Faculty funded position as Associate Professor in Small Animal Veterinary Medicine at the Department of Clinical Sciences at the Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences since 2014- present. The position includes teaching of veterinary students, clinical work at the University Animal Hospital, research activities and various public outreach/third stream activities.
My main research interests include myxomatous mitral valve disease and dilated cardiomyopathy in dogs, and hypertrophic cardiomyopathy and restrictive cardiomyopathy in cats. I am interersted in optimizing diagnostic methods of heart disease, assessment of various circulating biomarkers, as well as assessment of other "biomarkers", such as respiratory rate (which can be assessed by the animal owners themselves at home). My research interests also include prognostication and therapy of congestive heart failure, identification of genetic risk factors for heart disease, and furthermore, various aspects of chronic kidney disease, Brachycephal Airway Obstructive Syndrome (BOAS), and gastrointestinal-as well as neurolological disorders in dogs.
University education
Doctoral (PhD) Thesis in Small Animal Veterinary Medicine. Faculty of Veterinary Medicine and Animal Science, SLU, Uppsala. September 2011.
Thesis title: The left ventricle in dogs with myxomatous mitral valve disease -remodeling and overall performance.
Doctor of Veterinary Medicine and Master of Science (MSc) in Veterinary Medicine, Faculty of Veterinary Medicine and Animal Science, SLU, Uppsala, Sweden. December 1999.
Qualification for associate professorship or equivalent
Competence as Associate Professor/Docent in Veterinary Cardiology. Faculty of Veterinary Medicine and Animal Science, SLU, Uppsala, Sweden, 2016.
Faculty appointed Senior Lecturer in Veterinary Internal Medicine. Faculty of Veterinary Medicine and Animal Science, SLU, Uppsala, Sweden, 2014.
Distinguished university teacher/Excellent teacher
Appointed as a “Distinguished university teacher/Excellent teacher” at SLU, Uppsala 2021.
Specialist education/degrees
Diplomate of the European College of Veterinary Internal Medicine (ECVIM-CA) in Cardiology.
Nationally recognized Specialist in Small Animal Cardiology (Steg II) awarded by the Swedish Veterinary Association.
Prizes and Awards:
Pedagogic award from the Student Union of Veterinary Medicine (VMF) at SLU, Uppsala, 2012
Award by the Royal Academy of Agriculture and Forestry, delivered by the Swedish King Carl XVI Gustaf at Stockholm City Hall, for prominent PhD thesis, 2013
Award from the Swedish Veterinary Association (Distriktsveterinär Hjalmar Håkanssons stipendiestiftelse) for prominent PhD thesis, 2013.
Honorary member of the Veterinarian Students departure class at SLU, Uppsala, 2018.
Supervision
Main supervisor to DVM Lena Pelander. Project titel: Epidemiology and early diagnosis of chronic kidney diseasein the dog. Date of admission; March 2011. Thesis successfully defended: May 2018.
Co-advisor to DVM Sofia Hanås. Project titel: Circulating cardiac biomarkers, their interbreed variation in healthycats and their usefulness for diagnosis of hypertrophic cardiomyopathy (HCM) in cats. Date of admission: October 2013 (50% research activity). Thesis successfully defended: January 2022.
Co-advisor to DVM Cecilia Rohdin. Phenotypic and genotypic characterization of a myelopathy in pugs – A journey from ”Wobbly Pugs” to Pug Dog Myelopathy. Date of admission: January 2015. Thesis successfully defended January 2023.
Main supervisor to DVM Karin Kriström. Project titel: Taurine blood concentrations in Cocker Spaniel dogs with or without dilated cardiomyopathy. Date of admission: September 2018 (50% research activity).
Main supervisor to DVM Yu-Wen Kuo. Project title: Echocardiographic assessment of the left atrial size in dogs and cat. Date of admission: October 2019. Thesis will be defended October 2024.
