Isabel Gonçalves

Short CV Isabel Gonçalves, female, born 1975

 

  1. Higher education qualification 1999, medical doctor, Lisbon, Portugal.
  2. Legitimation General internship (AT) Lisbon, July 2001. Swedish in Nov 2001
  3. Doctoral degree (PhD) 2004, Lund University, Sweden. Thesis “Assessing carotid plaque structure”.
  4. Docent/Associated Professor 2010, Lund University. University Lecturer 2013- 2016
  5. Specialist certification 2011, Cardiology specialist
  6. Postdoctoral positions Medical doctor, 50% of clinical work (ST, specialisation training in cardiology) and 50% research, Skåne University Hospital, Lund University, funded by ALF, Heart & Lung Foundation and Wallenberg foundation clinical grant.

 

  1. Present position: Professor (full) of Cardiology, since 2016 combined with clinical work as Senior Consultant of cardiology 30%, particularly in Cardiovascular Imaging, Skåne University Hospital. Research work 70%. Principal investigator for “Carotid Plaque Imaging Project (CPIP)” now “Atherosclerotic Plaque Imaging Project (APIP). Teacher of heart pathology (Pathobiology) for medical students, Lund University, Sweden. Previous board member of the Clinical Sciences Malmö, Medical Faculty. Fellow of the European Society of Cardiology (ESC). Responsible for the ESC translational corner monthly. One of the Editors in chief of ESC weekly newsletter. Communication Committee, Media Relations, ESC TV and chair-elected Atherosclerosis & Vascular Biology working group of the ESC.

 

  1. Previous positions and periods of appointment
  2. A) Clinical Practice

Sept 1995-99 – Voluntary work at the Vascular Surgery emergencies, Hospital de Santa Maria, Lisbon, Portugal. 1996-2001 – Part-time job at the Cardiovascular Institute of Lisbon, Lisbon, doing ultrasonography: cerebrovascular, venous and peripheral arteries.

Oct 1996 – Voluntary practice at Internal Medicine St Josefkrankenhaus, Heidelberg and

Sept 1997 – Voluntary practice at the Heart Surgery, University Hospital, Heidelberg, Germany.

July-Dec 2001 – Outpatient clinic Pediatrics, Hospital de Santa Maria, Lisbon, Portugal.

Since Sept 2002- Cardiology, University Hospital Malmö, Sweden.

Nov 2003 – 2011 – Residency at the Cardiology and Internal Medicine clinics, University Hospital Malmö, Sweden. Tutorship for medical students. After residency, employed as specialist in the same clinic.

 

  1. B) Research Activity

1995-99 – Free time voluntary in the Biochemistry Institute of the Medical Faculty of Lisbon: studies on erythrocytes and hemorheology.

1996-2001 – Participation in the ultrasonographic studies on cerebrovascular disease, Cardiovascular Institute Lisbon.

July-August 1997, December 1997 – Exchange program to research at the Atherosclerosis research group, at the Karolinska Institute, Stockholm: study on the VLDL effect on endothelial cells.

August 1998 – Research at the cardiovascular research group, Wallenberg Lab, Malmö University Hospital: studies on transcription factors and atherosclerosis.

August-December 1999 – Research at the cardiovascular research group, Wallenberg Lab, Malmö University Hospital: studies on human carotid plaque structure.

Since January 2002 – Continuation of the studies on human carotid plaque structure, at the cardiovascular research group, Wallenberg Lab, Malmö University Hospital.

Since June 2005 Research period (50% and 50% clinical work): Creation of the carotid plaque biobank in the south region of Sweden (Skåne). Start of “Carotid Plaque Imaging Project”.

Since June 2008, “ Malmö acute myocardial infarction in elderly”, Cardiology dept, SUS.

Since 2012, SCAPIS (Swedish CardioPulmonary bioImage Study), design of carotid ultrasound and MR. One of the responsible for coronary CT.

 

  1. Interruption in research: Parental leave Maternity leave 100 %, 29/3-30/9/2006; 50 % 1/1-31/7/2007. Research time deducted: 9,5 months. Clinical residency of 5 years.

