The Team

Catharina Hagerling is an associate professor and principal investigator, leading a dynamic group of PhD students and collaborators working at the intersection of clinical pathology and molecular biology. Her research program focuses on understanding and targeting metastatic cancer in both children and adults, with the overarching goal of developing metastasis site–specific therapeutic strategies. By integrating spatial multiomics, patient-derived xenograft models, and deep learning approaches, her group aims to uncover novel vulnerabilities in metastatic cancer and translate these findings into clinical advances. This work has been recognized with major awards, including the Swedish Society for Medical Research Starting Grant, VR Starting Grant, and Årets Barncancerforskare (Childhood Cancer Researcher of the Year, 2024), and the Translational Prize from the Swedish Medical Society.

Her international experience as a postdoctoral fellow at the University of California, San Francisco, in Professor Zena Werb's laboratory, gave her a strong foundation in tumor immunology and metastasis research, and it continues to inform her collaborative approach. Today, she maintains active national and international collaborations across Sweden, Europe, and the U.S., and has published in high-impact journals, including Cell, Nature Communications, and PNAS.