• Dr. Hani N. Alsafadi
  • Swedish Male Married (2 Children)
  • Revärgatan 5 LGH 1002, 254 23 Helsingborg, Sweden
  • Klinikgatan 26, 223 62 Lund, Sweden
  • +46(0)768722033 ● +46(0)46 222 9671
  • hani.alsafadi@med.lu.se ● hani.ns.safadi@gmail.com
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Summary

  • I am a dedicated researcher in the field of experimental medical sciences, specializing in lung bioengineering and regeneration. With extensive experience in developing advanced 3D culture models and cutting-edge techniques such as light-sheet microscopy and advanced bioinformatics, my research contributed significantly to the understanding of pulmonary diseases, particularly idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis. As a postdoctoral researcher at Lund University, I have successfully led research projects investigating the role of co-transcriptional regulators in lung epithelium and the extracellular matrix's impact on fibrotic processes. My work has been presented in numerous prestigious conferences and has been published in various high impact journals. I am dedicated to advancing the field through both innovative research and mentorship of young scientists.

Education

  • 08.2018 - 02.2023
    Lund University. Lund, Sweden
    Ph.D. in Medical Science. Thesis title: Role of the co-transcriptional regulators Yap/Taz in the normal and fibrotic lung epithelia
  • 09.2016 - 11.2017
    Comprehensive Pneumology Center (CPC). Munich, Germany
    Graduate Research School.
  • 08.2010 - 05.2014
    Earlham College. Richmond, IN, USA
    B.A. Biochemistry.
  • 08.2008 - 05.2010
    United World College of the Adriatic. Duino Aurisina, Trieste, Italy
    International Baccalaureate.

Current Position

  • 03.2023 - 03.2025
    Lund University. Lund, Sweden
    Post Doc. Department of Experimental Medical Sciences
    "Applying advanced bioinformatics and imaging techniques to study lung regeneration and fibrosis"

Grants, Awards and Honors

  • 2023
    The Physiographic Society of Lund Research Grant. Lund, Sweden
    Research Grant. (80.000 SEK)
  • 2021
    The Physiographic Society of Lund Research Grant. Lund, Sweden
    Research Grant. (50.000 SEK)
  • 2017
    CPC Graduate Research School. Munich, Germany
    Research Grant. (10.000 EUR; 100.000 SEK)
  • 2010 - 2014
    Davis United World College Scholarship. Richmond, IN, USA
    Scholarship. ( Full Scholarship. Approximately $50K/Year for 4 years)
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Publications

