Teresa Frisan is a renowned biologist specialized in cell and molecular biology, focusing on bacterial genotoxins. She earned her bachelor’s degree in biology from the University of Trieste in 1991 in Italy. Two years later, in 1993, she joined Professor Maria Masucci’s group at Karolinska Institutet (KI) in Sweden, where she obtained her PhD in Cell and Tumor Biology in 1999. She complemented her PhD studies with two postdoctoral research fellowships at KI and Laval University in Quebec, Canada. Thereafter, she established her own research group at KI and was appointed docent in Infection Biology in 2007. In 2017, she became a Professor of Cell and Molecular Biology in the Department of Molecular Biology at Umeå University in Sweden. 

Professor Frisan’s research explores bacterial genotoxins, which cause DNA damage in host cells, examining their role in the context of acute and chronic infections. Her work bridges infection and cancer biology, shedding light on how toxin-induced DNA damage responses promote an anti-inflammatory response in the initial phase of the infection and assessing their tumorigenic potential in persistent infections.

In addition to her research, Professor Frisan is passionately engaged in undergraduate and doctoral education. She is the co-director of the Bachelor’s Programme in Life Science at Umeå University and teaches courses in animal physiology and immunology. She employs interactive teaching methods, such as role-playing games, to stimulate curiosity and active learning among her students. Her dedication to education has been recognized with several pedagogic awards.