Matthias Löhr

Professor of Gastroenterology & Hepatology

Karolinska Institutet 

Matthias Löhr was appointed as the Professor of Gastroenterology & Hepatology at Karolinska Institutet in 2007, incoming from the Univ. Heidelberg/dkfz. From
the times of his MD thesis through PhD and lateron, he concentrated on several aspects of the pancreas, both in clinical medicine, translational and basic sciences. He is heading the Pancreas Research Team at the Dept. of Gastroenterology and leading the CancerResearchKI task force for HPB tumors where several close collaborations and projects are running across KI.

He served as the secretary general of the European Pancreatic Club (EPC). For the European Gastroenterologists (UEG), he was sitting in several committees at the EU in Brussels and served as the president of UEG 2024/25. He is a funding member of Pancreaticcancereurope.eu - a multistakeholder NGO to promote the awareness for pancreatic cancer, especially by taking patient representatives in. He received the Lifetime Achievement Award of the EPC.

Research is concentrated around the pancreas, all the way from clinical pancreatology in hereditary and autoimmune pancreatitis, chronic pancreatitis, biomarkers,
endoscopic therapy (ERCP) to function tests and early clinical studies in pancreatic cancer with novel therapeutic concepts. The translational and basic research is conducted in the lab (PaCaRes), lead by Rainer Heuchel, recently participating in a MSC program (PRECODE). In the lab, the research concentrates on the connective tissue reaction around pancreatic cancer and its role in chemoresistance. We developed a novel 3D model consisting of pancreatic cancer cells and stromal cells.

Starting with the EU project PANCAIM, he became interested in developing AI-based imaging for early detection of pancreatic cancer. He is also running the program for so-called "individual at risk", i.e. persons with a familiar and/or genetic predisposition to develop pancreatic cancer, joining CAPS and PRECEDE consortia.

The research was/is funded by ALF, VR, CF, RaHFo, Wallenius Stiftelsen, and others. Currently, a as well as the EU projects PANCAID, GUIDE.MRD for using liquid biopsy to detect early pancreqatic cancer.

Lecturing undergraduate, graduate and postgraduate on all aspect of the pancreas. As an interim director, he was responsible for the "Professional Development" at KI. He is also leading the Pancreas 2000 program, an educational program for future pancreatologists in Europe, now part of the European Pancreatic Club (EPC).

Updated: May 2026