{"id":223,"date":"2023-03-02T12:46:01","date_gmt":"2023-03-02T10:46:01","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/sites.uef.fi\/doctoral-program-courses-faculty-of-health-sciences\/?page_id=223"},"modified":"2026-04-10T14:54:04","modified_gmt":"2026-04-10T11:54:04","slug":"frontiers-in-health-sciences","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/sites.uef.fi\/doctoral-program-courses-faculty-of-health-sciences\/frontiers-in-health-sciences\/","title":{"rendered":"Seminars in Health Sciences"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p>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!<\/p>\n\n\n\t<div id=\"accordion-block_60dd4c99ebc1e5c477a6dd330d4ef16e\" class=\"accordions\">\n\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"accordion accordion-js\">\n\t\t\t\t<button class=\"accordion__button\" aria-controls=\"content-3613\" aria-expanded=\"false\" id=\"accordion-control-3613\">\n\t\t\t\t\t<h3 class=\"accordion__heading\" >\n\t\t\t\t\t\tSeptember 2026\t\t\t\t\t<\/h3>\n\t\t\t\t<\/button>\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"accordion__content\" role=\"region\" aria-labelledby=\"accordion-control-3613\" aria-hidden=\"true\" id=\"content-3613\">\n\t\t\t\t\t<p>A warm welcome to Seminars in Health Sciences seminar on Monday 14 September 2026 at 15:00-16:00 in SN200 (Snellmania)<\/p>\n<p><strong>Topic:<\/strong> Predicting individual cardiometabolic disease risks and treatment responses by integrating single cell multiomics and biobank data<br \/>\n<strong>Speaker:<\/strong> Prof. P\u00e4ivi Pajukanta, UCLA<br \/>\n<strong>Host:<\/strong> Prof. Minna Kaikkonen-M\u00e4\u00e4tt\u00e4<\/p>\n<p>I am P\u00e4ivi Pajukanta, MD, PhD, and Professor of Human Genetics at the University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA). <a href=\"https:\/\/pajukantalab.dgsom.ucla.edu\/\">My research group<\/a> is interested in integrative functional genomics of obesity and related cardiometabolic diseases (CMDs), including type 2 diabetes (T2D), metabolic dysfunction-associated steatotic liver disease (MASLD), and coronary heart disease (CHD). In our studies, we identify genomic, transcriptional, and epigenomic effects contributing to CMDs by integrating transcriptomics, epigenomics, and other omics and functional data with clinical data in biobanks. To achieve our research aims, we have successfully employed exome sequencing, targeted resequencing, genome-wide SNP arrays, bulk and single nucleus RNA-sequencing, ATAC-sequencing, promoter Capture Hi-C, genome-wide epigenomic single cell methylation and 3D, and experimental data; study samples from multiple populations; and a variety of novel and state of the art statistical methods of genomics and systems genetics. I have also participated in the development of multiple computational and statistical methods for complex traits. I am especially interested in multiomics studies integrating single cell level expression and epigenome data from metabolic tissues with cardiovascular and metabolic traits in large biobanks. I have served as a PI in several NIH R01 grants and as a Project Leader of an NIH PPG grant during three cycles. I am also the Diller-von Furstenberg Family Endowed Chair in Precision Clinical Genomics; the Vice Chair of Department of Human Genetics at UCLA; the Director of Genetics and Genomics PhD program at UCLA; and the Director of Cardiometabolic Genomics, Institute for Precision Health at UCLA. In addition, I have served as an ad hoc reviewer and study section member of NIH R01, PPG, and K grant applications. I have also mentored multiple undergraduate, graduate, and postdoctoral students during the last 20 years.<\/p>\n<p><strong><em>Welcome!<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"aligncenter size-full wp-image-1912\" src=\"https:\/\/sites.uef.fi\/doctoral-program-courses-faculty-of-health-sciences\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/387\/2026\/04\/Pajukanta-scaled.png\" alt=\"\" width=\"2560\" height=\"1393\" srcset=\"https:\/\/sites.uef.fi\/doctoral-program-courses-faculty-of-health-sciences\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/387\/2026\/04\/Pajukanta-scaled.png 2560w, https:\/\/sites.uef.fi\/doctoral-program-courses-faculty-of-health-sciences\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/387\/2026\/04\/Pajukanta-300x163.png 300w, https:\/\/sites.uef.fi\/doctoral-program-courses-faculty-of-health-sciences\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/387\/2026\/04\/Pajukanta-1024x557.png 1024w, https:\/\/sites.uef.fi\/doctoral-program-courses-faculty-of-health-sciences\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/387\/2026\/04\/Pajukanta-768x418.png 768w, https:\/\/sites.uef.fi\/doctoral-program-courses-faculty-of-health-sciences\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/387\/2026\/04\/Pajukanta-1536x836.png 1536w, https:\/\/sites.uef.fi\/doctoral-program-courses-faculty-of-health-sciences\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/387\/2026\/04\/Pajukanta-2048x1115.png 2048w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 2560px) 100vw, 2560px\" \/><\/p>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"accordion accordion-js\">\n\t\t\t\t<button class=\"accordion__button\" aria-controls=\"content-9251\" aria-expanded=\"false\" id=\"accordion-control-9251\">\n\t\t\t\t\t<h3 class=\"accordion__heading\" >\n\t\t\t\t\t\tJune 2026\t\t\t\t\t<\/h3>\n\t\t\t\t<\/button>\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"accordion__content\" role=\"region\" aria-labelledby=\"accordion-control-9251\" aria-hidden=\"true\" id=\"content-9251\">\n\t\t\t\t\t<p><strong>Seminars in Health Sciences <\/strong><\/p>\n<p>A warm welcome to <a href=\"https:\/\/sites.uef.fi\/doctoral-program-courses-faculty-of-health-sciences\/frontiers-in-health-sciences\/\">Seminars in Health Sciences<\/a> seminar on Thursday 4 June 2026 at 14:30-15:00 in Auditorio 2 (Kuopio University Hospital) and <a href=\"https:\/\/go.uef.fi\/kpyv\">Zoom<\/a> (Meeting ID: 628 4100 1717; Passcode: 481208).