Göteborgs universitet
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Anders Nilsson

Forskare

Sektionen för klinisk neurovetenskap
Telefon
0768-11 93 37
E-post
anders.k.nilsson@gu.se
Besöksadress
Medicinaregatan 11, vån S
413 90 Göteborg
Postadress
Box 436
40530 Göteborg

Om Anders Nilsson

I am a researcher and docent (associate professor) in cell and molecular biology at the Department of Clinical Neuroscience, Institute of Neuroscience and Physiology, Sahlgrenska Academy. I am part of The Sahlgrenska Center for Pediatric Ophthalmology Research, led by Professor Ann Hellström. I am also an affiliated researcher at the Department of Clinical Sciences Lund, Lund University.

Research. I study how early nutrition and metabolism affect health and disease in extremely preterm infants. My main focus is retinopathy of prematurity (ROP), a leading cause of visual impairment in children. Infants born extremely preterm miss much of what the mother normally provides during the last trimester, for example long-chain polyunsaturated fatty acids (LCPUFAs). Instead, they depend on parenteral and enteral nutrition while their retina, brain and other organs are developing rapidly. I study how these early conditions shape the infant’s metabolism, and what that means for development and disease risk.

My work combines lipidomics, metabolomics and proteomics with clinical data from cohorts and randomized trials, analysed with bioinformatic and statistical methods. We follow infants with repeated blood samples over their first months of life. This lets us map how their molecular profile changes after birth, how nutrition influences it, and which changes come before complications such as ROP. The aim is to find the molecular pathways that explain why some infants develop disease, and markers that can identify infants at risk early.

LCPUFAs are central to our research. In the randomized Mega Donna Mega trial, supplementation with arachidonic acid (ARA) and docosahexaenoic acid (DHA) halved the rate of severe ROP, and we now follow how this supplementation works in routine neonatal care. We also study how preterm infants take up and use these fatty acids, and how early nutrition affects the development of the macula, the central part of the retina. Beyond fatty acids, we study other bioactive lipids, inflammation and hormones in relation to neonatal disease. This work is done in close collaboration with neonatology and ophthalmology colleagues in Sweden and internationally.

Teaching and supervision. I supervise PhD students at the University of Gothenburg and Lund University. I also organise the PhD course Lipids – Biochemistry, Biotechnology and Health, and I teach biology, medical biochemistry and biomedical laboratory science. I regularly supervise bachelor’s and master’s degree projects, which can involve laboratory work, data analysis, or both. Students interested in a degree project in neonatal research are welcome to contact me.

Background. I received my PhD in biology from the University of Gothenburg in 2013, studying plant immune responses with a focus on lipids. In 2016 I moved to neonatal research in Ann Hellström’s group, and I became docent in 2022.

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