Carolina Vogs

I am a (eco)toxicology researcher at the Department of Animal Biosciences (Section of Food Safety, Infection Biology, Pharmacology, and Toxicology). My background is in computational (eco)toxicology, specifically focusing on linking chemical exposure to adverse effects in experimental models and humans. 

My research interests relate to the understanding and modelling of toxicokinetic and toxicodynamic processes of chemicals. Toxicokinetics explain “how a chemical gets into a body and what happens to it in the body”, while toxicodynamics describe “what the chemical does to the body”. To this end, computational modeling aims to integrate realistic human exposures with measured effects in in vitro studies for an improved health risk assessment.

1. Human exposure and risk assessment

At SLU, I am working on the establishment of predictive tools that can be used for human exposure and risk assessment of chemicals in food and drinking water. Much focus currently lies on per- and polyfluorinated alkyl substances (PFAS), where we want to contribute to the question which PFAS levels in drinking water and food can be regarded as unconcerned from a health point-of-view. 

Projects are:

• DRICKS: A collaboration platform for drinking water research with the goal of contributing to a safer drinking water supply. (Organized by Chalmers).
• New practice for assessing and managing risks of undesirable chemical substances in water. (PI Ekatterina Sokolova, Water Wise Society , 2024 - 2025)
• Data-driven modeling of PFAA substances in serum as basis for setting limit values for drinking water and food (PI Carolina Vogs, Formas, 2024-2028)
• Effects of early life exposure to a cocktail of per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances on development in children (PI Carolina Vogs, specific activity in WP 6.2 within the EU-funded project PARC, 2023 - 2026)
• PFAS i animaliska livsmedel från förorenade områden (PI Anders Glynn, Naturvårdsverket, 2022 - 2024)
• Modeling of blood levels of PFAS in populations exposed to PFAS in drinking water (PI Anders Glynn, Naturvårdsverket, 2019 - 2021)

2. Hazard assessment

I am also affiliated at Karolinska Institutet to further investigate toxicity mechanisms of PFAS and other chemicals in zebrafish embryo.

Projects are

• Transcriptome analysis of the zebrafish embryo brain exposed to perfluorinated alkyl acid – Toward a better understanding of neurodevelopmental disorders (PI Carolina Vogs, Centre for Reproductive Biology, 2019)
• A combination of toxicokinetic and toxicodynamic studies of environmental pollutants in a zebrafish model (PI Kristian Dreij, IMM Strategic grant, 2018)

I am supervising master students in the physiologically based pharmacokinetic modelling course and zebrafish embryo laboratory course. I have further experiences as supervisor for bachelor and master students. Please contact me, if you are interested in conducting a thesis project.

PhD Supervision

Emelie Lindfeldt (since 2024): Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences. (Main-supervision)  

Jennifer Nyström-Kandola (2024): Per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) – unravelling exposure sources and demographical exposure patterns in a Swedish adolescent population. Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences. (Co-supervision)

Ioana C. Chelcea (2023): Computational methods for assessing chemical risk: focusing on toxicokinetic modelling in zebrafish (danio rerio). Umeå University. (Co-supervision).

2023 - Associate Professor in Predictive Toxicology, Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences

2015 - Ph.D. in Ecotoxicology, Helmholtz-Centre for Environmental Research/RWTH Aachen University

2009 - Diploma in Geoecology, Technical University of Braunschweig