<\/p>\n<p><strong>Topic: <\/strong>African Palliative Care Association (APCA) in the Development of Palliative Care in Africa<\/p>\n<p><strong>Speaker: <\/strong>Associate Professor Liz Gwyther, UCT, South Africa<\/p>\n<p><strong>Host:<\/strong> Professor Reino P\u00f6yhi\u00e4<\/p>\n<p>Associate professor <strong>Liz Gwyther<\/strong>, MD, PhD, the founder of the academic palliative care in South Africa, is an internationally acknowledged pioneer of palliative medicine and belongs to the great ladies of palliative medicine in the world. She was born in Zimbabwe and studied medicine at the University of Cape Town graduating in 1979 with MB ChB. She received her diploma in palliative medicine 1998 and MSc in palliative medicine in 2003 in the University of Wales, UK, and defended her PhD thesis on \u201cPalliative Care as a part of Right to Health\u201d in 2018 in the University of Cape Town (UCT), where she has been working as an associate professor of palliative medicine. Prof Gwyther`s numeral professional activities include several CEO- and Director positions in South African hospices, in the International Association of Hospice and Palliative Care and in the African Palliative Care Association (APCA). Prof Gwyther has also acted as a Chairperson in the Worldwide Hospice Palliative Care Alliance and as a consultant to WHO Integrated health Services. Currently, she continues actively research as an emerita professor at UCT. Prof Gwyther has guided several PhD-students in the field of palliative medicine and the list of her publications include over 120 papers in peer-reviewed academic journals and text-books on ethics, psychological and spiritual issues, organizing and PROMS in palliative care. Although prof Gwyther has been an asked lecturer and chairperson in many scientific events around the world, she visiting now in Finland for the first time.<\/p>\n<p><strong><em>Welcome!<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignnone wp-image-1901 size-full\" src=\"https:\/\/sites.uef.fi\/doctoral-program-courses-faculty-of-health-sciences\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/387\/2026\/04\/UEF_Seminars_In_Health_Sciences_GwytherLiz.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"2560\" height=\"1440\" srcset=\"https:\/\/sites.uef.fi\/doctoral-program-courses-faculty-of-health-sciences\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/387\/2026\/04\/UEF_Seminars_In_Health_Sciences_GwytherLiz.jpg 2560w, https:\/\/sites.uef.fi\/doctoral-program-courses-faculty-of-health-sciences\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/387\/2026\/04\/UEF_Seminars_In_Health_Sciences_GwytherLiz-300x169.jpg 300w, https:\/\/sites.uef.fi\/doctoral-program-courses-faculty-of-health-sciences\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/387\/2026\/04\/UEF_Seminars_In_Health_Sciences_GwytherLiz-1024x576.jpg 1024w, https:\/\/sites.uef.fi\/doctoral-program-courses-faculty-of-health-sciences\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/387\/2026\/04\/UEF_Seminars_In_Health_Sciences_GwytherLiz-768x432.jpg 768w, https:\/\/sites.uef.fi\/doctoral-program-courses-faculty-of-health-sciences\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/387\/2026\/04\/UEF_Seminars_In_Health_Sciences_GwytherLiz-1536x864.jpg 1536w, https:\/\/sites.uef.fi\/doctoral-program-courses-faculty-of-health-sciences\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/387\/2026\/04\/UEF_Seminars_In_Health_Sciences_GwytherLiz-2048x1152.jpg 2048w, https:\/\/sites.uef.fi\/doctoral-program-courses-faculty-of-health-sciences\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/387\/2026\/04\/UEF_Seminars_In_Health_Sciences_GwytherLiz-992x558.jpg 992w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 2560px) 100vw, 2560px\" \/><\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"accordion accordion-js\">\n\t\t\t\t<button class=\"accordion__button\" aria-controls=\"content-2953\" aria-expanded=\"false\" id=\"accordion-control-2953\">\n\t\t\t\t\t<h3 class=\"accordion__heading\" >\n\t\t\t\t\t\tMay 2026\t\t\t\t\t<\/h3>\n\t\t\t\t<\/button>\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"accordion__content\" role=\"region\" aria-labelledby=\"accordion-control-2953\" aria-hidden=\"true\" id=\"content-2953\">\n\t\t\t\t\t<p>A warm welcome to Seminars in Health Sciences seminar on Wednesday 13 May 2026 at 13:00-14:00 in SN201 (Snellmania).<\/p>\n<p><strong>Topic: <\/strong>From GWAS to function: bridging the colocalisation gap<br \/>\n<strong>\u00a0<\/strong><br \/>\n<strong>Speaker: <\/strong>Associate prof. Kaur Alasoo, University of Tartu<br \/>\n<strong>\u00a0<\/strong><br \/>\n<strong>Host:<\/strong> Prof. Minna Kaikkonen-M\u00e4\u00e4tt\u00e4<\/p>\n<p><strong>Kaur Alasoo <\/strong>is an Associate Professor of Bioinformatics at the Institute of Computer Science, University of Tartu. His research group focuses on large-scale analysis and harmonisation of genomic datasets to advance the interpretation of genome-wide association studies. Kaur studied Computer Science at the University of Tartu, completed MSc in Systems Biology at Aalto University (Finland) and Instituto Superior Technico (Portugal) and obtained his PhD degree from University of Cambridge and Welcome Sanger Institute. His research group is most well-known for the eQTL Catalogue, which is the largest collection of uniformly processed human gene expression and splicing QTL datasets. More recently, Kaur has turned his attention to exploring how various other high-throughput molecular measurements (such as plasma metabolites) can reveal the context-specific effects of genetic variants on protein function.