Fatty liver results from overweight and obesity and it is a common disease leading to cirrhosis and liver cancer. Stefano Romeo is investigating the genetic basis of the diseases to identify novel therapeutic strategies. Meet one of the new professors of Karolinska Institutet who will participate in this year's installation ceremony at Aula Medica on 9 October.
Text: Karin Tideström, for KI's installation ceremony booklet 2025
What are you researching?
"My research focuses on the human genetics driving liver disease, with a focus on metabolic dysfunction-associated steatotic liver disease (MASLD). This is a very common condition that can cause inflammation, scarring and may evolve to cirrhosis and liver cancer. However, not everyone develops serious liver damage and we are trying to figure out why. We are looking for genetic mutations that either increase or decrease the disease risk to understand how the genes affect the pathological process at a molecular level."
Why is your research field important?
"For several reasons. First of all, the more we know about the genetic basis of MASLD, the better able we'll be to predict who will fall seriously ill. This is called risk prediction. Secondly, by identifying gene mutations linked to the disease, we will have a better understanding of what drives the pathological process. And thirdly, we will be able to find new therapeutic targets. I was, for instance, the first to show in animal models that the prognosis can be improved by switching off an especially deleterious gene variant."
What do you eventually hope to achieve?
"My aim is to translate genetic knowledge into practical clinical use. We want to be able to offer the right treatment to the right person at the right time based on their genetic makeup - precision medicine, in other words. We also want to understand how gene variants affect not just the liver but also the risk of heart and kidney disease. This is fascinating research with a clear objective: to translate cutting-edge research into concrete and more precise therapies."
About Stefano Romeo
Professor of Clinical Diabetology at the Department of Medicine, Huddinge
Stefano Romeo was born in Rome, Italy, in 1976. He graduated in medicine at Rome's Campus Bio-Medico University in 2001, becoming a specialist in Endocrinology and Metabolic diseases in 2006. As a doctoral student, he researched at the University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center in Dallas, Texas, before going on to earn his PhD in 2009 from Sapienza University of Rome, Italy. He was senior lecturer in endocrinology at the University of Cambridge, UK between 2009 and 2011. In 2017, he was made professor at Gothenburg University and Senior Consultant at Sahlgrenska University Hospital. Stefano Romeo was appointed Professor at Karolinska Institutet on 1 September 2024.