 

  1. Previous 9 PhD students who defended their thesis and 8 ongoing PhD students

 

  1. Awards and other information of relevance
  2. Patents: Two patents filed PCT/SE2014/050679 and PCT/EP2022/0

67698; WO 2023/275030

  1. Awards
  • Knut och Alice Wallenberg Foundation Proof of Concept grant in Life Sciences 2024-25 (3 Million SEK)
  • 1st Prize Lund University and Sparbanken Skåne’s Future Innovations Award 2023 (150 000 SEK)
  • Novo Nordisk Pioneer Innovator Grant Health 2023 1Million DKK
  • Leducq Trans-Atlantic Network Excellence 7.5 million USD 2022 “Checkpoint Athero”
  • Minerva leadership award 2022 from the Future Faculty, Lund University
  • Grant from the ESC for the Women Transforming Leadership program at the Said Business School, Oxford University, UK in 2018, now Alumni
  • Grant of 15 million SEK from the Heart and Lung Foundation 2014 awarded by Prince Daniel, Sweden on the 16th June 2014, shared with Prof Jan Nilsson.
  • Best presentation of moderated poster (250 euros) European Society of Atherosclerosis congress in Glasgow, UK. 22-25th March 2015
  • Medeonprize 2015 (50 000SEK) for innovative strength in diabetes research (May 2015)
  • Prize for best project of a young researcher from the “Svenska läkaresällskapets” pris 2012.
  • Prize for the young, most successful researcher in Skåne 2010.
  • Ester Ohlsson’s Foundations prize for MD and atherosclerosis research at Skåne University Hospital Malmö, 2010.
  • Article of the month at the Lund University Medical Faculty, March 2010 “Dating Components of Human Atherosclerotic Plaques.” Circ Res. 2010;106:1174-1177.
  • Prize for oral presentation of poster in the Cardiovascular “vårmöte”, Sweden, 2008.
  • 1st Pfizer Prize for Young Researchers, “A sight into atherosclerosis: high definition ultrasonography on the evaluation of the arterial wall” 1997.
  • 1st Prize in the III Portuguese Scientific Meeting for Medical Students, “Interaction between Ethanol and the Erythocyte Membrane” 1996.
  • ALF “Yngre forskare” 1st 2005-07, 2nd 2008-10 and 3rdperiod, chose Marianne & Marcus Wallenberg “Forskarprogram för kliniskt verksamma läkare” instead. ALF project since -10. HLF project awarded since -10. Swedish Research Council VR grants awarded since -11.
  1. Interaction with the society/dissemination More than 50 participations in media (such as, interviews, public lectures, newspapers, magazines, brochures, homepages, you tube)

 

  1. Participation in more than 20 dissertation committees, national and international evaluation committees of scientific positions and grants (Karolinska, Denmark, France, Israel, Netherlands, UK, Switzerland, Spain, Portugal, Germany). Previous member, vice-chair & chair Swedish Research Council for infrastructures (vice-president Life Sciences and Humanities). Previous chair working group for translational cardiology, Swedish Cardiologists Association.

 

  1. Original articles 178, h-index Google Scholar 53, Scopus 38

 

 

Selection of 10 original articles

 

