Get to know our staff

Eino Solje

Director of the UEF Brain Research Unit

Eino Solje, MD, PhD, is Associate Professor of Clinical Research (tenure track) at the University of Eastern Finland (Institute of Clinical Medicine, School of Medicine, Faculty of Health Sciences). He is also the assistant chief physician responsible for memory disorders at Kuopio University Hospital.

Reetta Kälviäinen

Professor

Reetta Kälviäinen is Chair of Neurology at the University of Eastern Finland (Institute of Clinical Medicine, School of Medicine, Faculty of Health Sciences). She is also Director of Kuopio Epilepsy Center at the Kuopio University Hospital and a Member of EpiCARE ERN (European Reference Network for rare and complex epilepsies). In addition, Kälviäinen is a Member of Board of the Neurocenter Finland.

Alina Solomon

Professor

Alina Solomon is a professor of neuroepidemiology at the University of Eastern Finland (Neurology/ Institute of Clinical Medicine, School of Medicine, Faculty of Health Sciences). She is also a senior researcher at the Karolinska Institute (Clinical Geriatrics, Karolinska Institutet, Sweden) and Visiting Professor at Imperial College London (AGE Unit, Imperial College London, UK).

Sudhir Kurl

Medical Researcher

Sudhir Kurl, MD, PhD, doctor by training, docent of Public Health, with over 20 years of experience in clinical drug trials, especially in the field of memory, stroke, diabetes and cardiovascular diseases. Internationally, Sudhir Kurl has published more than 200 scientific publications in various medical specialties. Sudhir is a highly liked research doctor both in the working community and among the research subjects.

Tarja Lappalainen

Clinical Research Nurse

Tarja Lappalainen has worked as a research coordinator/research nurse in the Brain Research Unit for soon 29 years. By education, Tarja is a public health nurse specializing in occupational health care. Her duties as a research coordinator include both clinical drug research and academic research, selection of research clients, practical organization of research and ensuring its implementation, interviewing research clients and conducting tests, measurements and laboratory work. The work is diverse and interesting, as the studies include variety and research methods are constantly evolving.

Leena Lukkari-Kuronen

Clinical Research Nurse

Leena Lukkari-Kuronen has worked as a research nurse for 25 years, of which the last 10 years in the Brain Research Unit. She is trained as a nurse (internal medicine and surgery). His duties include organizing studies in drug studies and academic studies, recruiting subjects, making various measurements, taking blood samples and performing various memory tests. Encountering the subjects, the versatility of the work, nice colleagues and functional teamwork are the best aspects of the work.

Irina Heikkinen

Clinical Research Nurse

Irina Heikkinen is a nurse by education and works as a research coordinator. In addition, he holds a Master in Digital Health degree. Irina has over ten years of experience working as a nurse. Irina has diverse language skills and speaks Finnish, German, English, French, Spanish and Swedish. Irina’s work requires good digital skills, as there are many different electronic systems in use. The duties of the research coordinator include organising studies, conducting research visits, taking blood samples, laboratory work, conducting cognitive tests and recruiting research subjects. Irina has good skills to work on her own initiative and in a team.

Jenni Niinimäki

Clinical Research Nurse

Jenni Niinimäki is a nurse and a Master of Health Sciences with long experience in nursing and pre-work in specialised nursing. Jenni works in the Brain Research Unit. He is a Project Worker Brain Research Unit 2.0 in the ERDF project and Research Coordinator.

Juho Kalapudas

Psychologist

Juho Kalapudas, Master of Arts (Psychology), is a psychologist by training and has been working in the Brain Research Unit since 2018. He is involved in pharmaceutical studies as well as in academic studies, and his area of expertise is cognitive studies performed on subjects.

Katja Miettinen

Clinical Research Nurse

Heidi Kauppinen

Clinical Research Nurse

Sanna-Kaisa Herukka

Director of the UEF Biomarker Laboratory

Biomarker Laboratory

Sanna-Kaisa Herukka, Ph.D., heads the Biomarker Laboratory and works in the neurology clinic of Kuopio University Hospital. Her research interests are biological markers of neurodegenerative diseases, especially Alzheimer’s disease, the early stage of Alzheimer’s disease and mild cognitive impairment. Sanna-Kaisa has been involved in several international and national collaborative projects, where Alzheimer’s disease biomarkers and early-stage diagnostics have been studied. Sanna-Kaisa has a history of two decades in the Biomarker Laboratory since its establishment.

Sari Kärkkäinen

Laboratory Coordinator

Biomarker Laboratory

Sari Kärkkäinen is a biochemist and works as the laboratory coordinator of the Biomarker Laboratory. She is responsible for the daily operations of the Biomarker Laboratory, which includes diagnostics of brain biomarkers, commissioned studies and scientific research.

Anne Kaikko

Laboratory Assistant

Biomarker Laboratory

Laboratory assistant Anne Kaiko has long-term experience working in the Biomarker Laboratory. She works with diagnostic service studies and scientific research.

Tiina Pirinen

Biomedical Laboratory Scientist

Biomarker Laboratory

Biomedical laboratory scientist Tiina Pirinen works mainly with diagnostic service studies and participates in scientific research analytics. She has versatile work experience in the laboratory field.

Tarja Kokkola

Research coordinator, Quality coordinator

Institute of Clinical Medicine, School of Medicine

Docent Tarja Kokkola works with the research, quality work and analysis methods of the research units of the Clinical Research Center of the University of Eastern Finland. She works as the Biomarker Laboratory’s quality manager and is responsible for the functionality and reliability of the laboratory’s diagnostic methods.

Maria Puolakka

Bioanalyst

Bioanalyst Maria Puolakka is an experienced laboratory professional who also has extensive experience in blood sampling. He works in the Biomarker Laboratory doing diagnostic service studies, and participates in the analytics of scientific research.

Mari Tikkanen

Project Specialist

Mari Tikkanen has solid professional skills and long work experience in administrative tasks of clinical research projects, especially international clinical drug trials and EU framework program projects. Mari is responsible for contract preparation for clinical drug trials. In addition to the tasks of financial administration, she works as a project specialist in the ERDF project UEF Brain Research Unit 2.0, #UEFATYEAKR (1.3.2023-28.5.2025).

Kaisa Paldanius

Coordinator

Kaisa Paldanius, PhD (biochemistry, molecular neurobiology) works as a scientific coordinator in international EU-funded research projects related to aging and dementia risk prevention: AD-RIDDLE, Prominent and 2D-BioPAD. Kaisa has more than 20 years of experience in academic research and preclinical phase research in a global CRO company. She utilizes these skills in various development and communication tasks of the Brain Research Unit.