h-index: 12. i10-index: 13. Citations: 1427. (As of: 2024-09-11) Profile

  1. Ptasinski, Victoria; Monkley, Susan J; Öst, Karolina; Tammia, Markus; Alsafadi, Hani N; Overed-Sayer, Catherine; Hazon, Petra; Wagner, Darcy E; Murray, Lynne A; Modeling fibrotic alveolar transitional cells with pluripotent stem cell-derived alveolar organoids. Life Science Alliance 2023; 6(8):
  2. Nowakowska, Joanna; Olechnowicz, Anna; Langwiński, Wojciech; Koteluk, Oliwia; Lemańska, Żaneta; Jóźwiak, Kacper; Kamiński, Kacper; Łosiewski, Wojciech; Stegmayr, John; Wagner, Darcy; Alsafadi, Hani N; ...; Szczepankiewicz, Aleksandra; Increased expression of ORMDL3 in allergic asthma: a case control and in vitro study. Journal of Asthma 2023; 60(3): 458-467.
  3. Alsafadi, Hani N; Stegmayr, John; Ptasinski, Victoria; Silva, Iran; Mittendorfer, Margareta; Murray, Lynne A; Wagner, Darcy E; Simultaneous isolation of proximal and distal lung progenitor cells from individual mice using a 3D printed guide reduces proximal cell contamination of distal lung epithelial cell isolations. Stem Cell Reports 2022; 17(12): 2718-2731.
  4. Langwiński, Wojciech; Szczepankiewicz, Dawid; Narożna, Beata; Stegmayr, John; Wagner, Darcy; Alsafadi, Hani N; Lindstedt, Sandra; Stachowiak, Zuzanna; Nowakowska, Joanna; Skrzypski, Marek; Allergic inflammation in lungs and nasal epithelium of rat model is regulated by tissue-specific miRNA expression. Molecular Immunology 2022; 147: 115-125.
  5. Gerckens, Michael; Schorpp, Kenji; Pelizza, Francesco; Wögrath, Melanie; Reichau, Kora; Ma, Huilong; Dworsky, Armando-Marco; Sengupta, Arunima; Stoleriu, Mircea Gabriel; Heinzelmann, Katharina; ...; Alsafadi, Hani N; ...; Burgstaller, Gerald; Phenotypic drug screening in a human fibrosis model identified a novel class of antifibrotic therapeutics. Science advances 2021; 7(52): eabb3673.
  6. Goodwin, Amanda T; Karadoğan, Dilek; De Santis, Martina M; Alsafadi, Hani N; Hawthorne, Ian; Bradicich, Matteo; Siciliano, Matteo; Duyar, Sezgi Şahin; Targa, Adriano; Meszaros, Martina; Highlights of the ERS Lung Science Conference and Sleep and Breathing Conference 2021 and the new ECMC members. Breathe 2021; 17(3):
  7. De Santis, Martina M; Alsafadi, Hani N; Tas, Sinem; Bölükbas, Deniz A; Prithiviraj, Sujeethkumar; Da Silva, Iran AN; Mittendorfer, Margareta; Ota, Chiharu; Stegmayr, John; Daoud, Fatima; Extracellular‐matrix‐reinforced bioinks for 3D bioprinting human tissue. Advanced materials 2021; 33(3): 2005476.
  8. Stegmayr, John; Alsafadi, Hani N; Langwiński, Wojciech; Niroomand, Anna; Lindstedt, Sandra; Leigh, Nicholas D; Wagner, Darcy E; Isolation of high-yield and-quality RNA from human precision-cut lung slices for RNA-sequencing and computational integration with larger patient cohorts. American Journal of Physiology-Lung Cellular and Molecular Physiology 2021; 320(2): L232-L240.
  9. Conlon, Thomas M; John-Schuster, Gerrit; Heide, Danijela; Pfister, Dominik; Lehmann, Mareike; Hu, Yan; Ertuz, Zeynep; Lopez, Martin A; Ansari, Meshal; Strunz, Maximilian; ...; Alsafadi, Hani N; ...; Yildirim, Ali Önder; Inhibition of LT beta R signalling activates WNT-induced regeneration in lung (vol 588, pg 151, 2020). Nature 2020;
  10. Wagner, Darcy E; Ikonomou, Laertis; Gilpin, Sarah E; Magin, Chelsea M; Cruz, Fernanda; Greaney, Allison; Magnusson, Mattias; Chen, Ya-Wen; Davis, Brian; Vanuytsel, Kim; ...; Alsafadi, Hani N; ...; Ryan, Amy L; Stem cells, cell therapies, and bioengineering in lung biology and disease 2019. ERJ open research 2020; 6(4):
  11. Conlon, Thomas M; John-Schuster, Gerrit; Heide, Danijela; Pfister, Dominik; Lehmann, Mareike; Hu, Yan; Ertüz, Zeynep; Lopez, Martin A; Ansari, Meshal; Strunz, Maximilian; Inhibition of LTβR signalling activates WNT-induced regeneration in lung. Nature 2020; 588(7836): 151-156.
  12. Alsafadi, Hani N; Uhl, Franziska E; Pineda, Ricardo H; Bailey, Kolene E; Rojas, Mauricio; Wagner, Darcy E; Königshoff, Melanie; Applications and approaches for three-dimensional precision-cut lung slices. Disease modeling and drug discovery. American journal of respiratory cell and molecular biology 2020; 62(6): 681-691.
  13. Tas, Sinem; Bölükbas, Deniz A; Alsafadi, Hani N; Wagner, Darcy E; 3D printing of decellularised porcine lung ECM. 42nd Society for Biomaterials Annual Meeting and Exposition 2019: The Pinnacle of Biomaterials Innovation and Excellence 2019; 40: 962-962.
  14. Bölükbas, Deniz A; De Santis, Martina M; Alsafadi, Hani N; Doryab, Ali; Wagner, Darcy E; The preparation of decellularized mouse lung matrix scaffolds for analysis of lung regenerative cell potential. Mouse Cell Culture: Methods and Protocols 2019; 275-295.
  15. Gerckens, Michael; Alsafadi, Hani N; Wagner, Darcy E; Lindner, Michael; Burgstaller, Gerald; Königshoff, Melanie; Generation of human 3D lung tissue cultures (3D-LTCs) for disease modeling. JoVE (Journal of Visualized Experiments) 2019; e58437.
  16. Gerckens, Michael; Alsafadi, Hani N; Wagner, Darcy; Heinzelmann, Katharina; Schorpp, Kenji; Hadian, Kamyar; Lindner, Michael; Behr, Jürgen; Königshoff, Melanie; Eickelberg, Oliver; High-Throughput Drug Screening of ECM Deposition Inhibitors for Antifibrotic Drug Discovery. Pneumologie 2019; 73(2): A17.
  17. De Santis, M; Ota, C; Costa, R; Doryab, A; Alsafadi, H; Bolukbas, D; Konigshoff, M; Wagner, D; Development of a hybrid alginate-ECM hydrogel as a potential bioink for 3D bioprinting. 2018;
  18. Lehmann, Mareike; Buhl, Lara; Alsafadi, Hani N; Klee, Stephan; Hermann, Sarah; Mutze, Kathrin; Ota, Chiharu; Lindner, Michael; Behr, Jürgen; Hilgendorff, Anne; Differential effects of Nintedanib and Pirfenidone on lung alveolar epithelial cell function in ex vivo murine and human lung tissue cultures of pulmonary fibrosis. Respiratory research 2018; 19(1): 1-12.
  19. Ota, Chiharu; Ng-Blichfeldt, John-Poul; Korfei, Martina; Alsafadi, Hani N; Lehmann, Mareike; Skronska-Wasek, Wioletta; M. De Santis, Martina; Guenther, Andreas; Wagner, Darcy E; Königshoff, Melanie; Dynamic expression of HOPX in alveolar epithelial cells reflects injury and repair during the progression of pulmonary fibrosis. Scientific reports 2018; 8(1): 12983.
  20. Almendros, Isaac; Alsafadi, Hani N; Bölükbas, Deniz; Collins, Jennifer JP; Duch, Paula; Garrido-Martin, Eva M; Kahn, Nicolas; Karampitsakos, Theodoros; Persson, Irma Mahmutovic; Tzouvelekis, Argyrios; Early Career Members at the ERS Lung Science Conference: cell-matrix interactions in lung disease and regeneration: Early career forum. Breathe 2018; 14(2): e78-e83.
  21. Lehmann, Mareike; Korfei, Martina; Mutze, Kathrin; Klee, Stephan; Skronska-Wasek, Wioletta; Alsafadi, Hani N; Ota, Chiharu; Costa, Rita; Schiller, Herbert B; Lindner, Michael; Senolytic drugs target alveolar epithelial cell function and attenuate experimental lung fibrosis ex vivo. European Respiratory Journal 2017; 50(2):
  22. Alsafadi, Hani N; Staab-Weijnitz, Claudia A; Lehmann, Mareike; ... Wagner, Darcy E; An ex vivo model to induce early fibrosis-like changes in human precision-cut lung slices. American Journal of Physiology-Lung Cellular and Molecular Physiology 2017; 312(6): L896-L902.
  23. Skronska-Wasek, Wioletta; Mutze, Kathrin; Baarsma, Hoeke A; Bracke, Ken R; Alsafadi, Hani N; Lehmann, Mareike; Costa, Rita; Stornaiuolo, Mariano; Novellino, Ettore; Brusselle, Guy G; Reduced frizzled receptor 4 expression prevents WNT/β-catenin–driven alveolar lung repair in chronic obstructive pulmonary disease. American journal of respiratory and critical care medicine 2017; 196(2): 172-185.
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Select Research Experience

