Lung Cancer and Personalized MedicineThe general aim of my research is to identify novel biomarkers and targets for cancer therapy to improve the treatment of lung cancer. To accomplish this we are developing and applying advanced methods to study the lung cancer proteome in clinical samples (Nature Cancer 2021), as well as the effects of cancer therapy on cancer cells (MCP 2020, Oncogene 2019). By reading out the molecular response of cancer cells to different drugs in great detail we can identify the determinants of drug response or drug resistance, and use this information to suggest biomarkers and drug combinations for improved lung cancer therapy. Functional Proteomics and Systems BiologyThe expression, and functions of proteins in a cell is what determines the phenotype, i.e. the characteristics of the cell. For example the expression and functional activity of proteins in a cell will determine if a cell is cancerous or not, and whether a cancer cell is sensitive for a specific type of treatment. Proteomics is the large-scale study of proteins in biological systems. In our lab, we have developed a method, HiRIEF-LC-MS (Nature Methods 2014, Nature Communications 2018) that allows us to study more than 10 000 unique proteins and their regulation in response to treatment in a single experiment. The proteomics concept can be further developed into functional proteomics where the ambition is to also describe the functional state of proteins in large-scale experiments (Molecular Cell 2019, Nature Protocols 2022).Systems biology is the combination of different levels of biological information in order to see the full picture. The data included in our systems biology analysis is generated by various proteomics methods as well as transcriptomics methods (mRNA-level analysis) and genomics methods (DNA-level analysis). All this data is then used in concert to understand why the cancer cells from different tumors respond differently to cancer drugs. Ultimately this knowledge will help us tailor the best cancer therapy to each lung cancer patient with the ambition to cure him or her from the disease.