Berit Johansen is a Professor at the Institute for Biology at NTNU. Her teaching focuses on cell and molecular biology, and patenting and commercialization in biotech/medtech, where she also supervises master’s students and PhD students. Her main research interests are understanding signaling relevant for fundamental biological processes like proliferation and differentiation, and understanding similar mechanisms regulating pathological processes such as inflammation, hyperproliferation and cancer.
Johansen’s international academic career spans from positions at the Molecular Biology Institute at UCLA, US; at the Biomedical Centre at University of Uppsala, Sweden; at NTH, Department of Technical Biochemistry; at Unigen, University of Trondheim, Norway; and at Institute of Molecular Genetics, University of Göttingen, Germany. She has also held positions as visiting scientist at Biogen Research Corporation, Cambridge, MA and at Department of Chemistry and Biochemistry, University of California, San Diego, CA.
Johansen is also part time CSO and the principal inventor of the technology of the biotech company Avexxin AS. She received her M.Sc. and my Ph.D. in molecular genetics from University of Trondheim in 1985 and 1990.