Co-advisor to DVM Johanna Holmberg. Project title: Breed disposition and clinical laboratory variables in dogs with chronic inflammatory enteropathy.
Date of admission: December 2019.
Co-advisor to DVM Maria Dimopoulou. Project title: Brachycephalic obstructive airway syndrome in the dog. Date of admission: April 2019.
Main supervisor to DVM Sorawit Phetariyawong. Project title: Deciphering the mechanisms underlying myxomatous mitral valve disease in dogs. Date of admission: February 2022.
Co-supervisor to DVM Elisa Välimäki. Project title: Echocardiographic and radiographic cardiac findings in healthy dogs and asymptomatic dogs with myxomatous mitral valve disease sedated with medetomidine- vatinoxan combinations. From January 2024.
Master thesis students:
I have acted as Main or Co-advisor for 35 students’master degree theses 2008 -present.
Scientific merits:
Approximately 95 accepted/published international scientific articles, and more than 100 conference abstracts and proceedings at international conferences.
10 selected publications in international peer reviewed journals
1. Ljungvall I, Ahlstrom C, Höglund K, Hult P, Kvart C, Borgarelli M, Ask P, Häggström J. Use of signal analysis of heart sounds and murmurs to assess severity of mitral valve regurgitation attributable to myxomatous mitral valve disease i dogs. Am J Vet Res. 2009 May;70(5):604-13. doi: 10.2460/ajvr.70.5.604
2. Ljungvall I, Höglund K, Tidholm A, Olsen LH, Borgarelli M, Venge P, Häggström J. Cardiac troponin I is associated with severity of myxomatous mitral valve disease, age, and C-reactive protein in dogs. J Vet Intern Med. 2010 Jan-Feb;24(1):153-9. doi: 10.1111/j.1939-1676.2009.0428.x.
3. Ljungvall I, Höglund K, Carnabucci C, Tidholm A, Häggström J. Assessment of global and regional left ventricular volume and shape using real-time three-dimensional echocardiography in dogs with myxomatous mitral valve disease. J Vet Intern Med. 2011 Sep-Oct;25(5):1036-43. doi: 10.1111/j.1939-1676.2011.0774.x. Epub 2011 Aug 16
4. Ljungvall I, Höglund K, Lilliehöök I, Oyama M, Tidholm A, Tvedten H, Häggström J. Serum serotonin concentration is associated with severity of myxomatous mitral valve disease. J Vet Intern Med 2013 27:1105-1112.
5. Ljungvall I, Rishniw M, Porciello F, Häggström J, Ohad DG. Sleeping respiratory rates in apparently healthy adult cats and cats with subclinical heart disease. J Fel Med Surg 2014;16:281-290.
6. Ljungvall I, Rishniw M, Porciello F, Ferasin L, Ohad D. Murmur intensity in small-breed dogs with myxomatous mitral valve disease reflects disease severity. J Small Anim Pract. 2014 Nov;55(11):545-50. doi: 10.1111/jsap.12265. Epub 2014 Sep 12.
7. Häggström J, Andersson Å, Falk T, Nilsfors L, OIsson U, Kresken JG, Höglund K,
Rishniw M, Tidholm A, Ljungvall I. Effect of body weight on echocardiographic
measurements in 19 866 screened pure-bred cats with or without heart disease. J Vet Intern Med. 2016 Sep;30(5):1601-1611. doi: 10.1111/jvim.14569. Epub 2016 Aug 30.
