Seminars in Health Sciences
Seminars in Health Sciences is a seminar series organized by the Faculty of Health Sciences doctoral programmes and targeted to researchers, teachers, and students. The seminars are open for everyone interested. Welcome!
Friday 5 Sep 2025
Anthony White, PhD
More information available later.
TBA
A warm welcome to Seminars in Health Sciences seminar on Thursday 24 Apr 2025 at 15:00-16:00 in SN200 (Snellmania).
Topic: Functional genetic variants – from non-coding to coding mechanisms
Speaker: Senior clinical lecturer Simon Biddie, MD-PhD
Dr Simon Biddie is a senior clinical lecturer and honorary consultant in intensive care medicine at the MRC Human Genetics Unit, Institute of Genetics and Cancer, University of Edinburgh. Simon completed an MD-PhD, having done his PhD with Dr Gordon Hager at the National Cancer Institute (NCI), National Institutes of Health (NIH). While undertaking specialty training, he undertook research with Dr Len Pennacchio and Dr Axel Visel at the Joint Genome Institute and Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory, and Prof Tony Green at the Cambridge Institute for Medical Research. He relocated to Edinburgh in 2018, joining the laboratory of Prof Wendy Bickmore. Now a senior clinical lecturer, he continues clinical practice in intensive care medicine, while his research group is interested in the mechanisms of genetic variants, transcription regulation and translational genomics, with a focus on inflammatory signalling and tissue damage.
https://usher.ed.ac.uk/anaesthesia/team-members/fellows/dr-simon-biddie
The seminar is organized by the UEF Faculty of Health Sciences, and it is open to everyone interested.
Seminars is Health Sciences_2404_2025_Biddie
A warm welcome to Seminars in Health Sciences seminar on Monday 24 Feb 2025 at 15:15-16:15 in SN300 (Snellmania).
Topic: Atherosclerosis: One Size Does Not Fit All – A Molecular Perspective
Speaker: Prof. Gerard Pasterkamp, MD
Gerard Pasterkamp, MD, is professor Experimental Cardiology and quarter maker of the Circulatory Health Research Center, UMC Utrecht. His research interests are in the field of cardiovascular biology and more specifically innovation in biomarkers. His research interests are in the field of cardiovascular biology and innovation in biomarkers and drug targets. The research group houses the largest atherosclerotic plaque biobank worldwide: Athero Express including >4000 patients. This biobank has generated new insights into determinants of plaque destabilisation. The laboratory also invests in the excavation of genetic determinants of atherosclerotic plaque characteristics. He coordinates national and EU based consortia with the aim to unravel biomarkers and mechanisms of atherosclerotic disease. His translational profile is noted in the private public consortia he is involved in.
https://research.umcutrecht.nl/researchers/pasterkamp/
The seminar is organized by the UEF Faculty of Health Sciences, and it is open to everyone interested.
A warm welcome to Seminars in Health Sciences seminar on Friday 21 Feb 2025 at 10:00-11:00 in Tietoteknia Auditorium (TTA).
Topic: Genetic insights into the lifelong health of women and children
Speaker: Principal Investigator Taru Tukiainen, DSc (Tech)
Dr. Taru Tukiainen is a principal investigator at the Faculty of Medicine at the University of Helsinki. Her research delves into the genetic mechanisms and interactions that influence lifelong health, with a particular emphasis on women’s health and maternal-fetal interplay. These investigations build on the use of large-scale human genomic resources such as FinnGen. Taru received her D.Sc. (Tech.) degree in computational systems biology from Aalto University in 2012 for her research on the genetic underpinnings of metabolomics traits in Finnish population cohorts. In 2013-2015, Taru worked as a postdoctoral researcher at the Massachusetts General Hospital and the Broad Institute, where her research focused on the application of transcriptomics to understand the impacts of genetic variation and epigenetic phenomena. After returning to Finland, Taru completed the three-year Academy of Finland postdoctoral project at the Institute for Molecular Medicine Finland FIMM, University of Helsinki, on the role of the X chromosome in human complex traits. Taru launced her own research group as an Academy Research Fellow in September 2018 at FIMM with a research focus on understanding the underpinnings of sex differences in health and disease.
https://www.helsinki.fi/en/researchgroups/genomics-of-sex-differences
The seminar is organized by the UEF Faculty of Health Sciences, and it is open to everyone interested.
