Andreas Bergdahl, PhD

Dr Bergdahl joined Concordia University in July 2009 after having spent 3 years at the Department of Anatomy and Cell Biology, McGill University, as a postdoctoral fellow. Prior to this he held his first post doctoral fellowship at the August Krogh Institute, University of Copenhagen (Denmark), where he also taught in the Department of Cell Biology. He received a PhD in Medical Physiology from Lund University (Sweden) and has a strong background in molecular biology and protein chemistry after studies at the Lund Institute of Technology, Lund University (MSc., Chemical Engineering).

Education

PhD (Lund University), MSc (Lund University)

Research interests

The main research interests in Dr Bergdahl’s lab lies in studies of the blood vessel wall with a focus on understanding this system during physiologically stressful situations like exercise as well as pathophysiological conditions. The differentiation and functional properties of smooth muscle cells depend on the cellular environment, and any disturbance of this, such as endothelial damage, inflammation or lipid retention will lead to reactions that can initiate atherosclerotic lesions. Dr Bergdahl study mechanisms involved in these processes by using state-of-the-art techniques including electrophysiology, isometric force measurements, functional proteomics, molecular genetics and advanced imaging. The overriding goal is to define conditions that are essential for the normal function and cell differentiation in the vascular wall and to translate these findings from the basic understanding and experimental animal research into clinical understanding of integrative cardiovascular control in health and disease. This is hoped to generate new therapeutic approaches which in the future might lead to better prevention of vascular disease.

Selected publications

Mondragon P & Bergdahl A. Metallothionein Expression in Slow vs. Fast Muscle Fibers Following 4weeks of Streptozotocin Induced Type I Diabetes. FACETS Journal 2018 3: 315-325.

Reguis Yadao DR*, MacKenzie S& Bergdahl A. Reducingbranched-chainamino acid intake to reverse metabolic complications in obesityand type 2 diabetes. J Physiol. 2018; 596(16):3455-3456.

Scheede-Bergdahl C & Bergdahl A. Adaptation of mitochondrial expression and ATP productionin dedifferentiating vascular smooth muscle cells. Can J Physiol Pharmacol. 2017;95(12):1473-1479.

Bouganim S & Bergdahl A. Constructing an inexpensive and versatile homemade rodent treadmill. LabAnimal 2017 46:67-68.

Koury OH & Bergdahl A. Poor cardiovascular risk profile following a vegan diet. British Journal of Medicine and MedicalResearch. 2016 13: 1-4.

Carnevale ML & Bergdahl A. Study of the anti-angiogenic effects of cardiolipin bythe aortic ring assay. Canadian Journalof Physiology and Pharmacology. 2015 Nov; 93(11): 1015-1019.

Larsen S, Scheede-Bergdahl C, Whitesell T, Boushel R& Bergdahl A. Increasedintrinsic mitochondrial respiratory capacity in skeletal muscle from rats withstreptozotocin-induced hyperglycemia. PhysiologicalReports. 2015 Jul; 3(7)

Rocha C, Scheede-Bergdahl C, Whitesell T & Bergdahl A. Implications ofApolipoprotein E Deficiency on Cardiac Mitochondrial Oxygen Consumption in aYoung Mouse Model. European Journal ofCardiovascular Medicine. 2014 Vol 3(1): 394-400