Synnøve Magnussen
Job description
Associate professor.
Research group leader of the Tumour Biology Research Group.
My teaching mainly encompasses MBI-1105 - Basal Biochemistry for the Laboratory Medical Science students and MBI-3004 - The Biology of Cancer for the Masterstudents in Biomedicine. I also supervise Bachelor-, Master-, and PhD-students.
Error rendering component
Research interests
My research interests span tumour biology with a special emphasis on the tumour microenvironment and tumour immunology.
My research curiosity spans how we develop and maintain tolerance towards food and microbes and whether oral cancer can take advantage of these natural processes to enable cancer immune escape. The common belief is that our intestines are the main drivers of building tolerance towards ingested substances and microbes. My hypothesis is that the oral cavity also plays a part in the development of tolerance.
I am also involved in the multicenter research project; NORwegian Oral Cancer study (NOROC). In the NOROC study, we are searching for prognostic markers that can be implemented into clinical practice with the aim to improve treatment strategies for oral cancer patients.
Previous research experience spans extracellular matrix proteins, proteolytic enzymes, cancer invasion and metastasis in breast cancer and head and neck cancer.
Teaching
Today I mainly teach biochemitry (Bachelor) and Cancer Biology (Master) where I lecture, supervise and sensor exams:
Course leader, lecturer, supervisor and exam sensor in MBI-1105 Basal Biochemistry for the Medical Laboratory Sciences students (2023-)
Lecturer and exam sensor in MBI-3004 The Biology of Cancer for the Master in Biomedicine students (2018-)
I have been involved in teaching tasks since 2005, including student labs, collociums, seminars, exam sensoring (Bachelor-, Master-, and PhD students) and supervision; herein 2 Bachelors, 3 Masters and 4 current PhD students. I have experience as a course leader in MBI-3004 (2018-2020) and I currently mentor students attending the pedagogical course UNIPED-100.
Member of research group
Member of project
CV
2018- Research group leader for the Tumour Biology Research Group (TBRG), IMB, UiT
2022- Associate Professor in Biomedicine - TBRG, IMB, UiT
2022 - Research stay (3 mo) - Max Planck Institute/EIMI, Münster, Germany in Professor Friedemann Kiefers lab. Project: Oral mucous glands as facilitators of cancer immune escape
2018-2022 Researcher - TBRG, IMB, UiT. Project: High endothelial venules - master regulators of the immune infiltrate in oral cancer
2015-2016 Research stay (1 yr) - Biological Research Centre in Professor Istvan Krizbai’s lab, Szeged, Hungary. Project: Breast cancer brain metastasis
2015-2018 Post Doctoral Fellowship - TBRG, IMB, UiT. Project: The metastasis-promoting protein Nephronectin: distribution and mechanisms of action.
2011 - Research stay (1 mo) - Uppsala University, BMC, Sweden in Professor Staffan Johansson’s lab. Project: TIRF microscopy of adhering oral cancer cells
2009-2015 Doctoral Research Fellow (PhD) in Tumour Biology, supervisor Professor Gunbjørg Svineng. Project: Oral Squamous Cell Carcinoma – Role of the Plasmniogen Activation System in Tumour Progression