Welcome!
Frontiers in Health Sciences seminar
A warm welcome to Frontiers in Health Sciences seminar on Thursday 23 Jan 2025 at 15:00–16:00 in CA102 (Canthia) and Teams.
Topic: Transforming Healthcare: AI in diagnostics and patient treatment in Contact Dermatitis
Speaker: Prof. Nanna Fyhrquist, PhD
“My research focuses on children’s environmental health and skin inflammation, with an emphasis on how genes, the environment, and the microbiome shape health and prevent disease. I have contributed to the “biodiversity hypothesis,” showing that rural children have fewer allergies due to a more diverse microbiome. Additionally, I study the impact of chemical exposures on children’s health in Stockholm, particularly how endocrine disruptors may contribute to metabolic diseases. In my skin-related research, my goal is to identify key biomarkers to improve the diagnosis and treatment of eczema and allergies.”
The seminar is organized by the UEF Faculty of Health Sciences, and it is open to everyone interested.
Welcome!
Frontiers in Health Sciences seminar
A warm welcome to Frontiers in Health Sciences seminar on Monday 16 Dec 2024 at 15:15-16:15 in SN200 (Snellmania) and Teams.
Topic: Dissecting human hematopoietic stem cell development, self-renewal and transformation
Speaker: Prof. Hanna K.A. Mikkola, MD, PhD
Hanna K.A. Mikkola, M.D., Ph.D., studies how blood stem cells are generated during embryonic development and how their ability to self-renew and give rise to differentiated blood cell types is orchestrated by cues from their microenvironment. The ultimate goal of her research is to develop methods to produce functional blood stem cells in the lab, which would enable more effective treatments for leukemia and other blood cell disorders.
https://stemcell.ucla.edu/member-directory/hanna-ka-mikkola-md-phd
The seminar is organized by the UEF Faculty of Health Sciences, and it is open to everyone interested.
Welcome!
Frontiers in Health Sciences seminar
hosted by UEF Metabolic Diseases Research Community
A warm welcome to Frontiers in Health Sciences seminar on Wednesday 20 November 2024 at 16:00 in Zoom.
Topic: Integrating single cell omics data with biobank data to identify genes and biomarkers for cardiometabolic disorders
Speaker: Professor Päivi Pajukanta, MD, PhD from UCLA
“I am Päivi Pajukanta, MD, PhD, Professor of Human Genetics, and recipient of The Diller-von Furstenberg Family Endowed Chair in Precision Clinical Genomics in the David Geffen School of Medicine at UCLA. My research group is using integrative genomics approaches on multilayer genomics data, including single cell omics data, to identify cell-type-specific mechanisms underlying obesity and related cardiovascular and metabolic disorders, such as type 2 diabetes (T2D), dyslipidemia, and metabolic dysfunction-associated steatotic liver disease (MASLD). I am especially interested in 1) genomic studies of the admixed Mexican population that has been underrepresented in genomic studies despite their high predisposition to obesity, T2D, dyslipidemias, and MASLD; 2) development of computational approaches for complex traits; and 3) utilizing single cell and bulk level RNA-sequencing and ATAC-sequencing approaches to study gene-environment interactions contributing to cardiovascular and metabolic traits.”
Website: https://bioscience.ucla.edu/people/paivi-pajukanta/
Lab website: https://pajukantalab.dgsom.ucla.edu/
The seminar is organized by the UEF Faculty of Health Sciences and hosted by UEF Metabolic Diseases Research Community.The event is open to everyone interested!
Welcome!
Frontiers in Health Sciences seminar Päivi Pajukanta 20112024
A warm welcome to Frontiers in Health Sciences seminar on Thursday 24 October 2024 at 15:00 in BT1 3208 (Bioteknia) and Teams.
