Jonas Nilsson trained as molecular biologist at Umeå University, Sweden, and as a tumor biologist as a postdoc at St Jude Children’s Research Hospital, Memphis, TN. After returning to Sweden he started a lab at his alma mater before moving to Gothenburg where he founded the Sahlgrenska Translational Melanoma Group together with clinicans at the Sahlgrenska University Hospital. The group aims to identify new treatment options for melanoma patients based on translational and clinical research, with a special interest on immunotherapy resistant melanoma including uveal melanoma. Focus lies on understanding the genetics of the disease (Fredriksson et al., Nature Genetics 2014; Karlsson et al., Nature Communications 2020) and creating humanized animal models of melanoma (PDX) for use in translational research (Einarsdottir et al., Oncotarget 2014; Gad et al., Nature 2014; Xue et al., Nature Medicine 2107; Jespersen/Lindberg et al., Nature Communications 2017; Nilsson et al., Nature, 2018; Forsberg et al., Cancer Research 2019; Ny et al., Annals of Oncol 2020). Focus of the group is also on investigator-initiated clinical trials where Dr Nilsson currently manages the translational effort of the SCANDIUM, the PEMDAC (Ny/Jespersen et al., Nature Communications, 2021) and the HAI-TIL clinical trials for uveal melanoma patients. Overall, Dr Nilsson has authored over 80 publications many of which in leading journals. He was a Fellow of the Swedish Cancer Society from 2007-2020 during which he became Full Professor in Experimental Cancer Surgery 2015. He was the Director of Sahlgrenska Cancer Center from 2018. Recently he accepted a position as the Inaugural Chair of Melanoma Discovery at the Harry Perkins Institute of Medical Research. He relocated to Perth and is building a multidisciplinary translational research group that integrates the clinical Western Australia Kirkbride Melanoma Advisory Service (WAKMAS).