<\/p>\n<p><strong>Welcome!<\/strong><\/p>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"aligncenter size-full wp-image-1905\" src=\"https:\/\/sites.uef.fi\/doctoral-program-courses-faculty-of-health-sciences\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/387\/2026\/04\/Seminars-in-Health-Sciences-Kaur-Alasoo-scaled.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"2560\" height=\"1393\" srcset=\"https:\/\/sites.uef.fi\/doctoral-program-courses-faculty-of-health-sciences\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/387\/2026\/04\/Seminars-in-Health-Sciences-Kaur-Alasoo-scaled.jpg 2560w, https:\/\/sites.uef.fi\/doctoral-program-courses-faculty-of-health-sciences\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/387\/2026\/04\/Seminars-in-Health-Sciences-Kaur-Alasoo-300x163.jpg 300w, https:\/\/sites.uef.fi\/doctoral-program-courses-faculty-of-health-sciences\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/387\/2026\/04\/Seminars-in-Health-Sciences-Kaur-Alasoo-1024x557.jpg 1024w, https:\/\/sites.uef.fi\/doctoral-program-courses-faculty-of-health-sciences\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/387\/2026\/04\/Seminars-in-Health-Sciences-Kaur-Alasoo-768x418.jpg 768w, https:\/\/sites.uef.fi\/doctoral-program-courses-faculty-of-health-sciences\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/387\/2026\/04\/Seminars-in-Health-Sciences-Kaur-Alasoo-1536x836.jpg 1536w, https:\/\/sites.uef.fi\/doctoral-program-courses-faculty-of-health-sciences\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/387\/2026\/04\/Seminars-in-Health-Sciences-Kaur-Alasoo-2048x1115.jpg 2048w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 2560px) 100vw, 2560px\" \/><\/p>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"accordion accordion-js\">\n\t\t\t\t<button class=\"accordion__button\" aria-controls=\"content-6560\" aria-expanded=\"false\" id=\"accordion-control-6560\">\n\t\t\t\t\t<h3 class=\"accordion__heading\" >\n\t\t\t\t\t\tJanuary 2026 (2)\t\t\t\t\t<\/h3>\n\t\t\t\t<\/button>\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"accordion__content\" role=\"region\" aria-labelledby=\"accordion-control-6560\" aria-hidden=\"true\" id=\"content-6560\">\n\t\t\t\t\t<p><strong>Seminars in Health Sciences <\/strong><\/p>\n<p>A warm welcome to Seminars in Health Sciences seminar on Tuesday 13 January 2026 at 15:00-16:00 in SN200 (Snellmania) and <a href=\"https:\/\/teams.microsoft.com\/l\/meetup-join\/19%3ameeting_YTgxMzU3NTEtMmNlYi00ZjQwLTkzNzktZWU3NjNjY2RjNTk4%40thread.v2\/0?context=%7b%22Tid%22%3a%2287879f2e-7304-4bf2-baf2-63e7f83f3c34%22%2c%22Oid%22%3a%22dbb5906f-9180-42ed-a374-c90338b1bf37%22%7d\">Teams<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p><strong>Topic: <\/strong>Unusual suspects in pathology of CAD and Cancer-Related Cardiovascular Risk &#8211; Microcirculation Matters<\/p>\n<p><strong>Speaker: <\/strong>Prof. Andreas M. Beyer \u2013 Medical College of Wisconsin, USA<\/p>\n<p><strong>Host:<\/strong> Prof. Minna Kaikkonen-M\u00e4\u00e4tt\u00e4<\/p>\n<p><strong>Andreas M. Beyer, Ph.D., FAHA, FCVS-APS<\/strong> is a Professor of Medicine and Physiology and Co-Director of the Cardio-Oncology Basic and Translational Research Program at the Medical College of Wisconsin. He is recognized for his work on vascular pathophysiology, with a focus on microvascular endothelial dysfunction and mitochondrial stress responses. Dr. Beyer\u2019s research bridges molecular discovery and clinical application, aiming to understand how cancer therapies contribute to cardiovascular toxicity and to develop precision strategies for prevention and treatment.<\/p>\n<p>Dr. Beyer has pioneered translational approaches to study human microcirculation, uncovering mechanisms of mitochondrial integrity and non-canonical telomerase signaling in vascular health and disease. His current work encompasses vascular physiology, and Cardio-Oncology to identify biomarkers and therapeutic targets for major adverse cardiovascular events in cancer survivors. He leads NIH- and AHA-funded projects on chemotherapy-induced vascular dysfunction, racial disparities in Cardio-Oncology as well as recant explorations into RNA-based precision medicine. His work aims to transform survivorship care by reducing cardiovascular risk and improving quality of life for diverse patient populations.<\/p>\n<p>The seminar is organized by the UEF Faculty of Health Sciences, and it is open to everyone interested.<strong>\u00a0\u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n<p><strong>NB!<\/strong> Dr. Beyer has been selected as the Fulbright\u2013Saastamoinen Foundation Distinguished Chair in Health Sciences and as a UEF Distinguished Professor 2026-2028. He is visiting the University of Eastern Finland throughout January 2026. During his visit, he will give lectures also in \u201c<a href=\"https:\/\/sites.uef.fi\/doctoral-program-courses-faculty-of-health-sciences\/courses\/\">Current Concepts in Vascular Biology<\/a>\u201d course and is eager to meet UEF researchers with shared scientific interests. If you would like to connect with him, please email him at <strong><em>abeyer(a)mcw.edu<\/em><\/strong> or contact the seminar host.<\/p>\n<p><strong><em>Welcome!<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n<p><strong><em><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"aligncenter wp-image-1828 size-full\" src=\"https:\/\/sites.uef.fi\/doctoral-program-courses-faculty-of-health-sciences\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/387\/2025\/12\/Beyer-scaled.