Pernilla Wittung-Stafshede

Swedish biophysical chemist
Pernilla Wittung-Stafshede
Born (1968-08-31) August 31, 1968 (age 56)
Umeå, Sweden
NationalitySwedish
CitizenshipSwedish and American
Alma materChalmers University of Technology
Scientific career
FieldsBiochemistry, Biophysics, Chemistry
ThesisIntelligent nucleic acid interactions with peptide nucleic acids and in recombination proteins (1996)
Doctoral advisorBengt Nordén

Pernilla Wittung-Stafshede (maiden name Wittung) is a Swedish biophysical chemist, born in 1968, who is a professor of chemical biology at Chalmers University of Technology in Gothenburg. In 2019 she was named by International Union of Pure and Applied Chemistry as a Distinguished Woman in Chemistry.

Education

She received her Master of Science Degree in Engineering from Chalmers University of Technology and a doctorate at the same institution in 1996 in biophysical chemistry under Bengt Nordén,[1] with a thesis entitled Intelligent nucleic acid interactions with peptide nucleic acids and in recombination proteins.[2]

Employment

After her Ph.D., she worked for twelve years in the United States at the California Institute of Technology, Beckman Institute in Pasadena, California (1997–98), Tulane University in New Orleans, Louisiana[3] (1999-2003) and Rice University in Houston, Texas[4] (2004-2008).[5]

In 2008, she returned to Sweden to a professor position at Umeå University. Since September 2015, she has been a professor at Chalmers University of Technology and was the head of the Chemical Biology division. She leads a research group that focuses on the biophysical properties of proteins; both metal-transporting proteins and proteins that fold incorrectly and clump together. The research is basic science, but has links to diseases such as Alzheimer's, Parkinson's and cancer.[6]

In 2010, Pernilla Wittung-Stafshede was one of ten researchers in Sweden, appointed as a Wallenberg Scholar, receiving a grant awarded by the Knut and Alice Wallenberg Foundation that she has renewed several times (most recently in 2024).[7]

In 2017 she was elected a member of the council of Biophysical Society (BPS).[8] It was the second time ever for a Swedish scientist; the first one was Arne Engström 1960–1963.[9]

In 2020, she became a member of the Nobel Prize in Chemistry Committee, and since 2021 she is a council member for The Lindau Nobel Laureate Meetings.[10]

In 2019 she started Genie at Chalmers, a 300 MSEK gender equality initiative funded by the Chalmers Foundation and led it for four years.[11]

Awards and honors

Pernilla Wittung-Stafshede has received a number of awards and prizes. These include:

  • National Fresenius Award in 2003, awarded by the American Chemical Society Phi Lambda Upsilon to young eminent chemistry researchers.[12]
  • Göran Gustafsson Prize in Chemistry in 2009, awarded by the Göran Gustafsson Foundation and the Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences.[13]
  • Wallmark Prize in 2009, awarded by the Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences.[14]
  • STIAS fellow in 2013, awarded by the Stellenbosch Institute for Advanced Studies, South Africa.[15]
  • Svante Arrhenius plaque in 2016, awarded by the Swedish Chemical Society in collaboration with the Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences.[16]
  • Elected member of the Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences, 2016.[17]
  • Elected member of the Royal Society of Arts and Sciences in Gothenburg, 2016.[18][19]
  • 2016 International Union of Pure and Applied Chemistry Distinguished Woman in Chemistry[20]
  • Elected as a member, Academia Europaea, 2017 [21]
  • Gustav Dalén Medal, 2019[22]
  • Elected member Royal Swedish Academy Engineering Sciences, 2020[23]
  • Selected as Biophysical Society Fellow, 2022[24]
  • Selected as Honorary Fellow of the Royal Society of Chemistry (HonFRSC), 2024[25]

Bibliography

Pernilla has published over 260 scientific peer-reviewed articles since her first in 1994 (h index Google scholar 58, April 2024) and over 50 popular articles. Full list on her Orcid[26] or Scopus[27]

Personal life

Wittung-Stafshede is married to Patric Stafshede and they have two daughters, Selma and Hilda Stafshede.

