Meet Our Team
We are looking to recruit bioinformaticians and microbiologists. Please send us an inquiry if you would like to join us on our chase of human gut bacteria
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Masters students are welcome to contact us for thesis work! We will be happy to include you in our ongoing projects or develop tailored ones!
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PhD and Postdoc candidates are invited to get in touch to discuss the possibility to join us with either the group's funding or to apply for independent funding!
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Expecting a PhD soon? check this super cool postdoc call:https://www.scilifelab.se/research/pulse/
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Chinmay Dwibedi, PhD
MiMS Group leader & DDLS fellow in Biology of infection
Chinmay received his PhD in microbial genomics from Umeå University working with Francisella tularensis, Acenatobacter baumanii and Staphylococcus epidermidis. The PhD studies were conducted at the Swedish Defence Research Agency [FOI] under the mentorship of Prof. Anders Johansson [UmU], Dr. Pär Larsson and several senior scientists & Bioinformaticians at FOI.
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Chinmay then worked as a postdoctoral researcher at Gothenburg University with Prof. Fredrik Bäckhed and Prof. Anders Rosengren. In his postdoc he contributed towards the development of a next-generation probiotics involving Facalibacterium prausnitzii and Desulfovibrio piger. In other studies, he combined gut microbiota with human pathophysiology to develop tailored treatment therapies for prediabetes and type 2 diabetes. He also worked on the genomic characterisation of several novel gut bacteria strains!
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In his free time, he likes to spend time with his family, travel and play badminton!
Deep Chanda, PhD
Postdoctoral research fellow [Kempe], Starting May 9th 2025
Deep earned his PhD in Biotechnology from the National Institute of Technology Durgapur, in India. where he explored obesity-associated gut microbial signatures and their host interactions using metagenomics and systems biology approaches. His doctoral research, supported by a CSIR fellowship, combined multi-omics data analysis with computational modeling to uncover microbiome-driven functional shifts in metabolic disorders.
He recently authored articles in "Gut Microbes" and a network-based drug repurposing strategy in "Genes & Diseases". During his research career, Deep has expertise in bioinformatics, gut microbiome data science, NGS pipelines, and computational systems biology. His work has earned him multiple awards for scientific presentations at international forums.
Outside the lab, Deep enjoys listening to music, spending time with his family, and hanging out with close friends. He also has a keen interest in playing and watching cricket.
Annika Gärdén [DDLS]
PhD student
Annika received her Master’s degree in Civil Engineering in Biotechnology from Umeå University. Her studies have given her a broad range of knowledge in microbiology and genetics . Towards the end of her studies, she focused further on bioinformatics and gained additional knowledge in programming and statistics.
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She did her Master thesis on bacterial single nucleotide detection methods and subsequent construction of time-scaled phylogenies using a strain of Salmonella enterica.
Now, she is exploring metagenomics data analysis and the infant gut microbiota in depth. She will specifically focus on the early development of the gut microbiota utilizing data from a birth cohort in Umeå.
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During her free time, Annika likes to read and go out in nature – especially for birdwatching.
Chetan Sharaf [DDLS]
PhD student
Chetan completed his Bachelor's in Mechanical Engineering from Vellore Institute of Technology and his Master's in Computer Science from the Indraprastha Institute of Information Technology (IIIT Delhi). During his time at IIIT Delhi, he briefly worked on a neuroscience paper. After that experience, he realized that the only thing more fascinating than the most complex machinery known to man (the brain) is fecal matter.
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Chetan formally entered the field of gut microbiome research at IIIT Delhi. There, he worked on Bifidobacterium, focusing on its species distribution across various cohorts and exploring how Bifidobacterium influences or is influenced by the baseline gut microbiome.
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Outside of work, Chetan enjoys travelling to both nearby and distant places. He also loves studying, watching videos, and engaging in debates on topics ranging from spirituality to physics, economics to astrology.
Yingyu Mu
Postdoc [CSC funded]
Yingyu obtained her Ph.D. in Animal Nutrition and Feed Science from Nanjing Agricultural University, China, where she investigated the effects of subacute ruminal acidosis on rumen homeostasis and explored the role of rumen content transplantation in remodeling rumen homeostasis in lactating dairy cows. Her research integrates multiple omics approaches and laboratory experiments, including metagenomics, transcriptomics, 16S rRNA gene sequencing, metabolomics (HPLC–MS) analysis, and volatile fatty acid determination.
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Yingyu is now working at Shandong Agricultural University, China. Her research centers on ruminant nutrition, with particular interest in host-microbiota interactions, gut archaea, and phages. In September 2025, Yingyu joined the Chinmay Dwibedi lab as a CSC-funded postdoctoral researcher, where her current work focuses on the gut microbial pathways underlying conjugated linoleic acid (CLA) biosynthesis.
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In her spare time, Yingyu enjoys jogging, swimming, reading, and playing badminton, as well as spending time outdoors with family and friends.
Ghazaal Dehghanisanij
Erasmus student [University of Padova]
Ghazaal is pursuing her Master’s degree in Biotechnologies for Food Science at the University of Padova, where she conducts her thesis research focusing on transcriptomic insights into PFAS toxicity through RNA-seq data analysis.
At the Dwibedi Lab at Umeå University, she is expanding her expertise in bioinformatics and microbial genomics, studying gut microbiome diversity at the bacterial strain level and the genetic functions that drive host–microbe interactions. Her goal is to integrate computational approaches with experimental data to better understand how microbiome composition and activity influence human health.
Outside of research, Ghazaal loves traveling, play volleyball, taking on new challenges, and exploring new experiences.