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"2560\" height=\"1393\" srcset=\"https:\/\/sites.uef.fi\/doctoral-program-courses-faculty-of-health-sciences\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/387\/2025\/12\/Beyer-scaled.jpg 2560w, https:\/\/sites.uef.fi\/doctoral-program-courses-faculty-of-health-sciences\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/387\/2025\/12\/Beyer-300x163.jpg 300w, https:\/\/sites.uef.fi\/doctoral-program-courses-faculty-of-health-sciences\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/387\/2025\/12\/Beyer-1024x557.jpg 1024w, https:\/\/sites.uef.fi\/doctoral-program-courses-faculty-of-health-sciences\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/387\/2025\/12\/Beyer-768x418.jpg 768w, https:\/\/sites.uef.fi\/doctoral-program-courses-faculty-of-health-sciences\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/387\/2025\/12\/Beyer-1536x836.jpg 1536w, https:\/\/sites.uef.fi\/doctoral-program-courses-faculty-of-health-sciences\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/387\/2025\/12\/Beyer-2048x1115.jpg 2048w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 2560px) 100vw, 2560px\" \/><\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"accordion accordion-js\">\n\t\t\t\t<button class=\"accordion__button\" aria-controls=\"content-9760\" aria-expanded=\"false\" id=\"accordion-control-9760\">\n\t\t\t\t\t<h3 class=\"accordion__heading\" >\n\t\t\t\t\t\tJanuary 2026 (1)\t\t\t\t\t<\/h3>\n\t\t\t\t<\/button>\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"accordion__content\" role=\"region\" aria-labelledby=\"accordion-control-9760\" aria-hidden=\"true\" id=\"content-9760\">\n\t\t\t\t\t<p><strong>Seminars in Health Sciences <\/strong><\/p>\n<p>A warm welcome to <a href=\"https:\/\/sites.uef.fi\/doctoral-program-courses-faculty-of-health-sciences\/frontiers-in-health-sciences\/\">Seminars in Health Sciences<\/a> seminar on Thursday 8 January 2026 at 10:00-11:00 in MS300 (Medistudia) and <a href=\"https:\/\/teams.microsoft.com\/l\/meetup-join\/19%3ameeting_YjAwZmI5ZTctMjRmZS00NTc1LTg2YTctYjY4ZmY2ZjVkNDM5%40thread.v2\/0?context=%7b%22Tid%22%3a%2287879f2e-7304-4bf2-baf2-63e7f83f3c34%22%2c%22Oid%22%3a%22dbb5906f-9180-42ed-a374-c90338b1bf37%22%7d\">Teams<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p><strong>Topic: <\/strong>Housing, Environment and Health Outcomes in the United States<\/p>\n<p><strong>Speaker: <\/strong>Prof. Kirsten Beyer, Medical College of Wisconsin, USA<\/p>\n<p><strong>Host:<\/strong> Prof. Minna Kaikkonen-M\u00e4\u00e4tt\u00e4 &amp; Research Director Toni Rikkonen<\/p>\n<p><strong>Dr. Kirsten Beyer <\/strong>is a Professor in the Division of Epidemiology &amp; Social Sciences in the Institute for Health &amp; Humanity at the Medical College of Wisconsin. She is Director of the PhD Program in Public and Community Health, Co-Director of the Global Health Scholarly Concentration for medical students, and Co-Director of the Geospatial, Epidemiology and Outcomes Shared Resource (GEOSR) of the MCW Cancer Center. She holds an adjunct faculty appointment in Geography at the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee. Dr. Beyer received her PhD in Geography and her MPH in Global Health from the University of Iowa in Iowa City. Dr. Beyer focuses on the intersection of health, place, and social and environmental justice. She seeks to identify environmental and systemic causes of health disparities and to apply a community engaged research framework to move research findings into program and policy solutions to achieve health equity. She studies neighborhood characteristics such as green space, racial segregation, redlining and housing, as well as innovative community driven solutions to address challenges such as climate change and structural racism. She works locally and globally with a focus on non-communicable diseases, with established partnerships in Milwaukee, WI and Africa. She also partners with research groups across the country to examine influences of structural racism on a range of health outcomes using large cohort study databases. Her work has been funded by the National Institutes of Health, Environmental Protection Agency, American Cancer Society, American Heart Association and National Science Foundation.<\/p>\n<p><strong><em>Welcome!<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/sites.uef.fi\/doctoral-program-courses-faculty-of-health-sciences\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/387\/2025\/12\/Frontiers-is-Health-Sciences_08012026_Beyer.pdf\"><br \/>\n<img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignleft wp-image-1838 size-large\" src=\"https:\/\/sites.uef.fi\/doctoral-program-courses-faculty-of-health-sciences\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/387\/2025\/12\/Beyer1-1024x557.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"1024\" height=\"557\" srcset=\"https:\/\/sites.uef.fi\/doctoral-program-courses-faculty-of-health-sciences\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/387\/2025\/12\/Beyer1-1024x557.jpg 1024w, https:\/\/sites.uef.fi\/doctoral-program-courses-faculty-of-health-sciences\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/387\/2025\/12\/Beyer1-300x163.jpg 300w, https:\/\/sites.uef.fi\/doctoral-program-courses-faculty-of-health-sciences\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/387\/2025\/12\/Beyer1-768x418.jpg 768w, https:\/\/sites.uef.fi\/doctoral-program-courses-faculty-of-health-sciences\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/387\/2025\/12\/Beyer1-1536x836.jpg 1536w, https:\/\/sites.uef.fi\/doctoral-program-courses-faculty-of-health-sciences\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/387\/2025\/12\/Beyer1-2048x1115.jpg 2048w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 1024px) 100vw, 1024px\" \/><\/a><\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\n\n\t<div id=\"accordion-block_90cdf1fa8a084c34133ec78963c8d892\" class=\"accordions\">\n\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"accordion