Cristina Al-Khalili Szigyarto

Cristina Al-Khalili Szigyarto is a professor in pre-clinical proteomics at the Department of Protein Science. She received her Ph.D. from the Department of Biochemistry, Stockholm University with specialization in intracellular proteolytic events. Following this she was awarded a fellowship by the Swedish Research Council to pursue postdoctoral research at Amsterdam University, focusing on gene regulation of gene expression analysis. Subsequently, she was recruited by the Royal Institute of Technology for the initiation of the Human Protein Atlas project, where she was involved in the development and production of antigens and validated antibodies as well as utilized these tools for proteomics studies. As scientific coordinator of the Human Protein Atlas she participated in numerous EU-FP7 projects including BIO-NMD, PRIMES, AFFINOMICS and CAGEKID, and developed methods for molecular characterization diseased human tissues within eg. cancer, muscular dystrophies, etc. Over the past decade, her work has centered on the development of biomarkers and patient-specific disease models to aid clinical management of life-threatening disorders caused by single-gene mutations. In collaboration with geneticists, pediatricians, neurologists, patient organizations and pharmaceutical companies, she has identified biomarkers to monitor disease progression and treatment outcomes. In addition, she is involved in creating patient-specific cell models for testing future therapies and development of personalized treatment regimes. Her overall research aim is to facilitate translation of these technologies into clinical practice. She currently is a member of the CBH school faculty board and the National SciLifelab Committee and serves as an advisor to the Duchenne Regulatory Science Consortium.