Maria Lerm is Professor of Medical Microbiology at Linköping University in Sweden. She leads research on epigenetics and infectious diseases, with a focus on tuberculosis and post-COVID, and she co-founded the Linköping company PredictMe, where she is Chief Scientific Officer.
Prof. Maria Lerm
Professor of Medical Microbiology, Linköping University; Co-founder and CSO, PredictMe
Professor · Hamburg chapter
Prof. Maria Lerm is Professor of Medical Microbiology at Linköping University, where she studies how infections such as tuberculosis and COVID-19 leave DNA methylation marks on immune cells. She co-founded PredictMe.
Highlights
- Professor of Medical Microbiology at Linköping University and head of the Chemical Biology Consortium Sweden (CBCS) unit in Linköping; SciLifeLab Fellow.
- Led the research group that described an epigenetic biosignature of post-acute COVID-19 syndrome in blood immune cells (Clinical Epigenetics, 2022).
- Senior author of a 2022 Clinical Epigenetics study describing the spectrum of tuberculosis as differential DNA methylation patterns in alveolar macrophages and alveolar T cells.
- Leads PULMO, a pilot project on DNA methylation biomarkers for respiratory disease, funded by the Swedish Heart-Lung Foundation in 2025; co-founder and CSO of PredictMe.
Professor of Medical Microbiology at Linköping University and head of the Chemical Biology Consortium Sweden (CBCS) unit in Linköping; SciLifeLab Fellow.. Led the research group that described an epigenetic biosignature of post-acute COVID-19 syndrome in blood immune cells (Clinical Epigenetics, 2022).. Senior author of a 2022 Clinical Epigenetics study describing the spectrum of tuberculosis as differential DNA methylation patterns in alveolar macrophages and alveolar T cells.. Leads PULMO, a pilot project on DNA methylation biomarkers for respiratory disease, funded by the Swedish Heart-Lung Foundation in 2025; co-founder and CSO of PredictMe..
About Maria Lerm
Maria Lerm is Professor of Medical Microbiology at Linköping University in Sweden, based in the Department of Biomedical and Clinical Sciences (Division of Inflammation and Infection). She leads research projects at the meeting point of epigenetics and infectious disease, with a focus on tuberculosis and post-COVID.
Her group studies how infections leave marks in DNA methylation, one of the chemical switches that control which genes are active. In tuberculosis, the team has examined DNA methylation in immune cells from the lungs of people exposed to Mycobacterium tuberculosis, and earlier work looked at methylation changes in immune cells after BCG vaccination, linked to the idea of trained immunity. In post-COVID, her group reported a distinct epigenetic signature in people with long-lasting symptoms compared with healthy convalescents, published in Clinical Epigenetics in 2022.
She leads PULMO, a pilot project searching for DNA methylation-based biomarkers for respiratory diseases, which tests whether a cough sample, a drop of blood or a saliva swab could help identify patients who need specialist care. The Swedish Heart-Lung Foundation has funded her work, including a project grant for PULMO in 2025. She is also a SciLifeLab Fellow and heads the Linköping unit of Chemical Biology Consortium Sweden (CBCS), where her team runs compound screening against lung pathogens using primary human lung cells.
Maria Lerm co-founded PredictMe, a Linköping-based company where she serves as Chief Scientific Officer. PredictMe develops DNA methylation-based analyses; its first product, PredictMe Delta, is a finger-prick epigenetic test meant to show how lifestyle and environment may be reflected in a person's biology.
On 28 October 2026 she gives the keynote "Epigenetics: How environment and lifestyle shape your biology" at Longevity Hamburg, held at the Deep Tech Campus in Hamburg-Rotherbaum.
Topics & Expertise
- Epigenetics & Biomarkers
- Preventive Medicine
- Epigenetics
- DNA methylation
- Medical microbiology
- Tuberculosis
- Post-COVID condition
- Trained immunity
- Host-pathogen interaction
- Epigenetic biomarkers
- Respiratory disease biomarkers
- Drug discovery and compound screening
Talks at Longevity Cities
Upcoming
- Register →
Epigenetics – How environment and lifestyle shape your biology
Oct 28, 2026 · Deep Tech Campus, Heimhuder Str. 56, 20148 Hamburg
Frequently asked questions
Who is Maria Lerm?
What does Maria Lerm research?
Her group studies how infections such as tuberculosis and COVID-19 change DNA methylation in immune cells. The team has described an epigenetic signature in post-COVID and methylation patterns in lung immune cells across the tuberculosis spectrum. Through the PULMO project she looks for DNA methylation biomarkers for respiratory diseases.
Where can I hear Maria Lerm speak?
On 28 October 2026 Maria Lerm gives the keynote "Epigenetics: How environment and lifestyle shape your biology" at Longevity Hamburg, part of Longevity Cities. The evening takes place at the Deep Tech Campus, Heimhuder Str. 56, in Hamburg-Rotherbaum, followed by Q&A and networking.