{"id":445,"date":"2024-04-09T10:20:19","date_gmt":"2024-04-09T08:20:19","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/sites.uef.fi\/bioinformatics\/?page_id=445"},"modified":"2026-01-22T16:08:49","modified_gmt":"2026-01-22T14:08:49","slug":"personnel","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/sites.uef.fi\/bioinformatics\/personnel\/","title":{"rendered":"Personnel"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p>Meet our team and learn more about the expertise we provide:<\/p>\n\n\n\n<div class=\"person-card\">\n    \n                    <a href=\"https:\/\/scholar.google.fi\/citations?hl=fi&amp;user=Epd89HoAAAAJ&amp;view_op=list_works&amp;sortby=pubdate\" class=\"person-card-link hover-scale-down\">\n                            <div class=\"person-card-item\">\n                    <div class=\"person-card-column-left\">\n                                                    <img decoding=\"async\" class=\"person-card-image\" src=\"https:\/\/sites.uef.fi\/bioinformatics\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/425\/2024\/04\/1642404965879.jpeg\" alt=\"Virpi Ahola\" \/>\n                                            <\/div>\n\n                    <div class=\"person-card-column-right\">\n                                                <p class=\"person-card-name\">Virpi Ahola<\/p>\n                        \n                                                <p class=\"person-card-position\">Research Director, Head of Bioinformatics Center<\/p>\n                        \n                                                <p class=\"person-card-organisation\">Bioinformatics Center, University of Eastern Finland<\/p>\n                        \n                                                <p class=\"person-card-text\">My background is in Statistics and Bioinformatics. Last 10+ years I have led or coordinated bioinformatics platforms and multidisciplinary research projects on human and insect genomics. My experience focusses on NGS-based (multi)omics and single-cell analysis. The research questions I have contributed include studies of cancer, neuronal diseases, embryonic development, stem cell-based research and insect evolutionary genomics, as well as genomics research on farm animals, food microbes and plant pathogens.\r\nExpertise: bulk &amp; scRNA-seq &#8211; snRNA-seq &#8211; scATAC-seq \u2013 GWAS \u2013 WGS \u2013 phylogenetics &#8211; QTL mapping \u2013 genome sequencing &amp; annotation &#8211; statistical modelling &amp; machine learning<\/p>\n                        \n                                                    <div>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<svg xmlns=\"http:\/\/www.w3.org\/2000\/svg\" height=\"25px\" viewBox=\"0 -960 960 960\" width=\"24px\" ><path fill=\"currentColor\" d=\"M200-120q-33 0-56.5-23.5T120-200v-560q0-33 23.5-56.5T200-840h280v80H200v560h560v-280h80v280q0 33-23.5 56.5T760-120H200Zm188-212-56-56 372-372H560v-80h280v280h-80v-144L388-332Z\"\/><\/svg>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n                                            <\/div>\n                <\/div>\n                            <\/a>\n                                        <a href=\"https:\/\/uefconnect.uef.fi\/en\/person\/juha.kekalainen\/\" class=\"person-card-link hover-scale-down\">\n                            <div class=\"person-card-item\">\n                    <div class=\"person-card-column-left\">\n                                                    <img decoding=\"async\" class=\"person-card-image\" src=\"https:\/\/sites.uef.fi\/bioinformatics\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/425\/2023\/09\/0428182f63fca55d2a1224907ca5e322_profile_file.jpg\" alt=\"Juha Kek\u00e4l\u00e4inen\" \/>\n                                            <\/div>\n\n                    <div class=\"person-card-column-right\">\n                                                <p class=\"person-card-name\">Juha Kek\u00e4l\u00e4inen<\/p>\n                        \n                                                <p class=\"person-card-position\">IT-Specialist<\/p>\n                        \n                                                <p class=\"person-card-organisation\">Bioinformatics Center, University of Eastern Finland<\/p>\n                        \n                                                <p class=\"person-card-text\">IT Specialist at Bioinformatics Center and at IT Services for Research. Maintaining, developing and user support of our SLURM HPC cluster. Also maintaining and supporting REDCap data management platform.