Topic: Looking at neurodevelopmental disorders through the lens of evolution: a role for autophagy
Speaker: Prof. Nael Nadif Kasri
I am a neurobiologist with extensive expertise in synaptic plasticity, focusing on both functional and structural aspects. My training integrates electrophysiology, imaging, and molecular biology, applied in both cellular and animal models. After completing my postdoctoral fellowship at Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory (supported by a Human Frontiers Science Program Fellowship), I established my independent research group in 2011 at Radboud University Medical Center in Nijmegen, the Netherlands, within the Department of Human Genetics.
My research aims to uncover new neurobiological mechanisms underlying neurodevelopmental disorders (NDDs), including intellectual disabilities, autism spectrum disorder, and epilepsy, by investigating disrupted genetic and epigenetic networks. My team employs a multi-disciplinary approach combining functional genomics with molecular and cellular neurobiology, such as the generation and characterization of induced pluripotent stem cell (iPSC)-derived human neural cells and mouse models. Our work is focused on integrating fundamental neurobiological research with clinical applications and personalized medicine. Notably, we have developed strong expertise in generating patient-derived neural lineages and analyzing their neurophysiological properties at both single-cell and network levels using multi-electrode array (MEA) technology, positioning us as leaders in this emerging field.
I have played key roles in numerous national and international research initiatives, including serving as the scientific coordinator of the ZonMW PSIDER program BRAINmodel, and contributing to projects such as the Simons Foundation award, ERANET-Neuron consortium DECODE!, EU-Horizon RIA-SIMPATHIC, EU Marie Curie ITN Scils, E-Rare IMPACT, and EJP-Rare Disorders SCN1A-UP!. In addition, I am the founder and organizer of the annual Dutch Neurodevelopmental Disorders Day and serve on the scientific advisory boards of the Koolen-de Vries Foundation, iDefine, and EpilepsieNL. I also coordinate the Brain Research Theme within the Netherlands Institute for Human Organ and Disease Model Technologies (hDMT).
This diverse array of activities underscores my commitment to advancing both fundamental neurobiological understanding and its translation into clinical applications.
http://www.nadifkasri-lab.com/Home.html
Looking at neurodevelopmental disorders through the lens of evolution: a role for autophagy
Neoteny, the retention of juvenile traits into adulthood, is a defining feature of human brain development and is believed to play a crucial role in shaping the cognitive and behavioral traits that distinguish our species. While the overall sequence of neurodevelopment is largely conserved across mammals, humans display a uniquely extended maturation process, enabling prolonged brain growth and enhanced neural plasticity. Recent research has highlighted the importance of human-specific genetic modifications, such as single nucleotide variants (SNVs), in driving these developmental changes.
In this seminar, I will present our research on a sapiens-specific SNV located in a regulatory region of a gene linked to neurodevelopmental disorders. Using CRISPR/Cas9 technology, we generated isogenic induced pluripotent stem cell (iPSC) lines carrying either the ancestral SNV or disease-causing mutations. Through a series of detailed cell biological and electrophysiological experiments in iPSC-derived neurons and brain organoids, we explored the functional impact of these mutations on neuronal development. Our findings highlight the role of autolysosomal function in brain evolution and development, revealing significant changes in the pace of neuronal maturation. This work deepens our understanding of the genetic and cellular mechanisms that underpin the unique neurodevelopmental trajectory of modern humans.
The seminar is organized by the UEF Faculty of Health Sciences and the event is open to everyone interested.
Welcome!
Frontiers in Health Sciences seminar
organized together with UEF Metabolic Diseases Research Community
A warm welcome to Frontiers in Health Sciences seminar on Wednesday 11 September 2024 at 15:00 in SN201 (Snellmania).
