Sara Windahl

Sara Windahl

Assistant Senior Lecturer
Visiting address: Alfred Nobels allé 8, plan 8, 14152 Huddinge
Postal address: H5 Laboratoriemedicin, H5 Patologi Windahl, 141 52 Huddinge
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About me

  • I received my PhD from the Karolinska Institutet in 2001, where I studied the
    role of estrogen receptor beta in bone maintenance, using a knockout mouse
    approach. During 2002-2004, I completed a post-doctoral fellowship in the group of
    Dr. Roland Baron at the Yale University School of Medicine, USA, where I
    investigated the effects of a proposed new treatment for osteoporosis. Upon
    my return to Sweden (2015-2017), I studied the importance of estrogen
    receptor alpha for bone development and function at Sahlgrenska Academy
    at the University of Gothenburg. During 2014-2016, I investigated the effect
    of loading and osteoporosis drugs on bone at the University of Bristol, UK. I was
    recruited to the Karolinska Institutet in 2018.

Research

  • *The health concern*
    Osteoporosis-related fractures constitute a major health concern and result
    in a huge economic burden on health care systems and much suffering to the
    patients.
    *The current focus* of the research in my group is on understanding the
    mechanisms for the bone strengthening effects of mechanical loading on bone.
    You can read more about it here: https://ki.se/en/labmed/research-group-sara-windahl
    *The long-term goal* is that these studies will increase our understanding of
    how bone strength can be increased through loading, and that this will
    facilitate the development of more specific and safe treatments for
    osteoporosis
    ORCID: 0000-0002-6611-6001

Teaching

  • Currently, I am responsible for the teaching at the division of pathology, department of laboratory medicine. I am also the course director for the course advanced pathophysiology given at the Magister program for biomedical scientists at Karolinska Institutet. I am responsible for our new assignment training program in Histotechniqe, where I am also the course director for the course Patophysiology including histology.
    I have experience in developing and coordinating new courses in molecular biology, bone biology, tissue biology, pathology and pathophysiology. I havealso supervised students at undergraduate, graduate and post-doctoral levels. In addition, I have participated in development of a computer based program used at the Bachelor program in Biomedicine to teach immunohistochemistry and planning of a laboratory experiment.

Articles

All other publications

Grants

  • Osteogenic effects of loading during treatment with anti-inflammatory drugs
    Ebbe och Lena Krooks donation for osteoporosis 2025
    1 January 2026 - 31 December 2026
  • Investigating TRAP/ACP5 as a molecular regulator of sex-differentiated skeletal growth and immune function
    Karolinska Institutet
    1 January 2026 - 31 December 2028

Employments

  • Assistant Senior Lecturer, Department of Laboratory Medicine, Karolinska Institutet, 2022-

Degrees and Education

  • Doctor Of Philosophy, Department of Biosciences and Nutrition, Karolinska Institutet, 2001

Supervision

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