Johan Björkegren investigates the causes of cardiovascular disease in complex gene-regulatory networks, rather than in individual risk factors. Meet one of the new professors of Karolinska Institutet who will participate in this year’s installation ceremony at Aula Medica on 8 October.
Text: Karin Tideström, for KI’s installation ceremony booklet 2026
Cardiovascular disease is still one of the most common causes of death globally. Despite current knowledge about risk factors like cholesterol and inflammation, many questions still remain on how atherosclerosis actually arises. Johan Björkegren is seeking answers by studying the ‘big picture’ of the human body.
Photo: Erik Flyg
“It’s not enough to look at one gene at a time; we need to understand how the whole system interacts,” he says.
Using the genetic STARNET study, his research group has analysed genetic data from thousands of patients. The results show that atherosclerosis is caused by disruptions in complex genetic networks linking metabolism and the immune system.
Their ultimate goal is to develop tomorrow’s precision medicine. By understanding each patient’s unique molecular profile, they hope to improve diagnostic tools and find treatments that not only slow down but also reverse the course of the disease.
“Eventually, a simple blood test will be able to reveal subtle disorders long before symptoms appear.”
About Johan Björkegren
Professor of Systems Medicine at the Department of Medicine, Huddinge as of 1 January 2026
Johan Björkegren was born in Stockholm in 1965. He received his medical degree from Karolinska Institutet in 1995, earning his PhD in 1998. After his postdoc training at the Gladstone Institute of Cardiovascular Disease at the University of California, San Francisco, he returned to Karolinska Institutet in 2003 and was made docent of molecular medicine. He was appointed professor of genetics and genomics at the Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai in New York, USA, in 2012.
