts and Unravelling the human gut

Main research

The human intestinal tract is inhabited by 10-100 trillion microbes consisting of thousands of different species, collectively called the microbiota. The microbial community has an immense capacity to affect host biology and is fundamental to many processes, including the development of our immune system, processing of otherwise indigestible dietary polysaccharides, and vitamin and hormone production. The gut microbiome (collection of all microbial genes) encodes perhaps 1000-fold more genes than the human genome and provides us with numerous complementary functions and activities.

The overall aim of our research is to clarify the role of bacteria associated with the human body in the development of metabolic diseases, with particular emphasis on diabetes, steatosis, and atherosclerosis as well as delineating whether altered gut microbiota contributes to the beneficial effects of bariatric surgery. We use a translational approach that involves both human cohorts − to identify differences in microbial communities associated with the body in disease states − and germ-free mice − to investigate the underlying molecular mechanisms promoted by specific bacteria.

Key Publications

Koh A, Molinaro A, Ståhlman M, Khan M T, Schmidt C, Mannerås-Holm L, Wu H, Carreras A, Jeong H, Olofsson L E, Bergh P-O, Gerdes V, Hartstra A, de Brauw M, Perkins R, Nieuwdorp M, Bergström G, Bäckhed F. Microbially Produced Imidazole Propionate Impairs Insulin Signaling through mTORC1 Cell Metabolism. 175(4):947-61 (2018)
Wu H, Esteve E, Tremaroli V, Khan MT, Caesar R, Mannerås-Holm L, Ståhlman M, Olsson LM, Serino M, Planas-Fèlix M, Xifra G, Mercader JM, Torrents D, Burcelin R, Ricart W, Perkins R, Fernàndez-Real JM, Bäckhed F Metformin alters the gut microbiome of individuals with treatment-naive type 2 diabetes, contributing to the therapeutic effects of the drug. Nat Med. 2017 Jul;23(7):850-858. doi: 10.1038/nm.4345. Epub 2017 May 22
Karlsson, F., Tremaroli, V., Nookaew, I., Bergström, G., Behre, C. J., Fagerberg, B., Nielsen, J., Bäckhed, F. Gut metagenome in European women with normal, impaired and diabetic glucose control. Nature. 498:99-103 (2013).

Group members

Team leaders

Louise Mannerås Holm, PhD
Louise Olofsson, PhD
Robert Caesar, PhD
Thomas Greiner, PhD
Valentina Tremaroli, PhD

Postdoctoral Fellow

Alba Carreras, PhD
Estelle Grasset, PhD
Tanweer Khan, PhD
Ara Koh, PhD
Petia Kovatcheva, PhD (back 2019)
Kim Krautkramer, MD PhD
Kassem Makki, PhD
Antonio Molinaro, MD PhD
Marc Schöler, MD
Tony Wu, PhD

PhD Student

Christina Heiss
Lisa Olsson
Kristien Fluitmann

Research Associate

Carina Arvidsson
Ulrica Enqvist
Louise Hellden
Anna Hallén
Robert Jakubowicz
Manuela Krämer
Oskar Persson

Bioinformatician

Harald Brolin
Meenakshi Pradhan

Metabolomics/Lipidomics

Marcus Ståhlman, PhD
Per-Olof Bergh

Laboratory Manager

Annika Lundqvist, PhD

Administrator

Christel Jansson
Olivia Jungstrand