accordion-js\">\n\t\t\t\t<button class=\"accordion__button\" aria-controls=\"content-3967\" aria-expanded=\"false\" id=\"accordion-control-3967\">\n\t\t\t\t\t<h3 class=\"accordion__heading\" >\n\t\t\t\t\t\tNovember 2025\t\t\t\t\t<\/h3>\n\t\t\t\t<\/button>\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"accordion__content\" role=\"region\" aria-labelledby=\"accordion-control-3967\" aria-hidden=\"true\" id=\"content-3967\">\n\t\t\t\t\t<p>A warm welcome to Seminars in Health Sciences seminar on Thursday 13 November 2025 at 15:15-16:15 in SN201 (Snellmania) and <a href=\"https:\/\/teams.microsoft.com\/l\/meetup-join\/19%3ameeting_ZjRkODMxZjItMTA3NC00YjY5LWFiYzEtNzJlNjllNjJiN2Rj%40thread.v2\/0?context=%7b%22Tid%22%3a%2287879f2e-7304-4bf2-baf2-63e7f83f3c34%22%2c%22Oid%22%3a%22dbb5906f-9180-42ed-a374-c90338b1bf37%22%7d\">Teams<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p><strong>Topic: <\/strong>Diabetic Kidney Disease; Blood Pressure Reduction and Beyond<\/p>\n<p><strong>Speaker: <\/strong>Prof. Adam Whaley-Connell, DO \u2013 University of Missouri<\/p>\n<p>Prof Adam Whaley-Connell is a nephrologist by training and is the Associate Chief of Staff for Research and Development at the Harry S. Truman Memorial Veterans Hospital, in addition to being the Professor of Medicine in the division of nephrology and hypertension at the University of Missouri Columbia School of Medicine.<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/www.muhealth.org\/doctors\/adam-whaley-connell-do\">https:\/\/www.muhealth.org\/doctors\/adam-whaley-connell-do<\/a><\/p>\n<p>The seminar is organized by the UEF Faculty of Health Sciences, and it is open to everyone interested.<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/sites.uef.fi\/doctoral-program-courses-faculty-of-health-sciences\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/387\/2025\/09\/Seminars-in-Health-Sciences-13112025.pdf\">Seminars in Health Sciences 13112025<\/a><\/p>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\n\n\t<div id=\"accordion-block_a0beae8f97fd5971c885501403343389\" class=\"accordions\">\n\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"accordion accordion-js\">\n\t\t\t\t<button class=\"accordion__button\" aria-controls=\"content-8053\" aria-expanded=\"false\" id=\"accordion-control-8053\">\n\t\t\t\t\t<h3 class=\"accordion__heading\" >\n\t\t\t\t\t\tOctober 2025\t\t\t\t\t<\/h3>\n\t\t\t\t<\/button>\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"accordion__content\" role=\"region\" aria-labelledby=\"accordion-control-8053\" aria-hidden=\"true\" id=\"content-8053\">\n\t\t\t\t\t<p><strong>Seminars in Health Sciences <\/strong><\/p>\n<p>A warm welcome to Seminars in Health Sciences on Thursday 16 October, 2025 at 14:00 in Auditorio 1 (Kuopio University Hospital) or <a href=\"https:\/\/teams.microsoft.com\/l\/meetup-join\/19%3ameeting_NWM2NDA5ZTctNGQ3Mi00MzA1LTg4NTMtYmViNjZiYmI4MzVm%40thread.v2\/0?context=%7b%22Tid%22%3a%22c8ec9329-b3c3-489a-9227-0f70d232e4fa%22%2c%22Oid%22%3a%22566ce225-1047-4062-95da-53bd124f6afb%22%7d\">online<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p><strong>Topic:\u00a0<\/strong>Perivascular compartment in health and disease<\/p>\n<p><strong>Speaker:<\/strong> Roxanna Carare, Professor of Clinical Neuroanatomy<\/p>\n<p>Roxana Carare qualified in Medicine in Bucharest in 1994. During her basic clinical training, she became fascinated by anatomy and completed her PhD in neuropathology in 2006, in the University of Southampton, UK. The main international recognition for Roxana Carare has come from the interdisciplinary research she leads, relevant to the causes and new treatments for Alzheimer&#8217;s disease, with over 165 peer reviewed publications in the field. She led the discovery of the intramural periarterial drainage system for proteins and fluid from the brain that fails in ageing leading to Alzheimer\u2019s disease and her group now focusses on harnessing this system for efficient therapies and early biomarkers for age related neurodegenerative diseases.<\/p>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignnone wp-image-1805\" src=\"https:\/\/sites.uef.fi\/doctoral-program-courses-faculty-of-health-sciences\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/387\/2025\/10\/UEF_Seminars_In_Health_Sciences_251016-300x169.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"644\" height=\"363\" srcset=\"https:\/\/sites.uef.fi\/doctoral-program-courses-faculty-of-health-sciences\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/387\/2025\/10\/UEF_Seminars_In_Health_Sciences_251016-300x169.jpg 300w, https:\/\/sites.uef.fi\/doctoral-program-courses-faculty-of-health-sciences\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/387\/2025\/10\/UEF_Seminars_In_Health_Sciences_251016-1024x576.jpg 1024w, https:\/\/sites.uef.fi\/doctoral-program-courses-faculty-of-health-sciences\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/387\/2025\/10\/UEF_Seminars_In_Health_Sciences_251016-768x432.jpg 768w, https:\/\/sites.uef.fi\/doctoral-program-courses-faculty-of-health-sciences\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/387\/2025\/10\/UEF_Seminars_In_Health_Sciences_251016-992x558.jpg 992w, https:\/\/sites.uef.fi\/doctoral-program-courses-faculty-of-health-sciences\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/387\/2025\/10\/UEF_Seminars_In_Health_Sciences_251016.jpg 1280w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 644px) 100vw, 644px\" \/><\/p>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\n\n\t<div id=\"accordion-block_5e315786584ee53106802208d03fea66\" class=\"accordions\">\n\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"accordion accordion-js\">\n\t\t\t\t<button class=\"accordion__button\" aria-controls=\"content-6629\" aria-expanded=\"false\" id=\"accordion-control-6629\">\n\t\t\t\t\t<h3 