Sarah Steimer

Assistant professor
Room: V211
Phone: +46 8 674 7171
Sarah.Steimer@aces.su.se

Research interests

It is well established that exposure to ambient particulate matter can lead to negative health effects. However, the underlying mechanisms are still not completely understood and there is a lot of uncertainty regarding which particles are the most toxic and why (differential toxicity). My research focusses on trying to understand which particles are the most detrimental to human health and how this relates to their chemical composition. To study this, we are not only comparing particles from different sources, but also look at how atmospheric processing changes particle toxicity. One main tool I am using in my research are acellular assays, which have been developed as a cell-free alternative to traditional in-vitro methods. The development, testing and evaluation of such acellular assays forms another branch of my research.

If you would like to know more about my research or are interested in joining my group for a thesis project or a research internship, don’t hesitate to send me an email.

Latest scientific papers

Toxicity and health effects of ultrafine particles: Towards an understanding of the relative impacts of different transport modes

Vallabani, N.V.S; Gruzieva, O.; Elihn, K.; Juárez-Facio, A.T.; Steimer, S.S.; Kuhn, J.; Silvergren, S.; Portugal, J.; Piña, B.; Olofsson, U.; Johansson, C.; Karlsson, H.L.
2023 | Environ. Res.

Cuticle chemistry drives the development of diffraction gratings on the surface of Hibiscus trionum petals

Moyroud, E.; Airoldi, C.A.; Ferria, J.; Giorio, C.; Steimer, S.S.; Rudall, P.J.; Prychid, C.J.; Halliwell, S.; Walker, J.F; Robinson, S.; Kalberer, M.; Glover, B.J.
2022 | Curr. Biol. | 32 (24) (5323-5334)

Atmospheric conditions and composition that influence PM2.5 oxidative potential in Beijing, China

Campbell, SJ; Wolfer, K; Utinger, B; Westwood, J; Zhang, Z-H; Bukowiecki, N; Steimer, SS; Vu, TV; Xu, J; Straw, N; Thomson, S; Elzein, A; Sun, Y; Liu, D; Li, L; Fu, P; Lewis, AC; Harrison, RM; Bloss, WJ; Loh, M; Miller, MR; Shi, Z; Kalberer, M;
2021 | Atmos. Chem. Phys. | 21 (5549-5573)

Differences in the composition of organic aerosols between winter and summer in Beijing: a study by direct-infusion ultrahigh-resolution mass spectrometry

Steimer, SS; Patton, DJ; Vu, TV; Panagi, M; Monks, PS; Harrison, RM; Fleming, ZL; Shi, Z; Kalberer, M
2020 | Atmos. Chem. Phys. | 20 (21) (13303-13318)

MIMiX: a Multipurpose In situ Microreactor system for X-ray microspectroscopy to mimic atmospheric aerosol processing

Forster, JD; Gurk, C; Lamneck, M; Tong, HJ; Ditas, F; Steimer, SS; Alpert, PA; Ammann, M; Raabe, J; Weigand, M; Watts, B; Poschl, U; Andreae, MO; Pohlker, C
2020 | Atmos. Meas. Tech. | 13 (7) (3717-3729)

All publications

Atmospheric Science

The life cycle and impact of tiny atmospheric particles known as aerosols – both indoors as well as outdoors.