Daniel Eklund
Title: Senior Lecturer School/office: School of Medical SciencesEmail: daniel.eklund@oru.se
Phone: +46 19 301460
Room: C1103

About Daniel Eklund
Daniel Eklund defended his thesis at Linköpings university in 2013, where the research focused on the interaction between human macrophages and Mycobacterium tuberculosis. Emphasis was on understanding the role of the intracellular protein complex, the inflammasome, which regulates the production of certain proinflammatory cytokines. During 2014-2016, he continued as a post-doc within immunology and studied the autoimmune disease multiple sclerosis and how the underlying inflammation and immune response is modulated during pregnancy. In 2017, he was recruited as an assistant professor to Örebro university and today he works as an senior lecturer within biomedicine.
Research
The research is focused on understanding the interplay between proinflammatory and ant-inflammatory mechanisms and cells and how they contribute to the development and progression of human disease. Especially, the research is based round understanding the role of monocytes and the role of the inflammasome during sepsis, which is characterized by dysregulated inflammation.
Daniels research also includes other conditions where the function of human monocytes and macrophages have an active role, such as surgery, cancer and psychiatric disorders.
The research is also part of Örebro University strategic intiative towards inflammation and the Life Science sector, Exploring Inflammation in Health and Disease (X-HiDE), where Daniel acts as a coordinator for one of the theme groups in the project. More information on X-HiDE.
Teaching
Daniel Eklund is currently the coordinator on the first semester of the Medical program at Örebro university (MC501G). In addition, he is also an experienced PBL-group tutor. Daniel also teaches advanced immunology, cell biology and laboratory techniques at several courses in the international Master’s program Experimental Medicine.
He has developed and acts as co-coordinator of the PhD course ”Experimentell metodik för kliniska doktorander” (75MV001), where he also teaches and acts as mentor for the enrolled PhD students. He is currently co-supervising five PhD students.
Other assignments
Unit head at the Department of Medical Sciences.
Member of the steering committee in the research environment iRiSC.
Research projects
Active projects
- Regulation of Inflammasomes
- SP110 as a novel regulator of innate immune inflammasomes
- Regulation and early signs of immunosuppression in sepsis
- Reprogrammed monocytes during infections and sepsis
- Rituximab for schizophrenia spectrum disorder. A pilot study.
- Rituximab - Immunotherapy for Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder. A pilot study.
Completed projects
Research teams
Publications
Articles in journals
- Hedbrant, A. , Engström, C. , Andersson, L. , Eklund, D. , Westberg, H. , Persson, A. & Särndahl, E. (2023). Occupational quartz and particle exposure affect systemic levels of inflammatory markers related to inflammasome activation and cardiovascular disease. Environmental Health, 22 (1).
- Bejerot, S. , Sigra, S. , Welin, E. , Eklund, D. , Hylén, U. & Humble, M. B. (2023). Rituximab as an adjunctive treatment for schizophrenia spectrum disorder or obsessive-compulsive disorder: Two open-label pilot studies on treatment-resistant patients. Journal of Psychiatric Research, 158, 319-329.
- Hedbrant, A. , Eklund, D. , Andersson, L. , Bryngelsson, I. , Persson, A. , Westberg, H. & Särndahl, E. (2022). Effects on white blood cell counts and the NLRP3 inflammasome due to dust and cobalt exposure in the hard metal industry. Biomarkers, 60-70.
- Allbrand, M. , Eklund, D. , Cao, Y. , Nilsson, K. & Lodefalk, M. (2022). Gene expression of leptin, leptin receptor isoforms and inflammatory cytokines in placentas of obese women: Associations to birth weight and fetal sex. Placenta, 117, 64-71.
- Hylén, U. , McGlinchey, A. J. , Oresic, M. , Bejerot, S. , Humble, M. B. , Särndahl, E. , Hyötyläinen, T. & Eklund, D. (2021). Potential Transdiagnostic Lipid Mediators of Inflammatory Activity in Individuals With Serious Mental Illness. Frontiers in Psychiatry, 12.
- Hylén, U. , Eklund, D. , Humble, M. B. , Bartoszek, J. , Särndahl, E. & Bejerot, S. (2020). Increased inflammasome activity in markedly ill psychiatric patients: An explorative study. Journal of Neuroimmunology, 339.
- Nyman, E. , Lindh, M. , Lövfors, W. , Simonsson, C. , Persson, A. , Eklund, D. , Bäckström, E. , Fridén, M. & et al. (2020). Mechanisms of a sustained anti-inflammatory drug response in alveolar macrophages unraveled with mathematical modeling. CPT: Pharmacometrics and Systems Pharmacology (PSP), 9 (12), 707-717.
- Midtbö, K. , Eklund, D. , Särndahl, E. & Persson, A. (2020). Molecularly Distinct NLRP3 Inducers Mediate Diverse Ratios of Interleukin-1 β and Interleukin-18 from Human Monocytes. Mediators of Inflammation, 2020.
