Eleni Aklillu

In 1987, Aklillu received a Bachelor of Pharmacy from Addis Ababa University in Ethiopia.[3] She earned a Master of Science in Biochemistry from the same university in 1996.[3] She went on to obtain a Doctorate of Philosophy degree in Molecular genetics from the Karolinska Institute in Stockholm, Sweden, in 2003.[3]

In 2009, she became an associate professor of pharmacology at the Karolinska Institute. Since 2020, she has been a full professor of tropical pharmacology[3] specializing in the area of pharmacogenomics at the same institute.[1] Aklillu is also a senior researcher and research group leader at the Department of Laboratory Medicine within the Karolinska Institute.[2]

Aklillu's main area of research is Tropical Pharmacology, which is clinical pharmacology research with focus on major infectious diseases that are classified as public health problems, the largest global burden, and the leading cause of death/disability, particularly in low and middle-income countries. Her areas of research include: optimization of treatments and prevention of HIV/AIDS, Tuberculosis, Malaria, and Neglected tropical diseases such as schistosomiasis, lymphatic filariasis, and Soil transmitted helminths that required Mass drug administration for the control and prevention of theses diseases. Her research group has conducted several prospective observational studies, randomized clinical trials, drug interaction and dose optimization studies in various countries of sub Saharan Africa.[6]