\r\nExpertise: Linux, command line, containers, server infrastructure, workstations (win\/mac\/linux), network. <\/p>\n                        \n                                                    <div>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<svg xmlns=\"http:\/\/www.w3.org\/2000\/svg\" height=\"25px\" viewBox=\"0 -960 960 960\" width=\"24px\" ><path fill=\"currentColor\" d=\"M200-120q-33 0-56.5-23.5T120-200v-560q0-33 23.5-56.5T200-840h280v80H200v560h560v-280h80v280q0 33-23.5 56.5T760-120H200Zm188-212-56-56 372-372H560v-80h280v280h-80v-144L388-332Z\"\/><\/svg>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n                                            <\/div>\n                <\/div>\n                            <\/a>\n                                        <a href=\"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0002-9660-4559\" class=\"person-card-link hover-scale-down\">\n                            <div class=\"person-card-item\">\n                    <div class=\"person-card-column-left\">\n                                                    <img decoding=\"async\" class=\"person-card-image\" src=\"https:\/\/sites.uef.fi\/bioinformatics\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/425\/2024\/04\/d02089e3909151aa3647655090349cef_profile_file.jpg\" alt=\"Tero Siev\u00e4nen\" \/>\n                                            <\/div>\n\n                    <div class=\"person-card-column-right\">\n                                                <p class=\"person-card-name\">Tero Siev\u00e4nen<\/p>\n                        \n                                                <p class=\"person-card-position\">Project Researcher\/ FinnGen Local Support Analyst<\/p>\n                        \n                                                <p class=\"person-card-organisation\">Bioinformatics Center, University of Eastern Finland<\/p>\n                        \n                                                <p class=\"person-card-text\">My background is in cell and molecular biology. I&#8217;ve worked on non-coding RNAs in cancer research, particularly focusing on Lynch syndrome. I&#8217;ve also explored areas such as sport and health sciences along with biogerontology and epidemiology. I also currently work as a FinnGen local analysis support at UEF.\r\n\r\nExpertise: (sc)RNA-seq &#8211; Genomics &#8211; FinnGen &#8211; ML methods<\/p>\n                        \n                                                    <div>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<svg xmlns=\"http:\/\/www.w3.org\/2000\/svg\" height=\"25px\" viewBox=\"0 -960 960 960\" width=\"24px\" ><path fill=\"currentColor\" d=\"M200-120q-33 0-56.5-23.5T120-200v-560q0-33 23.5-56.5T200-840h280v80H200v560h560v-280h80v280q0 33-23.5 56.5T760-120H200Zm188-212-56-56 372-372H560v-80h280v280h-80v-144L388-332Z\"\/><\/svg>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n                                            <\/div>\n                <\/div>\n                            <\/a>\n                                        <div class=\"person-card-item\">\n                    <div class=\"person-card-column-left\">\n                                                    <img decoding=\"async\" class=\"person-card-image\" src=\"https:\/\/sites.uef.fi\/bioinformatics\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/425\/2025\/03\/PIC.jpg\" alt=\"Atul Kumar\" \/>\n                                            <\/div>\n\n                    <div class=\"person-card-column-right\">\n                                                <p class=\"person-card-name\">Atul Kumar<\/p>\n                        \n                                                <p class=\"person-card-position\">Project Researcher<\/p>\n                        \n                                                <p class=\"person-card-organisation\">Bioinformatics Center, University of Eastern Finland<\/p>\n                        \n                                                <p class=\"person-card-text\">I have an academic background in Bioinformatics with a specialisation in applying machine learning models to voluminous biological data. My research is focused on analysing multi-omics data using various statistical and machine-learning approaches. \r\n\r\nExpertise: GWAS &#8211; PRS analysis &#8211; Mendelian Randomization &#8211; Machine Learning &#8211; Statistical modelling<\/p>\n                        \n                                            <\/div>\n                <\/div>\n                                        <div class=\"person-card-item\">\n                    <div class=\"person-card-column-left\">\n                                                    <span class=\"person-placeholder\"><\/span>\n                                            <\/div>\n\n                    <div class=\"person-card-column-right\">\n                                                <p class=\"person-card-name\">Veeti Reis<\/p>\n                        \n                                                <p class=\"person-card-position\">Project Assistant<\/p>\n                        \n                                                <p class=\"person-card-organisation\">Bioinformatics Center, University of Eastern Finland<\/p>\n                        \n                                                <p class=\"person-card-text\">I develop software to support research. <\/p>\n                        \n                                            <\/div>\n                <\/div>\n                            <\/div>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Associate members<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<div class=\"person-card\">\n    \n                    <a href=\"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0001-6190-3439\" class=\"person-card-link hover-scale-down\">\n                            <div class=\"person-card-item\">\n                    <div class=\"person-card-column-left\">\n                                                    <img decoding=\"async\" class=\"person-card-image\" src=\"https:\/\/sites.uef.fi\/bioinformatics\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/425\/2023\/09\/43dded48a7258b5ddf221b45073e9f59_profile_file.jpg\" alt=\"Merja Hein\u00e4niemi\" \/>\n                                            <\/div>\n\n                    <div class=\"person-card-column-right\">\n                                                <p class=\"person-card-name\">Merja Hein\u00e4niemi<\/p>\n                        \n                                                <p class=\"person-card-position\">Professor<\/p>\n                        \n                                                <p class=\"person-card-organisation\">Institute of Biomedicine, University of Eastern Finland<\/p>\n                        \n                                                <p class=\"person-card-text\">I have deep interest in biological systems and strong research background in genomics and omics data analysis methods. I&#8217;ve worked extensively in cancer, regulatory and single cell genomics fields. Currently, I am involved in developing the Bioinformatics center and molecular profiling services at UEF, in addition to acting as research group leader and as professor of computational biomedicine. Expertise: Whole genome sequencing &#8211; RNA-seq &#8211; Single cell genomics &#8211; AI applications in omics<\/p>\n                        \n                                                    <div>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<svg xmlns=\"http:\/\/www.w3.org\/2000\/svg\" height=\"25px\" viewBox=\"0 -960 960 960\" width=\"24px\" ><path fill=\"currentColor\" d=\"M200-120q-33 0-56.5-23.5T120-200v-560q0-33 23.5-56.5T200-840h280v80H200v560h560v-280h80v280q0 33-23.5 56.5T760-120H200Zm188-212-56-56 372-372H560v-80h280v280h-80v-144L388-332Z\"\/><\/svg>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n                                            <\/div>\n                <\/div>\n                            <\/a>\n                                        <a href=\"https:\/\/uefconnect.uef.fi\/en\/group\/genetics-of-gene-regulation-in-disease-heikkinen-lab\/\" class=\"person-card-link hover-scale-down\">\n                            <div class=\"person-card-item\">\n                    <div class=\"person-card-column-left\">\n                                                    <img decoding=\"async\" class=\"person-card-image\" src=\"https:\/\/sites.uef.fi\/bioinformatics\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/425\/2024\/04\/fe32804c970061dfa5d48b5398524bd0_profile_file.jpg\" alt=\"Sami Heikkinen\" \/>\n                                            <\/div>\n\n                    <div class=\"person-card-column-right\">\n                                                <p class=\"person-card-name\">Sami Heikkinen<\/p>\n                        \n                                                <p class=\"person-card-position\">Research Director<\/p>\n                        \n                                                <p class=\"person-card-organisation\">Institute of Biomedicine, University of Eastern Finland<\/p>\n                        \n                                                <p class=\"person-card-text\">I have a background in genetics, molecular biology and, during the last couple decades, all manner of bioinformatics. My lead a small research team that focuses on the identification and molecular characterization of human genetic variation that alters the gene regulatory capacity of transcription factors and contributes to diseases with identified genetic component like type 2 diabetes or Alzheimer\u2019s disease . I also collaborate widely with research teams focusing on the genetics and disease mechanisms of metabolic and neurodegenerative disorders.\r\nExpertise: RNA-seq &#8211; ATAC-seq and ChIP-seq &#8211; Genetics and GWAS &#8211; FinnGen &#8211; WGS and proteomics.<\/p>\n                        \n                                                    <div>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<svg xmlns=\"http:\/\/www.w3.org\/2000\/svg\" height=\"25px\" viewBox=\"0 -960 960 960\" width=\"24px\" ><path fill=\"currentColor\" d=\"M200-120q-33 0-56.5-23.5T120-200v-560q0-33 23.5-56.5T200-840h280v80H200v560h560v-280h80v280q0 33-23.5 56.5T760-120H200Zm188-212-56-56 372-372H560v-80h280v280h-80v-144L388-332Z\"\/><\/svg>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n                                            <\/div>\n                <\/div>\n                            <\/a>\n                            <\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Meet our team and learn more about the expertise we provide: Associate members<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1072,"featured_media":0,"parent":0,"menu_order":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","template":"","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"class_list":["post-445","page","type-page","status-publish","hentry"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v27.1.1 - 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