Topic: Towards better brain health with human cellular models – from molecular signatures to function
Speaker: Assistant Professor Helena Kilpinen
Dr. Helena Kilpinen is an assistant professor in genome biology at the Helsinki Institute of Life Science (HiLIFE) and a research group leader at the Institute for Molecular Medicine (FIMM) and Neuroscience Center at the Unversity of Helsinki, Finland. Helena received her PhD from the University of Helsinki in 2011 where she studied the genetic mechanisms underlying autism spectrum disorders. For her postdoctoral training, she transitioned to functional genomics, studying how DNA sequence variation influences different levels of gene regulation in human cells, first at the University of Geneva, Switzerland, and then at the European Bioinformatics Institute (EMBL-EBI) in Cambridge, UK. Helena started her research group in 2016, jointly at the UCL Great Ormond Street Institute of Child Health in London and the Wellcome Sanger Institute in Cambridge, UK. Helena’s group moved to the University of Helsinki in June 2020. Her group studies how genetic variation causes variability in cellular phenotypes, in particular during human neurodevelopment, and contributes to differential susceptibility to diseases, both common and rare.
https://kilpinenlab.org/
Towards better brain health with human cellular models – from molecular signatures to function
Induced pluripotent stem cell (iPSC) -based culture systems have led to a major shift in how we perform and think about human disease modeling, particularly in the context of disorders with a developmental origin. For example, human iPSC-derived neurons and glia have revolutionized the study of brain-related disorders, which previously relied heavily on animal models and post-mortem tissue. However, a significant bottleneck in the field lies in the scalability of iPSC-based experiments, as most current studies are underpowered to detect disease-relevant cellular phenotypes. Further, while genomic technologies, such as single cell RNA-sequencing, are essential in characterising the full spectrum of cell types generated in vitro, gene expression levels alone do not comprehensively reflect changes in cellular function and the biological processes that ultimately drive disease pathophysiology, highlighting the need to measure additional cellular phenotypes. To this end, I will discuss some of the recent efforts in my group to scale up iPSC studies and to understand phenotypic variability in iPSC-derived neuronal cells.
The seminar is organized by the UEF Faculty of Health Sciences together with UEF Metabolic Diseases Research Community. Coffee is served before the seminar in front of the seminar room
Frontiers in Health Sciences seminar
A warm welcome to Frontiers in Health Sciences seminar on Thursday 29 August 2024 at 15:00 in SN200 (Snellmania).
Topic: Drug target discovery using novel single-cell and spatial technologies
Speaker: Sikander Hayat, PhD
Dr. Sikander Hayat is a computer scientist turned computational biologist. He works at the medical hospital in Aachen, Germany, where he aims to bridge gaps between medical, biology and computer science topics. He has a small team of computational biologists that focuses on single-cell, spatial and machine learning to identify novel disease targets using human data. He moved back to Academia after working at Bayer for 5 years and has led and published several projects on biomedical data interpretation in Covid (Schreibing et al. 2022), Cardiac (Kuppe et al., 2022), and renal diseases (Hoeft et al. 2023; Xu et al. 2022). His work has also led to the creation of a spin-off startup – Sequantrix GmbH that aims to find novel drug targets for fibrosis using AI and single-cell omics data.
Frontiers is Health Sciences_07052024_Reinier Boon
Frontiers in Health Sciences seminar
A warm welcome to Frontiers in Health Sciences seminar on Tuesday 7th of May 2024 at 12:30-13:30 in TTA, Tietoteknia.
Topic: How endothelial cells and non-coding RNAs regulate cardiac aging
Speaker: Professor Reinier Boon
Since 2019 Reinier Boon is a professor at the Amsterdam UMC and at the Goethe University in Frankfurt. Reinier received his PhD degree with honors in 2008 from the Academic Medical Center of the University of Amsterdam. After his post-doc project in the Institute for Cardiovascular Regeneration in Frankfurt, Germany, Dr. Boon continued there as a junior group leader. He received multiple awards for his work on the role of small and long non-coding RNAs in aging of the cardiovascular system, for instance the Outstanding Achievement Award of the European Society of Cardiology in 2019. Dr. Boon’s research is mainly funded by the German Center for Cardiovascular Research (DZHK), the European Research Council (Consolidator grant), the Dutch Heart Foundation (DHF) and the European Union (Horizon 2020). Current research is focused on non-coding RNA and aging of the cardiovascular system, in particular in the context of heart failure.
The seminar is organized by the UEF Faculty of Health Sciences, and the event is open to everyone interested.
Welcome!
Frontiers in Health Sciences seminar
A warm welcome to Frontiers in Health Sciences seminar on Thursday 8th of February 2024 at 15:00-16:00 in CA102, Canthia and in Teams.