class=\"accordion__heading\" >\n\t\t\t\t\t\tSeptember 2025\t\t\t\t\t<\/h3>\n\t\t\t\t<\/button>\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"accordion__content\" role=\"region\" aria-labelledby=\"accordion-control-6629\" aria-hidden=\"true\" id=\"content-6629\">\n\t\t\t\t\t<p><strong>Seminars in Health Sciences organized together with UEF Neurology and KUH Neuro Center<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>A warm welcome to Seminars in Health Sciences on Thursday 11 September 2025 at 14:00 in Auditorio 1 (Kuopio University Hospital) or <a href=\"https:\/\/eur03.safelinks.protection.outlook.com\/ap\/t-59584e83\/?url=https%3A%2F%2Fteams.microsoft.com%2Fl%2Fmeetup-join%2F19%253ameeting_MTE3YjJjOTgtMmRhNi00Y2QyLWE5ZGQtMjBmYzZlNjlmYzc1%2540thread.v2%2F0%3Fcontext%3D%257b%2522Tid%2522%253a%2522c8ec9329-b3c3-489a-9227-0f70d232e4fa%2522%252c%2522Oid%2522%253a%2522dafeec84-8f9a-4fad-8817-2bc04fbbc1b3%2522%257d&amp;data=05%7C02%7Cjenni.kublbeck%40uef.fi%7Cac1a408517cd4432617c08ddec4f3fe3%7C87879f2e73044bf2baf263e7f83f3c34%7C0%7C0%7C638926547316099226%7CUnknown%7CTWFpbGZsb3d8eyJFbXB0eU1hcGkiOnRydWUsIlYiOiIwLjAuMDAwMCIsIlAiOiJXaW4zMiIsIkFOIjoiTWFpbCIsIldUIjoyfQ%3D%3D%7C0%7C%7C%7C&amp;sdata=YcnK8YfVWSVKyH00CpvQKi5hxNas%2F6KkC7CPCEp3NGc%3D&amp;reserved=0\">online<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p>Talk 1:<\/p>\n<p><strong>Topic:<\/strong>\u00a0Therapeutic Pipeline for Periodic Paralysis: Channel Modifiers and Gene Therapy<\/p>\n<p><strong>Speaker:<\/strong>\u00a0Stephen Cannon, Professor of Physiology and Neurology<\/p>\n<p>Talk 2:<\/p>\n<p><strong>Topic: <\/strong>Gene Therapy for Muscular Dystrophy<\/p>\n<p><strong>Speaker: <\/strong>Melissa Spencer, Professor of Neurology<\/p>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignleft wp-image-1785 size-large\" src=\"https:\/\/sites.uef.fi\/doctoral-program-courses-faculty-of-health-sciences\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/387\/2025\/09\/Seminars-in-Health-Sciences-1-1024x576.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"1024\" height=\"576\" srcset=\"https:\/\/sites.uef.fi\/doctoral-program-courses-faculty-of-health-sciences\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/387\/2025\/09\/Seminars-in-Health-Sciences-1-1024x576.jpg 1024w, https:\/\/sites.uef.fi\/doctoral-program-courses-faculty-of-health-sciences\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/387\/2025\/09\/Seminars-in-Health-Sciences-1-300x169.jpg 300w, https:\/\/sites.uef.fi\/doctoral-program-courses-faculty-of-health-sciences\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/387\/2025\/09\/Seminars-in-Health-Sciences-1-768x432.jpg 768w, https:\/\/sites.uef.fi\/doctoral-program-courses-faculty-of-health-sciences\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/387\/2025\/09\/Seminars-in-Health-Sciences-1-992x558.jpg 992w, https:\/\/sites.uef.fi\/doctoral-program-courses-faculty-of-health-sciences\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/387\/2025\/09\/Seminars-in-Health-Sciences-1.jpg 1280w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 1024px) 100vw, 1024px\" \/><\/p>\n<p><strong>Steve Cannon<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>Dr. Steve Cannon is Professor and Chair of the Department of Physiology and Interim Chair of Pharmacology at the David Geffen School of Medicine at the University of California in Los Angeles. He received his MD and PhD at the Johns Hopkins Medical School and then completed a neurology residency at the Massachusetts General Hospital. As member of the neurobiology faculty at Harvard Medical School, he discovered a gain-of-function defect in the gating of mutant sodium channels in periodic paralysis. This marked the beginning of a series of contributions from the Cannon Lab on the biophysical basis of anomalous membrane excitability in the ion channelopathies of skeletal muscle. In 2002, he relocated to Dallas, TX as the Chair of Neurology and later served as Associate Dean for Medical Education at UT Southwestern Medical Center. Dr. Cannon moved to UCLA in 2015, where his lab uses genetically engineered mouse models and computational methods to investigate the mechanisms by which environmental triggers (K+, pH, exercise) transiently reduce muscle excitability to cause episodes of weakness in periodic paralysis. These insights have guided pharmacologic approaches and gene editing technologies to reduce or prevent susceptibility to attacks of weakness in preclinical studies of our knock-in mutant mouse models of periodic paralysis.<\/p>\n<p><strong> <img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"wp-image-1786 alignleft\" src=\"https:\/\/sites.uef.fi\/doctoral-program-courses-faculty-of-health-sciences\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/387\/2025\/09\/Seminars-in-Health-Sciences-2-1024x576.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"602\" height=\"338\" srcset=\"https:\/\/sites.uef.fi\/doctoral-program-courses-faculty-of-health-sciences\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/387\/2025\/09\/Seminars-in-Health-Sciences-2-1024x576.jpg 1024w, https:\/\/sites.uef.fi\/doctoral-program-courses-faculty-of-health-sciences\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/387\/2025\/09\/Seminars-in-Health-Sciences-2-300x169.jpg 300w, https:\/\/sites.uef.fi\/doctoral-program-courses-faculty-of-health-sciences\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/387\/2025\/09\/Seminars-in-Health-Sciences-2-768x432.jpg 768w, https:\/\/sites.uef.fi\/doctoral-program-courses-faculty-of-health-sciences\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/387\/2025\/09\/Seminars-in-Health-Sciences-2-992x558.jpg 992w, https:\/\/sites.uef.fi\/doctoral-program-courses-faculty-of-health-sciences\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/387\/2025\/09\/Seminars-in-Health-Sciences-2.jpg 