Søren Nielsen appointed Associate Professor at the Department of Biomedical Sciences

Søren’s primary research focus is to investigate how RNA – without being translated into protein – can regulate metabolic processes. This occurs through direct interactions between long non-coding RNAs and proteins or organelles, as well as through the ways in which chemical modifications of RNA can influence translation efficiency and binding affinity to other proteins or cellular structures. The work primarily centers on human cell models.

Current research focus

The current focus of Søren’s research group is to reannotate the human adipocyte transcriptome in human white and brown adipocytes - both at the transcript level and with regard to RNA modifications. The aim is to link these findings to metabolic processes and investigate whether they are dysregulated in individuals with cardiometabolic disease. Long non-coding RNAs regulate many metabolic processes in humans.

Read more about how a human-specific long non-coding RNA functions as a bridge between mitochondria and lipid droplets in human brown adipocytes in this Nature Metabolism publication, where Søren is senior author: https://www.nature.com/articles/s42255-020-0205-x 

In addition, Søren’s research group works with adipose tissue from brown bears, which have evolved unique adaptations of their fat tissue - allowing them to produce satiety hormones in white adipose tissue during hibernation.

Søren Nielsen’s group will join the BMI division Translational Metabolism.

Søren Nielsen on the appointment:

“I am very excited to join BMI and for the many opportunities for collaboration with new research areas that I have not previously worked with or considered.”

Søren holds a degree in Biology from the University of Copenhagen, where he worked with microRNA during both his MSc thesis and PhD. His research has focused on how skeletal muscle changes its expression of miRNA in response to exercise, and he has also contributed to the development of methods to detect circulating miRNA in blood during physical activity.