References

  1. ^ "Chalmers University of Technology | Chalmers". www.chalmers.se. Retrieved 14 July 2017.
  2. ^ Wittung, Pernilla (1996). "Intelligent Nucleic Acid Interactions with Peptide Nucleic Acid (PNA) and Recombination Enzyme RecA". publications.lib.chalmers.se. Retrieved 7 March 2017.
  3. ^ "Tulane University - Protein Folding Unraveled". www2.tulane.edu. Retrieved 2017-07-17.
  4. ^ "Home Page". www.bioc.rice.edu. Archived from the original on 2005-12-18. Retrieved 2017-07-17.
  5. ^ "Pernilla Wittung-Stafshede new Head of Division of Chemical Biology". www.chalmers.se. Retrieved 2017-07-17.
  6. ^ "Pernilla Wittung Stafshede". www.chalmers.se. Retrieved 2017-07-17.
  7. ^ "Knut and Alice Wallenberg Foundation". Knut and Alice Wallenberg Foundation. Retrieved 2024-07-04.
  8. ^ "Biophysical Society Council 2017 Election Results" (PDF). Biophysical Society. Retrieved 15 August 2017.[dead link]
  9. ^ Society, Biophysical. "Past Council". www.biophysics.org. Retrieved 2017-08-15.
  10. ^ Royen, Ulrika (2018-08-14). "The Nobel Committee for Chemistry". NobelPrize.org. Retrieved 2024-07-04.
  11. ^ Karlsson, Robert (2020-03-09). ""Many people at Chalmers want to engage in gender equality"". Chalmers tekniska högskola. Retrieved 2024-07-04.
  12. ^ "National Fresenius Award". chemgroups.northwestern.edu. Retrieved 7 March 2017.
  13. ^ "Prizes and medals acknowledged during the Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences' 187:th annual meeting". Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences. Retrieved 7 March 2017.
  14. ^ "Prizes and medals acknowledged during the Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences' 187:th annual meeting". Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences. Retrieved 7 March 2017.
  15. ^ "Fellows". Stellenbosch Institute for Advanced Studies. Retrieved 7 March 2017.
  16. ^ "List of recipients". Swedish Chemical Society. Retrieved 7 March 2017.
  17. ^ "Pernilla Wittung Stafshede". Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences. Retrieved 7 March 2017.
  18. ^ "Wittung-Stafshede new member of KVVS". Chalmers University of Technology. Retrieved 7 March 2017.
  19. ^ "Fellows". Royal Society of Arts and Sciences in Gothenburg. Archived from the original on 6 May 2013. Retrieved 7 March 2017.
  20. ^ "IUPAC Distinguished Women in Chemistry or Chemical Engineering" (PDF).
  21. ^ Hasani, Ilire; Hoffmann, Robert. "Academy of Europe: Wittung Stafshede Pernilla". Academy of Europe. Retrieved 2024-07-04.
  22. ^ "Gustaf Dalén". Chalmersska Ingenjörsföreningen (in Swedish). Retrieved 2024-07-04.
  23. ^ "Ledamot". IVA (in Swedish). 2023-05-03. Retrieved 2024-07-04.
  24. ^ "Biophysical Society Award to Chalmers Professor". Chalmers tekniska högskola. 2021-11-09. Retrieved 2024-07-04.
  25. ^ Lindh, Susanne Nilsson (2024-04-23). "Chalmers Professor new Honorary Fellow of the Royal Society of Chemistry". Chalmers tekniska högskola. Retrieved 2024-07-04.
  26. ^ "ORCID". ORCID. 2024-07-08. Retrieved 2024-07-18.
  27. ^ ID, Author(s). "Wittung-Stafshede, Pernilla". Scopus. Retrieved 2024-07-18. {{cite web}}: |first= has generic name (help)
  • Pernilla Wittung-Stafshede’s personal page on Chalmers website
  • Publications registered for Pernilla Wittung in Chalmers Publication Database, CPL (1994-1997)
  • Publications registered for Pernilla Wittung-Stafshede in the Chalmers Publication Database, CPL (1998-now)
  • Chemical Biology, division in the Biology and Biological Engineering department at Chalmers University of Technology
  • Wittung-Stafshede’s Protein Biophysics Lab, Chalmers University of Technology
  • Pernilla Wittung-Stafshede publications indexed by Google Scholar
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