We use studies involving human cells (in vitro) and other laboratory techniques to improve our understanding of why and how xenobiotics (foreign substances such as medicines and environmental chemicals) can harm the body. This knowledge helps us prevent or reduce harmful side effects when these substances are used in humans, drawing on clinical data.
In our laboratory, we specialise in the following in vitro methods:
- Human induced pluripotent stem cells (iPSCs). These cells are differentiated into specific cell types (e.g. sensory neurons) to investigate drug toxicity.
- CRISPR to modify gene expression. We use CRISPR to create stable changes in gene expression and to conduct CRISPR-based screening.
- Primary human hepatocytes. We use three-dimensional (3D) cultures of primary human liver cells to investigate the toxicity of xenobiotics (e.g. PFAS) and drug metabolism.
- Analytical chemistry. We specialise in measuring small-molecule drugs in different types of samples, including cell culture media and human and animal samples, ranging from blood to organ tissue.
Together with our clinical collaborators, we specialise in the following clinical methods:
Patient studies
- Biomarker validation
- Pharmacogenetic studies
- Patient-derived induced pluripotent stem cells (iPSCs)
Studies involving healthy volunteers
- Pharmacokinetics
- Drug metabolism
- Biomarkers
Recently, we contributed to the discovery of neurofilament light chain as a translational biomarker for chemotherapy-induced peripheral neuropathy (Mortensen et al., 2023, Pain). We have also led translational studies that identified isoxazolyl penicillins as inducers of drug metabolism (Iversen et al., 2023, Clinical Pharmacology & Therapeutics).
About the research group leader Tore Bjerregaard Stage
Tore is a Professor of Translational Pharmacology, University of Southern Denmark
Tore Bjerregaard Stage (Tore B. Stage) is a Danish pharmacologist and an expert in translational pharmacology, chemotherapy-induced peripheral neuropathy (CIPN) and drug–drug interactions (DDIs). He is Professor of Translational Pharmacology at the University of Southern Denmark (SDU) in Odense. He leads the Translational Pharmacology research group and is head of research at Clinical Pharmacology, Pharmacy and Environmental Medicine, a research unit of about 60 people.
Areas of expertise
Translational pharmacology
Stage connects laboratory research with patients. He moves findings from bench to bedside, and also works in reverse, using drug effects seen in patients to find their molecular causes (reverse translation). His group combines several kinds of models and data:
- human induced pluripotent stem cell (iPSC) models
- 3D primary human hepatocytes
- CRISPR
- Proteomics
- clinical trials, biobanks and Danish health registries
The aim is to understand the safety of drugs and of environmental chemicals such as PFAS.
Chemotherapy-induced peripheral neuropathy (CIPN)
CIPN is a common and often dose-limiting side effect of cancer drugs such as paclitaxel and vincristine. Stage's group uses iPSC-derived sensory neurons and Schwann cells to study how chemotherapy damages nerves. The group helped establish neurofilament light chain (NfL) as a blood biomarker of CIPN in patients treated with paclitaxel and vincristine. Stage is an inventor on a patent application for using P-glycoprotein (P-gp) inducers to protect against side effects of chemotherapy (WO2021043673).
Drug–drug interactions (DDIs)
Stage studies how drugs change each other's metabolism by inducing cytochrome P450 (CYP) enzymes and drug transporters. His group identified isoxazolyl penicillins such as dicloxacillin as inducers of drug metabolism, which explains why these antibiotics reduce the effect of the anticoagulant warfarin. He also works on two related questions:
- predicting CYP induction in 3D human liver models
- drug–disease interactions, such as how treatment for type 2 diabetes affects drug metabolism
Career
- MSc in Pharmacy (2012) and PhD in Clinical Pharmacology (2015), University of Southern Denmark, with a research stay at Uppsala University, Sweden, during the PhD
- Postdoctoral researcher, University of California, San Francisco (UCSF), Department of Bioengineering and Therapeutic Sciences
- At SDU: assistant professor (2017), associate professor (2019), professor (2023)
He has published more than 70 peer-reviewed papers and collaborates with research groups in the United States, Sweden and Germany.
Awards and funding (selection)
- 2025: Leon I. Goldberg Early Investigator Award, American Society for Clinical Pharmacology and Therapeutics (ASCPT)
- 2023: Sapere Aude Starting Grant, Independent Research Fund Denmark
- 2019: Lundbeck Foundation Fellowship (DKK 10 million)
- 2017: Lundbeck Foundation Talent Prize
- Editorial Board member, Clinical and Translational Science
Selected recent publications
Chemotherapy-induced peripheral neuropathy (CIPN)
- Pontoppidan PEL, Vase CB, Mortensen C, Andres-Jensen L, Olsen DA, Madsen JS, Schmiegelow K, Mathiasen R, Stage TB. Neurofilament light chain as in vitro and clinical biomarker of vincristine-induced peripheral neuropathy. Br J Clin Pharmacol. 2026;92(9):3180-3190. doi:10.1002/bcp.70599
- Mortensen C, Thomsen MT, Chua KC, Hammer HS, Nielsen F, Pötz O, Svenningsen ÅS, Kroetz DL, Stage TB. Modeling mechanisms of chemotherapy-induced peripheral neuropathy and chemotherapy transport using induced pluripotent stem cell-derived sensory neurons. Neuropharmacology. 2024;258:110062. doi:10.1016/j.neuropharm.2024.110062
- Mortensen C, Steffensen KD, Simonsen E, Herskind K, Madsen JS, Olsen DA, Iversen DB, Bergmann TK, Pottegård A, Stage TB. Neurofilament light chain as a biomarker of axonal damage in sensory neurons and paclitaxel-induced peripheral neuropathy in ovarian cancer patients. Pain. 2023;164(7):1502-1511. doi:10.1097/j.pain.0000000000002840
Drug–drug interactions (DDIs)
- Järvinen E, Hammer HS, Pötz O, Ingelman-Sundberg M, Stage TB. 3D spheroid primary human hepatocytes for prediction of cytochrome P450 and drug transporter induction. Clin Pharmacol Ther. 2023;113(6):1284-1294. doi:10.1002/cpt.2887
- Järvinen E, Dalgård Dunvald AC, Ernst MT, Hammer HS, Pötz O, Pottegård A, Stage TB. Dicloxacillin–warfarin drug–drug interaction: a register-based study and in vitro investigations in 3D spheroid primary human hepatocytes. Br J Clin Pharmacol. 2023;89(8):2614-2624. doi:10.1111/bcp.15738