1280w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 602px) 100vw, 602px\" \/>Melissa Spencer<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>I am a Professor of Neurology and the Program Director of the Neuromuscular Division at the University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA). My research focus is on understanding mechanisms underlying muscular dystrophies and developing innovative therapies to treat these debilitating diseases. As a principal investigator, I have led both basic and clinical studies for over 20 years, with my research funded by the National Institutes of Health (NIH), the Department of Defense (DOD), and various foundations. In recent years, we have focused on advancing gene therapy for neuromuscular disorders, specifically Duchenne muscular dystrophy (DMD) and limb-girdle muscular dystrophy (LGMD). A key aspect of the work involves the development of novel delivery vehicles to systemically administer these therapies. To improve the safety and efficacy of adeno-associated virus (AAV)-based therapies, we are investigating how AAV interacts with the immune system using single-cell approaches and traditional immune assays in both human and mouse models. A key goal is to refine the understanding of immune responses to AAV and improve the relevance of preclinical models for studying human immune reactions. In 2001, I was one of 11 investigators nominated by the NIH to receive the Presidential Early Career Award for Scientists and Engineers. I earned the Golden Test Tube Award for excellence in teaching at UCLA. Additionally, I was recently elected to serve on the National Institute of Arthritis and Musculoskeletal and Skin Diseases (NIAMS) Advisory Council. As a Professor of Neurology at UCLA, I am deeply committed to graduate and post-graduate didactic teaching and mentoring. I take pride in guiding graduate students both in the laboratory and outside the lab, where I provide career and personal development support. Additionally, I mentor Neuromuscular fellows, fostering their clinical expertise and research acumen.<\/p>\n<p>For more information, please contact prof. Reetta K\u00e4lvi\u00e4inen (<a href=\"mailto:reetta.kalviainen@uef.fi\">reetta.kalviainen@uef.fi<\/a>).<\/p>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\n\n\t<div id=\"accordion-block_b2b1d1d5bea2fe63bfd02e23fe2ee547\" class=\"accordions\">\n\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"accordion accordion-js\">\n\t\t\t\t<button class=\"accordion__button\" aria-controls=\"content-358\" aria-expanded=\"false\" id=\"accordion-control-358\">\n\t\t\t\t\t<h3 class=\"accordion__heading\" >\n\t\t\t\t\t\tJune 2025\t\t\t\t\t<\/h3>\n\t\t\t\t<\/button>\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"accordion__content\" role=\"region\" aria-labelledby=\"accordion-control-358\" aria-hidden=\"true\" id=\"content-358\">\n\t\t\t\t\t<p>A warm welcome to Seminars in Health Sciences seminar on Tuesday 10 June 2025 15:00-16:00 in SN201, Snellmania.<\/p>\n<p><strong>Topic: <\/strong>Finding cues in the tumor microenvironment for pancreatic cancer chemosensitivity<\/p>\n<p><strong>Speaker: <\/strong>Group leader <a href=\"https:\/\/sahulab.org\/\">Biswajyoti Sahu<\/a>, University of Oslo and University of Helsinki<\/p>\n<p>Dr. Biswa Sahu obtained his PhD with distinction from the Faculty of Medicine at the University of Helsinki, Finland, studying enhancer reprogramming in prostate cancer. He then pursued postdoctoral training with Professor Jussi Taipale at the University of Helsinki, Finland, and the University of Cambridge, UK, from 2013 to 2018. During this time, he developed a new human cell transformation approach and several novel designs to study the sequence determinants of human gene regulatory elements from completely random sequences using massively parallel reporter assays. Dr. Sahu has led his own research group since 2019 at the Faculty of Medicine, University of Helsinki. In 2022, he was recruited as a group leader in precision medicine to the Centre for Molecular Biosciences and Medicine Norway (NCMBM), an EMBL partner institute at the University of Oslo. Dr. Sahu\u2019s research focuses on the epigenetic plasticity of human cancer, with a particular emphasis on the non-coding regulatory genome, enhancer reprogramming, and how transposable elements contribute to cancer-specific gene regulatory circuits through enhancer hijacking. His group also investigates how transcription factors utilize these gene regulatory elements to control cell fate decisions and how non-genetic transcriptional mechanisms drive cancer initiation and treatment resistance. Dr. Sahu\u2019s group employs state-of-the-art experimental and computational methods to generate and integrate data using genome-wide multi-omics technologies at bulk and single cell resolution from patient material and various cellular and organoid models for understanding fundamental mechanisms of transcriptional regulation as well as enhanceropathies such as cancer.<\/p>\n<p>In my lecture, I will discuss our recent results on delineating the role of tumor microenvironment (TME) in pancreatic cancer progression and treatment response. The focus will be on the role of transcription factors (TF) in the TME and how cancer cell-extrinsic TF signaling modulates the treatment outcome of pancreatic cancer through the stromal cells. I will give a brief overview of our approach using single cell omics and machine learning methods to understand TF programs in pancreatic cancer cells.<\/p>\n<p>The seminar is organized by the UEF Faculty of Health Sciences and it is open to everyone interested.<\/p>\n<p><strong><em>Welcome!