Erna Magnúsdóttir Ph.D.
Associate Professor of Biomedical Science and Anatomy
Principal Investigator
Erna received her undegraduate degree in biochemistry from the University of Iceland in 1999. After working at deCode Genetics for two years she joined a doctoral program in Biological Sciences at Columbia University in New York City. There she studied transcriptional control of cell differentiation in the mouse epidermis and immune system, in the laboratory of Professor Kathryn Calame. She received the doctorate in 2007 for her thesis on the transcription factor Blimp1 in epidermal terminal differentiation. Erna then joined the group of Azim Surani at the Gurdon Institute at Cambridge University, to study the transcriptional contol of embryonic cell fate decisions, focusing on the the specification of mouse primordial germ cells. Erna joined the BioMedical Center at the University of Iceland in 2012 to conduct research into the transcriptional control of cell state transitions in health and disease.
Milan Pieter Paul De Putter, M.Sc.
Doctoral student
Milan studied Bio-Pharmaceutical Sciences at Leiden University in The Netherlands, where he received his B.Sc. degree in 2019 with a minor in Molecular Biotechnology and subsequently his 2021, where he worked on the isolation of exosomes using capillary isotachophoresis. He joined our group in the spring semester of 2022 to study chromatin and transcription factor dynamics in mouse primordial germ cell specification.
Stamatia-Maria Rapti, M.Sc.
Doctoral Student
Matina completed her bachelor's degree from the Faulty of Biology at the National and Kapodistrian University of Athens in 2008 and her M.Sc. degree in Molecular Medicine from the National and Kapodistrian University of Athens in 2014 where she worked on microRNAs in adenocarcinomas. She has extensive profenssional experience working in molecular diagnostics, as well as medical genetics and genomics research. Matina joined our group in the fall semester of 2021 and are interested in the transcriptional control of cell cycle regulation in Waldenström's macroglobulinaemia.
Vera Amanda Varis M.Sc.
Research Associate
Vera studied Physical and Life/Bioimedical Sciences at the University of Central Florida as well as studying Molecular Biosciences at the University of Helsinki obtaining her B.Sc degree in 2019. She subsequently moved on to her master's studies a the University of Helsinki, studying CMGC kinase substrates using mass spectrometry, defending her thesis in 2020. She has extensive experience in various areas of biomedical research working at Lund University, University of Earstern Finland as well as University of Iceland with Guðrún Valdimarsdóttir. Vera joined our group in October 2024 to adapt bone marrow organoid systems for the study of Waldenström Macroglobulinaemia.
Björgvin Ægir Elisson B.Sc.
Master's Student
Björgvin studied Computer Science at the University of Iceland graduating with their B.Sc. in the spring of 2022 after which they joined Deloitte Consulting as a Robotic Process Developer. They joined our group in the spring of 2025 for their Master's project in Computational Biology after spending a semester as an exchange student at the University of Melbourne. They are interested in the epigenetics of treatment resistance in Waldenstöm’s Macroglobulinemia.
Julia Suchecka B.Sc.
Master's Student
Julia completed her bachelor’s degree in Biomedical Science at the Univeristy of Iceland in the spring of 2024 after which she started her master’s studies spending a semester as an exchenge student at at NTNU in Trondheim. She joined our group in the spring semester of 2025 and is interested in epigenetic regulation of Waldenstöm’s Macroglobulinemia.
Group Alumni
Díana Ágústsdóttir - M.Sc. Biomedical Science 2024
Nikolas Lee Van Keersbilck - M.Sc. Computational Biology 2022
Žarko Urosevic - M.Sc. Biomedical Science 2022
Kimberley Anderson - Ph.D. Biomedical Science 2019
Salómon Christer - B.Sc. Biology 2019
Árný Björg Ósvaldsdóttir - M.Sc. Biomedical Science 2018
Peppi Kauppinen - B.Sc. Biomedical Science - Tampere University 2019
Guðrún Karlsdóttir - B.Sc. Medicine 2019
Birgit Atzinger - B.Sc. Molecular Biotechnology - FH Campus Wien 2017
Kristján Hólm Grétarsson - M.Sc. Biomedical Sciences 2016
Aðalheiður Elín Lárusdóttir - B.Sc. Medicine 2016