  • 03.2023 - current
    Lund University. Lund, Sweden
    Experimental Medical Sciences, Lung bioengineering and regeneration. Post-doc
  • 08.2018 - 02.2023
    Lund University. Lund, Sweden
    Experimental Medical Sciences, Lung bioengineering and regeneration. Doctoral Candidate
    "Role of the co-transcriptional regulators Yap/Taz in the normal and fibrotic lung epithelia"
  • 12.2017 - 08.2018
    Lund University. Lund, Sweden
    Experimental Medical Sciences, Lung bioengineering and regeneration. Research fellow
    "Exploration of the extracellular matrix role in idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis and utilization/optimization of ex vivo chronic lung disease models."
  • 11.2015 - 11.2017
    Helmholtz Zentrum Munchen. Munich, Germany
    Comprehensive Pneumology Center. Research Associate
    "Development of an ex vivo human model of idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis through the use of human precision-cut lung slices (PCLS)"
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Teaching Courses

  • 2023
    Perspectives on Learning. Lund, Sweden
    Lund University
  • 2023
    Research Supervision. Lund, Sweden
    Lund University

PhD (co)-Supervision

  • 2024
    Nika Gvazava. Lund, Sweden
    co-supervisor. Lund University
  • 2024
    Indra Putra Wendi. Lund, Sweden
    co-supervisor. Lund University