  1. Gonçalves I, Pan M, Singh P, Wang W Zhao J, Dib L, Sundius L, Persson A, Gialeli C, Fountas P, Nitulescu M, Nilsson J, Malin S, Monaco C, Jorgensen H, Sun J #, Edsfeldt A #. Spatial transcriptomics reveals key cell communications and a protective fibroblast-like VSMC phenotype associated with plaque stability in human advanced atherosclerosis. European Heart Journal 2026 Feb 13:ehaf1091. doi:https://doi.org/10.1093/eurheartj/ehaf1091
  2. Shami A, Sun J, Celander M, Persson A, Edsfeldt A, Bech M, Aurumskjöld ML†,Gonçalves I† Clinical photon-counting computed tomography in living patients detects intra-plaque haemorrhage and thrombus in carotid plaques. European Heart Journal 2025 Dec 8;46(46):5045-5048. doi: 10.1093/eurheartj/ehaf707.
  3. Larsson I*, Sun J*, Ahmad S, Bergström G, Carlhäll C-J, Cederlund K, Drake I, Engvall JE, Eriksson M, Hagström H, Jernberg T, Kero T, Lindmark K, Mannila M, Orho-Melander M, Rawshani A, Risérus U, Rosengren A, Ryberg M, Schmidt C, Sonestedt E, Wennberg M, Östgren CJ, Gonçalves I. Low-fiber diet is associated with high-risk coronary plaque features. Cardiovascular Research 2025 Jul 31;121(8):1204-1214. doi: 10.1093/cvr/cvaf088.
  4. Singh, P.*, Sun, J.*, Cavalera, M., Al Sharify, D., Matthes, F., Barghouth, M., Tengryd, C., Dunér, P., Persson, A., Sundius, L., Nitulescu, M., Bengtsson, E., Rattik, S., Engelbertsen, D., Orho-Melander, M., Nilsson, J., Monaco, C., Goncalves, I#., & Edsfeldt, A#. Dysregulation of MMP2-dependent TGF-ß2 activation impairs fibrous cap formation in type 2 diabetes associated atherosclerosis. Nature Communications 2024. 15(1), 10464. PMID: 39653743. doi:10.1038/s41467-024-50753-8
  5. Sun J, Singh P, Shami A, Kluza E, Pan M, Djordjevic D, Barascuk Michaelsen N, Kennbäck C, van der Wel, Orho-Melander M, Nilsson J, Formentini I, Conde-Knape K, Lutgens E, Edsfeldt A*, Gonçalves I*. Spatial Transcriptional Mapping Reveals Site-Specific Pathways Underlying Human Atherosclerotic Plaque Rupture. J Am Coll Cardiol. 2023, 13;81(23):2213-2227.
  6. Edsfeldt A, Singh P, Matthes F, Tengryd C, Cavalera M, Bengtsson E, Dunér P, Volkov P, Karadimou G, Gisterå A, Orho-Melander M, Nilsson J, Sun J, Gonçalves I. Transforming growth factor-β2 is associated with atherosclerotic plaque stability and lower risk for cardiovascular events. Cardiovascular Research. 2023 Sep 5;119(11):2061-2073. doi: 10.1093/cvr/cvad079.
  7. Tomas L, Edsfeldt A, Mollet I, Perisic-Matic L, Prehn C, Adamski J, Paulsson-Berne G, Hedin U, Nilsson J, Bengtsson, Gonçalves I*, Björkbacka H*. Altered metabolism distinguishes high-risk from stable carotid atherosclerotic plaques. European Heart Journal. 2018, Jun 21;39(24):2301-2310.
  8. Gonçalves I, Bengtsson E, Colhoun HM, Shore AC, Palombo C, Natali A, Edsfeldt A, Dunér P, Fredrikson GN, Björkbacka H, Östling G, Aizawa K, Casanova F, Persson M, Gooding K, Strain D, Kahn F, Looker HC, Adams F, Belch J, Pinnoli S, Venturi E, Kozakova M, Gan LM, Schnecke V, Nilsson J on behalf of the SUMMIT consortium. Elevated plasma levels of MMP-12 are associated with atherosclerotic burden and symptomatic cardiovascular disease in subjects with type 2 diabetes. Arterioscler Thromb Vasc Biol, 2015, Jul;35(7):1723-31.
  9. Gonçalves I, Edsfeldt A, Ko NY, Grufman H, Berg K, Björkbacka H, Nitulescu M, Persson A, Nilsson M, Prehn C, Adamski J, Nilsson J. Evidence supporting a key role of Lp-PLA2-generated lysophosphatidylcholine in human atherosclerotic plaque inflammation. Arterioscler, Thromb and Vasc Biology. 2012; Jun;32(6):1505-12
  10. Gonçalves I, Stenström K, Matsson S, Nitulescu M, Nilsson J. Dating components of human atherosclerotic plaques. Circulation Research. 2010; 106(6):1174-7.