About the Department of Anatomy, Physiology and Biochemistry

Last changed: 22 August 2023

We perform research, teach and inform about animal structure and function in health, stress, disease and production, from molecular mechanisms to whole animals.

The Department of Anatomy, Physiology and Biochemistry (AFB) is located in VHC and consists of Section of Anatomy, Physiology and Biochemistry and the Equine Science Unit. The department have around 50 employees and the turnover is around 60 million SKr per year.

Do not hesitate to contact us. You can find our most important addresses here.

Research and teaching

We conduct research and research education in a number of areas from molecular and cellular mechanisms to whole animal structure and function, and how they are affected by physical exercise, production, stress, diseases, management and environmental factors. We work with food producing animals, sports and companion animals, laboratory animals and insects. Our research deals with e.g:

  • The body's ability to maintain functional equilibrium
  • Reproductive and tumor biology
  • Inflammation
  • Stress
  • Exercise physiology
  • Biomechanics and the function of the circulatory organs
  • Artificial spider silk

The department has a large responsibility in undergraduate education at SLU and teach the basic subjects anatomy, histology, physiology and biochemistry on veterinary- veterinary nursing and animal science programs, including several bachelor programs and independent courses. We have a small herd of goats where our students can study live animals and we can run horses on a treadmill. We also have a small experimental population of crickets.

Further reading about our education can be found here.

We care about the environment

The department AFB is located in the VHC building, which has been certified according to ISO 14001 since 2016. This means that we protect the environment in a number of different ways, for example by:

  • Energy-saving measures are applied on our premises and we encourage a reduction in paper printing and copying.
  • In our laboratories, we use chemicals that are safe for humans. We are careful about the routines for laboratory work, waste management and how to best comply with current environmental laws.
  • Within procured agreements, we choose suppliers who are environmentally certified.
  • We reduce our CO2 emissions by coordinating purchases and prioritizing environmentally friendly means of transport for business trips. In addition, our department car runs on biogases.

If you are interested in our environmental work - there is more to read here.


Contact

anna-jansson-scientist     Anna Jansson, Hed of department, Professor

     Department of Anatomy, Physiology and Biochemistry

     anna.jansson@slu.se, 018-67 21 06