Select Research Supervision

  • 2024
    Henrik Schlemlein-Wenell. Sweden
    LTH Engineering Student
  • 2024
    Ida Palm. Sweden
    LTH Engineering Student
  • 2024
    Aleksandre Kublashvili. Georgia
    Bachelor Thesis
  • 2022
    Irene Urrecho. Spain
    Bachelor Thesis
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Selected Technical Trainees

  • 2022
    Irene Urrecho.
    Bachelor Student. CUT&RUN
  • 2021
    Roberta Battistella.
    PhD Student. qPCR
  • 2021
    Linda Decker.
    Master Student. qPCR
  • 2020
    Emil Rehnberg.
    Master Student. qPCR, Lyophilization
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Select Bioinformatics Skills

  • R / Rstudio.
    Statistics; Omics analysis and Integration; RNAseq; Single cell RNASeq; Data visualization using ggplot2 and plotly.
  • Python.
    Genomic analysis tools; Single Cell RNAseq; Data visualization with matplotlib and seaborn.
  • Bash/Unix.
    File manipulation and management.
  • IJMacro.
    Macro construction for automated image analysis.
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Select Research Skills

  • 3D culture models.
    PCLS, Lung organoids.
  • Advanced Microscopy techniques.
    Lightsheet microscopy, Confocal microscopy, SEM.
  • Primary cell isolation.
    Human and murine distal and proximal lung epithelial cells.
  • Development of in vitro assays.
    In vitro assay for studying matrix remodeling.

Select Conference Abstracts / Invited Talks

  • 2024
    LURN. Ystad, Sweden
    "inFLATION: INfusion of Fluorescent Labeled Antibodies in Tissue of Intact Org"
  • 2023
    SCC Conference. Lund, Sweden
    "inFLATION: INfusion of Fluorescent Labeled Antibodies in Tissue of Intact Org"
  • 2022
    European Molecular Imaging Meeting. Thessaloniki, Greece
    Oral Presentation
    "inFLATION: INfusion of Fluorescent Labeled Antibodies in Tissue of Intact Org"
  • 2021
    European Respiratory Society (ERS) Congress. Virtual,
    Poster Presentation. Published
    "3D printing aids simultaneous isolation of proximal and distal lung epithelial progenitors from individual mice"
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Contributions to conferences

  • 2023
    Stem Cell Conference. Ystad, Sweden
    Program App.
  • 2022
    Lund Respiratory Network (LURN). Ystad, Sweden
    Session Chair.
  • 2021
    Lung Science Conference (LSC). Virtual,
    Session Chair.
  • 2019
    Vermont Stem Cell Conference. Burlington, VA, USA
    Workshop Organizer.
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Select Leadership Roles

  • 2023 - 2024
    Co-hosted Next Gen Seminar Series (Stem cell center).
  • 12.2021 - 12.2022
    Lund University's Academic Appoint Board.
  • 2020 - 2021
    Co-organized the Swedish Bioinformatics Workshop 2021.
  • 2019
    Selected to represent the WCMM center at strategic meeting the KAW foundation and Wallenberg family representatives..
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Professional Certificates

  • 2019
    SciLife Labs and NBIS. Stockholm, Sweden
    Omics Integration and Systems Biology.
  • 2018
    RaukR 2018. Advanced R programming for Bioinformatics Summer School. Visby, Gotland, Sweden

Community Service/Outreach Activity

  • 2019
    Appeared on Swedish TV_SVT: Vetenskapens värld – Organ på.
  • 2019
    NMT days - WCMM research school outreach presentation.
    Organ 3D printing.

Languages

  • Native like
    English.
  • Native
    Arabic.
  • Proficient
    Italian.
  • Intermediate
    Swedish.

References

  • Dr. Darcy E. Wagner. Professor of Medicine and Biomedical Engineering at McGill University - Canada / Group Leader at Lund University - Sweden,
    darcy.wagner@med.lu.se / darcy.wagner@mcgill.ca.
  • Dr. Melanie Königshoff, MD, PhD. Professor of Medicine - Pulmonary - Allergy and Critical Care Medicine at University of Pitssburgh - USA,
    koenigshoffm@upmc.edu.
  • Dr. Anders Malmström. Professor emeritus - institute of Experimental Medical Sciences at Lund University - Sweden,
    anders.malmstrom@med.lu.se.
  • Dr. Gunilla Westergren-Thorsson. Professor of Lung Biology at Lund University - Sweden,
    gunilla.westergren-thorsson@med.lu.se.