Annette Sköld Email & Phone Number

Solna

As a member of the In Vitro Pharmacology department at Affibody AB, I am responsible for developing and performing cell based assays crucial for optimizing the company's unique Affibody molecules to become the next generation biological drugs on the market. My main focus is method development, in particular immunoassays, and to use these methods to advance ongoing projects within the company. This additionally involves data processing and management, results documentation, and presentation of the end conclusions.The charm with working at a small but growing biotech company is to be involved in the whole process, from idea to clinical study, and to learn the various requirements at the different stages in biological drug development.

Stockholm, Sweden

I started as a consultant scientist at the In Vitro Pharmacology department at Affibody AB, a biopharma company in Solna that are developing their novel Affibody constructs for clinical use in various fields. I enjoyed my work very much and this position have transitioned to a permanent position at the company.

Stockholm, Sweden

I worked as a consultant scientist at the immunology department of the research biopharma company BioArctic. My main task was to develop monoclonal antibodies using the hybridoma technique, involving cell culture, large scale ELISA screenings, and additional immunoassays. In addition, I used my previous method knowledge to set up several new assays to screen the antibodies I had purified.

Stockholm, Sweden

At Stockholm University, I focused on how single-stranded oligonucleotides affect antigen uptake and presentation. Modulation of antigen presentation can be benificial in a variety of immunotherapeutic approaches, such as cancer vaccination or tollerance induction. Skills that I have acquired during this position are:- Management skills: Stepping up from the postdoc role towards being part of the advisory group, supervising junior lab members on project management and development.- Advisory skills: Evaluating project development by appearing in student half-time committees.- Lab skills: Immunofluorescent microscopy, with experience of confocal systems, wide-field, and TIRF

Tumor Immunology Lab

During my postdoc time at Department of Tumor Immunology, Radboudumc, I changed field from my PhD studies by shifting my focus from infectious diseases towards oncology, while keeping my basis in immunology. This has broadened my knowledge in immunology in general and in dendritic cell biology in particular. The key skills I have learned or improved during this position are:- Development skills: To bring a concept from idea, to publication and actual clinical usage (PMID: 26275446, ClinicalTrials.gov Identifier: NCT02574377)- Management skills: To develop relevant student research projects and successfully tutor the students through them- Lab skills: Various techniques for isolation of rare blood cell populations (magnetic and non-magnetic bead-based, FACS-sorting) - Lab skills: Various techniques, such as multicolor flow cytometry, dynamic light scattering approaches, mRNA production and isolation. For more detailed info, please see skills section- Lab skills: To use conventional laborative methods in unconventional ways to solve various research questions- Personal development: To be an expat and all the challenges one is facing being a stranger in a country where you don’t speak the language

Stockholm, Sweden

During my PhD at Karolinska Institutet, I studied novel mechanisms of modulating monocytes-derived DC (moDC) responses to varying stimuli in a context of HIV infection. Our aim was to develop a therapeutic HIV vaccine, based on autologous cells and HIV strain. Briefly, activated HIV-infected T cells were irradiated and given to moDCs, which efficiently matured and induced strong T cell effector responses. I investigated the underlying mechanism by which the activated, apoptotic cells induced this maturation, and concluded that it was a multifaceted mechanism, involving DC-SIGN, TLR4, CD18, and TNF-α. My main finding was related to TLR signaling, where I demonstrated that single-stranded DNA oligonucleotides inhibit uptake and function of the TLR3 ligand polyI:C. This is not limited to moDCs, as I could also demonstrate it in non-hematopoetic cell lines and in vivo in macaques. Further investigations based on this finding are still ongoing. It has clinical implications for TLR3-mediated immunopathology, and also provides important information for the development of new immunostimulatory adjuvants, specifically when the combination of several TLR ligands is used to induce more potent responses. The skills and knowledge I earned as a PhD student does not only involve performing inovative research, but to a large extent also project managment skills, computor and data processing skills, and writing and presentation skills etc.

Phd, Immunology

Master'S Degree, Biomedicine