8. Boswood A, Häggström J, Gordon SGG, Wess G, Stepien RL, Oyama MA, Keene BW, Bonagura JD, MacDonald KA, Patteson M, Smith S, Fox PR, Sandersom K, Woolley R, Szatmari V, Menaut P, Church WM, O'Sullivan L, Jaudon JP, Kresken JG, Rush J, Barrett KA, Rosenthal SL, Saunders AB, Ljungvall I, Deinert M, Bomassi E, Estrada A, Fernandez, Del Palacio MJ, Moise NS, Abbott JA, Fuji Y, Spier A, Luethy MW, Santilli RA, Uechi M, Tidholm A, Watson P. Effect of pimobendan in dogs with preclinical myxomatous mitral valve disease and cardiomegaly: The EPIC study - A randomized clinical trial. J Vet Intern Med. 2016 Nov;30(6):1765-1779. doi: 10.1111/jvim.14586. Epub 2016 Sep 28.
9. Niskanen JE, Ohlsson Å, Ljungvall I, Drögemüller M, Ernst RF, Dooijes D, van Deutekom HWM, van Tintelen JP, Snijders BloK CJB, van Vugt M, van Setten J, Asselbergs FW, Domanjko Petrič A, Salonen M, Hundi S, Hörtenhuber M, DoGA consortium, Kere J, Pyle WG, Donner J, Postma AV, Leeb T, Andersson G, Hytönen MK, Häggström J, Wiberg M, Friederich J, Eberhard J, Harakalova M, van Steenbeek FG, Wess G, Lohi H. Identification of novel genetic risk factors of dilated cardiomyopathy: from canine to human. Genome Medicine. Genome Med 15, 73 (2023). https://doi.org/10.1186/s13073-023-01221-3
10. Kuo M Y-W, Häggström J, Gordon SG, Höglund K, Côté E, Lu T-L, Dirven M, Rishniw M, Hung Y-W, Ljungvall I. Veterinary echocardiographers’ preferences for left atrial size assessment in cats: The BENEFIT Project. J Vet Card, Available online 9 Nov 2023, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jvc.2023.11.001
Textbooks:
1. Ljungvall I, Haggstrom J. Mitral/tricuspid regurgitation due to myxomatous valve disease. In: Clinical Veterinary Advisor, 3rd Ed., Cote E., Ed., Elsevier Mosby, 2014.
2. Ljungvall I, Häggström J. Adult-Onset Valvular Heart Disease. In: Ettinger SJ, Feldman E, Cote E eds.Textbook of Veterinary Internal Medicine, 8th ed. Diseases of Dogs and Cats. Elsevier, 2015, pp. 1249-1269.
3. Ljungvall I, Häggström J. Myxomatous Atrioventricular Valve Disease. In: Five Minute Consult, 6th Ed., Ed: Tilley L. John Wiley & Sons, Inc. 2015, pp 155-157.
4. Ljungvall I, Haggstrom J. Mitral/tricuspid regurgitation due to myxomatous valve disease. In: Clinical Veterinary Advisor, 4th Ed., Cote E., Ed.: Elsevier Mosby, 2019, pp 568-661.
5. Ljungvall I and Häggström J. Approach to the patient with suspected cardiovascular disease. In: Clinical Small Animal Internal Medicine, Bruyette D., Ed. Hoboken, NJ, John Wiley & Sons, Inc, 2020, pp 119-125.
6. Ljungvall I, Häggström J. Myxomatous Atrioventricular Valve Disease. In: Five Minute Consult, 7thEd., Ed: Tilley L.John Wiley & Sons. 2020.
7. Ljungvall I, Häggström J. Myxomatous valvular disease. In: Bussadori C, ed.Textbook of cardiovascular medicine in dogs and cats, 1sr Ed, Edra Publishing, 2023, pp. 285-317.
8. Ljungvall I, Häggström J. Infective endocarditis. In: Bussadori C, ed.Textbook of cardiovascular medicine in dogs and cats, 1sr Ed, Edra Publishing, 2023, pp. 323-336.
9. Ljungvall I, Häggström J. Valvular Heart Diseases of Adult Dogs and Cats. Chapter 232. In: Ettinger SJ,Feldman E, Cote E eds. Textbook of Veterinary Internal Medicine, 9th ed. Diseases of Dogs and Cats. Elsevier, p 1348-1366