Rate My Professor Per O. Ljungdahl

Per O. Ljungdahl is Professor in Cell Biology at Stockholm University, affiliated with the Department of Molecular Biosciences, The Wenner-Gren Institute, and serves as Director of SciLifeLab Campus Solna. His research group, located at SciLifeLab Campus Solna, investigates the metabolic and spatio-temporal determinants of fungal virulence in opportunistic pathogens such as Candida albicans and Candida auris. Key focuses include proline catabolism, which provides energy for filamentation and tissue invasion, mitochondrial processes critical for fungal survival, and host-pathogen interactions visualized through intravital 2-photon microscopy, STED microscopy, and spatio-transcriptomic analysis. Ljungdahl's work has revealed that proline metabolism, derived from host collagen, is essential for Candida virulence in kidney infections, with strains lacking proline catabolic enzymes exhibiting reduced hyphal formation and invasiveness.

Ljungdahl's distinguished career includes leadership as Chair of the Department of Molecular Biosciences, The Wenner-Gren Institute from 2013 to 2019, and Director of the Wenner-Gren Institute for Experimental Biology from 2010 to 2013, both at Stockholm University. Earlier positions encompass research at the Ludwig Institute for Cancer Research from 1996 to 2007 and a postdoctoral fellowship at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology from 1990 to 1993. His seminal contributions to yeast nutrient sensing and transport include identifying SHR3 as a novel secretory pathway component required for amino acid permease localization (1992) and co-authoring a comprehensive review on regulation of amino acid, nucleotide, and phosphate metabolism in Saccharomyces cerevisiae (2012). Other notable publications are Mitochondrial proline catabolism activates Ras1/cAMP/PKA-induced filamentation in Candida albicans (2019), Proline catabolism is a key factor facilitating Candida albicans kidney infections (2023), and The histone chaperone HIR maintains chromatin states to control nitrogen assimilation and fungal virulence (2021). With over 7,800 citations, his research has profoundly impacted cell biology and fungal pathogenesis studies. Ljungdahl has secured funding from the Swedish Research Council, including a Medicine grant in 2022.