Topic: Use of real word data for decision making on medicines
Speaker: Prof. Olaf Klungel, Utrecht University
Olaf Klungel is professor of pharmacoepidemiologic methods at Utrecht University, Utrecht, the Netherlands. He is chair of the division of Pharmacoepidemiology & Clinical Pharmacology and scientific director of the Utrecht Institute for Pharmaceutical Sciences. He is also adjunct professor of Pharmacoepidemiology at the University of Southern Denmark in Odense. He was trained as a pharmacist and epidemiologist. His main research area is the development, improvement and evaluation of innovative methods of observational drug research. Main applications are in the post-registration phase of drug development.Prof. Klungel teaches pharmacoepidemiology and pharmacotherapy to medical and pharmacy students. He is (co-)author of over 350 papers in peer reviewed journals, book chapters and research reports.
Frontiers in Health Sciences seminar
A warm welcome to Frontiers in Health Sciences seminar on Monday 4th of December 2023 at 15:00-16:15 in SN200, Snellmania (Kuopio Campus) and in Teams.
Topic: Eliminating the seeds of relapse – targeting residual disease following targeted therapy
Speaker: Kari Kurppa, University of Turku
The laboratory of Dr. Kurppa aims to understand the means cancer cells use to develop resistance to cancer therapies. The laboratoy’s special focus are the mechanisms that enable the establishment of residual disease, or govern the maintenance of residual tumors following targeted cancer therapy. The overarching goal of Dr. Kurppa’s research is to develop rational combination strategies that will extend the long-term efficacy of clinically used cancer therapies.
https://sites.utu.fi/kurppalab/
This seminar is organized in collaboration with UEF CANCER Research community
Frontiers in Health Sciences seminar
A warm welcome to Frontiers in Health Sciences seminar on Thursday 28th of September 2023 at 15-16 in Teams.
Topic: The return of the lesion. Lessons from serendipity and perseverance.
Speaker: Juho Joutsa, University of Turku
Juho Joutsa, MD, PhD graduated from University of Turku and completed postdoctoral training at Massachusetts General Hospital and Harvard Medical School. Currently, he is professor of neurology at University of Turku and chief neurologist at Turku University Hospital. He leads Brain Stimulation and Neuroimaging laboratory (www.turkubrainlab.fi) and acts as the chair of Turku Brain and Mind Center.
Prof. Joutsa’s lab’s research work focuses on investigating the neurobiological mechanisms of brain disorders and aims to facilitate development of new treatment options. Joutsa is interested in a wide spectrum of brain disorders but especially neurological movement disorders and addictions. He uses a multimodal approach, combining brain lesions, state-of-the-art brain imaging methods (MRI, PET, SPECT) and brain stimulation techniques (TMS, DBS).
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Frontiers in Health Sciences seminar
A warm welcome to Frontiers in Health Sciences seminar on Thursday 7th of September 2023 at 10:00-11:00 in Teams.
Topic: Making sense of antisense transcription in the failing heart – mechanistic insights and therapeutic opportunities
Speaker: Olof Gidlöf, Lund University
Heart failure represents the end-stage of all heart disease and is a leading cause of mortality and hospitalization in developed countries. Therapies aimed at improving cardiac mechanical function and neurohormonal control in heart failure remains an unmet clinical need. Natural antisense transcripts (NATs), i.e., non-coding RNAs transcribed from the opposite strand of a protein-coding gene are a common feature throughout the human genome. Their roles as cis-acting transcriptional and post-transcriptional regulators means that NATs could constitute specific and effective targets for RNA-based therapies. In this seminar, recent data from the Gidlöf lab revealing new insights into the biology and therapeutic potential of cardiac NATs will be disseminated.
Olof Gidlöf is associate professor in experimental cardiology and principal investigator of the Cardiovascular Epigenetics unit at Lund University. OG has a background studying the role of non-coding RNA and epigenetics in cardiovascular disease at Lund University, University of Miami and the Scripps Research Institute. Currently, OG’s research is mainly focused on molecular and translational studies of heart failure, with the aim of identifying targets for RNA-based therapies.