- Hedbrant, A. , Andersson, L. , Bryngelsson, I. , Eklund, D. , Westberg, H. , Särndahl, E. & Persson, A. (2020). Quartz Dust Exposure Affects NLRP3 Inflammasome Activation and Plasma Levels of IL-18 and IL-1Ra in Iron Foundry Workers. Mediators of Inflammation.
- Kempe, P. , Eklund, D. , Hallin, A. , Hammar, M. , Olsson, T. , Brynhildsen, J. & Ernerudh, J. (2018). Immune profile in relation to sex steroid cyclicity in healthy women and women with multiple sclerosis. Journal of Reproductive Immunology, 1 (26), 53-59.
- Hellberg, S. , Eklund, D. , Gawel, D. R. , Köpsén, M. , Zhang, H. , Nestor, C. E. , Kockum, I. , Olsson, T. & et al. (2016). Dynamic Response Genes in CD4+ T Cells Reveal a Network of Interactive Proteins that Classifies Disease Activity in Multiple Sclerosis. Cell reports, 16 (11), 2928-2939.
- Gustafsson, M. , Gawel, D. R. , Alfredsson, L. , Baranzini, S. , Björkander, J. , Blomgran, R. , Hellberg, S. , Eklund, D. & et al. (2015). A validated gene regulatory network and GWAS identifies early regulators of T cell-associated diseases. Science Translational Medicine, 7 (313).
- Eklund, D. , Welin, A. , Andersson, H. , Verma, D. , Söderkvist, P. , Stendahl, O. , Särndahl, E. & Lerm, M. (2014). Human Gene Variants Linked to Enhanced NLRP3 Activity Limit Intramacrophage Growth of Mycobacterium tuberculosis. Journal of Infectious Diseases, 209 (5), 749-753.
- Eklund, D. , Persson, H. L. , Larsson, M. , Welin, A. , Idh, J. , Paues, J. , Fransson, S. , Stendahl, O. & et al. (2013). Vitamin D enhances IL-1β secretion and restricts growth of Mycobacterium tuberculosis in macrophages from TB patients. International journal of mycobacteriology, 2 (1), 18-25.
- Welin, A. , Eklund, D. , Stendahl, O. & Lerm, M. (2011). Human macrophages infected with a high burden of ESAT-6-expressing M. tuberculosis undergo caspase-1- and cathepsin B-independent necrosis. PLOS ONE, 6 (5).
- Eklund, D. , Welin, A. , Schön, T. , Stendahl, O. , Huygen, K. & Lerm, M. (2010). Validation of a medium-throughput method for evaluation of intracellular growth of Mycobacterium tuberculosis. Clinical and Vaccine Immunology, 17 (4), 513-517.
Books
- Hulldin, J. , Athlin, S. , Dahlberg, K. , Eklund, D. , Kosamo, E. & Pettersson, C. Hulldin, J. (ed.) , Athlin, S. (ed.) , Dahlberg, K. (ed.) , Eklund, D. (ed.) , Kosamo, E. (ed.) & Pettersson, C. (ed.) (2021). Örebro University’s Nobel Day Festivities: Book of abstracts, 2021. Örebro: Örebro universitet.
- Athlin, S. , Berglind, Å. , Dahlberg, K. , Ehnfors, C. , Eklund, D. , Hulldin, J. , Larsson, C. & Pettersson, C. Athlin, S. (ed.) , Berglind, Å. (ed.) , Dahlberg, K. (ed.) , Ehnfors, C. (ed.) , Eklund, D. (ed.) , Hulldin, J. (ed.) , Larsson, C. (ed.) & Pettersson, C. (ed.) (2020). Örebro University’s Nobel Day Festivities: Book of abstracts, 2020. Örebro: Örebro universitet.
- Athlin, S. , Berglind, Å. , Dahlberg, K. , Ehnfors, C. , Eklund, D. , Pettersson, C. , Rangel, I. , Rolland, A. & et al. Athlin, S. (ed.) , Berglind, Å. (ed.) , Dahlberg, K. (ed.) , Ehnfors, C. (ed.) , Eklund, D. (ed.) , Pettersson, C. (ed.) , Rangel, I. (ed.) , Rolland, A. (ed.) , Sirsjö, A. (ed.) & Venizelos, N. (ed.) (2019). Örebro University’s Nobel Day Festivities: Book of abstracts, 2019. Örebro: Örebro universitet.
Manuscripts
- Hylén, U. , Särndahl, E. , Bejerot, S. , Humble, M. B. , Hyötyläinen, T. , Eklund, D. & Salihovic, S. Elevated plasma levels of polyamines and kynurenines in individuals with psychiatric disorders.
- Allbrand, M. , Eklund, D. , Cao, Y. , Åman, J. , Nilsson, K. & Lodefalk, M. Gene expression of leptin, leptin receptor isoforms, and inflammatory cytokines in placentas of obese women : associations to birth weight and foetal sex.