<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/sites.uef.fi\/doctoral-program-courses-faculty-of-health-sciences\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/387\/2025\/04\/Seminars-in-Health-Sciences-Sahu.pdf\">Seminars in Health Sciences Sahu<\/a><\/p>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\n\n\t<div id=\"accordion-block_bf1998e5adeff44793edb376e97e6e02\" class=\"accordions\">\n\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"accordion accordion-js\">\n\t\t\t\t<button class=\"accordion__button\" aria-controls=\"content-4354\" aria-expanded=\"false\" id=\"accordion-control-4354\">\n\t\t\t\t\t<h3 class=\"accordion__heading\" >\n\t\t\t\t\t\tMay 2025\t\t\t\t\t<\/h3>\n\t\t\t\t<\/button>\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"accordion__content\" role=\"region\" aria-labelledby=\"accordion-control-4354\" aria-hidden=\"true\" id=\"content-4354\">\n\t\t\t\t\t<p>A warm welcome to Seminars in Health Sciences seminar on Thursday 15 May 2025 at 15:15-16:15 in SN200 (Snellmania) and <a href=\"https:\/\/teams.microsoft.com\/l\/meetup-join\/19%3ameeting_NTRlZTc1NzQtZjM4Yy00ZWUyLWIwZmItZDA2N2E0YmI0YTk4%40thread.v2\/0?context=%7b%22Tid%22%3a%2287879f2e-7304-4bf2-baf2-63e7f83f3c34%22%2c%22Oid%22%3a%229ce984a1-6cf6-48e1-b0c7-f604547bad5a%22%7d\">Teams<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p><strong>Topic: <\/strong>Characterizing and overcoming therapy resistance in ovarian cancer<\/p>\n<p><strong>Speaker: <\/strong>Prof. Sampsa Hautaniemi, University of Helsinki<\/p>\n<p>Prof. Sampsa Hautaniemi graduated from Tampere University of Technology as Doctor of Technology 2003 after which he worked as a post-doctoral associate in the Lauffenburger lab in MIT. He established his research group in Faculty of Medicine, University of Helsinki in 2006 and was promoted as a professor of systems biology in 2013. Currently, his research group consists of 20 scientists. He is director of the Research Program in Systems Oncology (ONCOSYS) and coordinates EU Horizon 2020 project DECIDER. Prof. Hautaniemi\u2019s research focuses on developing and applying computational methods to understand and overcome drug resistance in cancer. His research integrates multi-omics data, machine learning, and mathematical modeling to analyze complex biological systems, particularly in ovarian cancer.<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/www.mv.helsinki.fi\/home\/shautani\/\">https:\/\/www.mv.helsinki.fi\/home\/shautani\/<\/a><\/p>\n<p>The seminar is organized by the UEF Faculty of Health Sciences and it is open to everyone interested.<\/p>\n<p><strong><em>Welcome!<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/sites.uef.fi\/doctoral-program-courses-faculty-of-health-sciences\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/387\/2025\/03\/Seminars-in-Health-Sciences-Hautaniemi.pdf\">Seminars in Health Sciences Hautaniemi<\/a><\/p>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\n\n\t<div id=\"accordion-block_cd3151b242c7238afbc86307c4ae0363\" class=\"accordions\">\n\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"accordion accordion-js\">\n\t\t\t\t<button class=\"accordion__button\" aria-controls=\"content-4137\" aria-expanded=\"false\" id=\"accordion-control-4137\">\n\t\t\t\t\t<h3 class=\"accordion__heading\" >\n\t\t\t\t\t\tApril 2025\t\t\t\t\t<\/h3>\n\t\t\t\t<\/button>\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"accordion__content\" role=\"region\" aria-labelledby=\"accordion-control-4137\" aria-hidden=\"true\" id=\"content-4137\">\n\t\t\t\t\t<p>A warm welcome to Seminars in Health Sciences seminar on Thursday 24 Apr 2025 at 15:00-16:00 in SN200 (Snellmania).<\/p>\n<p><strong>Topic: <\/strong>Functional genetic variants \u2013 from non-coding to coding mechanisms<\/p>\n<p><strong>Speaker: <\/strong>Senior clinical lecturer Simon Biddie, MD-PhD<\/p>\n<p>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.<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/usher.ed.ac.uk\/anaesthesia\/team-members\/fellows\/dr-simon-biddie\">https:\/\/usher.ed.ac.uk\/anaesthesia\/team-members\/fellows\/dr-simon-biddie<\/a><\/p>\n<p>The seminar is organized by the UEF Faculty of Health Sciences, and it is open to everyone interested.<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/sites.uef.fi\/doctoral-program-courses-faculty-of-health-sciences\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/387\/2025\/02\/Seminars-is-Health-Sciences_2404_2025_Biddie.pdf\">Seminars is Health Sciences_2404_2025_Biddie<\/a><\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\n\n\t<div id=\"accordion-block_cd86f62f3375d9306b9f08553e80e1d9\" class=\"accordions\">\n\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"accordion accordion-js\">\n\t\t\t\t<button class=\"accordion__button\" aria-controls=\"content-4525\" aria-expanded=\"false\" id=\"accordion-control-4525\">\n\t\t\t\t\t<h3 class=\"accordion__heading\" >\n\t\t\t\t\t\tMarch 2025\t\t\t\t\t<\/h3>\n\t\t\t\t<\/button>\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"accordion__content\" role=\"region\" aria-labelledby=\"accordion-control-4525\" aria-hidden=\"true\" id=\"content-4525\">\n\t\t\t\t\t<p>A warm welcome to Seminars in Health Sciences seminar on Thursday 27 Mar 2025 at 15:15-16:15 in SN201 (Snellmania).<\/p>\n<p><strong>Topic: <\/strong>Studying lung cancer drug resistance using fully human model systems<\/p>\n<p><strong>Speaker: <\/strong>Heidi Haikala, PhD, PI in HaikaLab Immuno-oncology research group (<a href=\"http:\/\/www.haikalab.com\">www.haikalab.com<\/a>), Translational Immunology Research Program, University of Helsinki &amp; Assistant Professor (Cancer Biology) in Tampere University.<\/p>\n<p>Dr. Heidi Haikala earned her PhD at the University of Helsinki Faculty of Medicine, focusing on cancer combination therapies and ex vivo models. She then joined Prof. Pasi J\u00e4nne\u2019s group at Dana-Farber Cancer Institute &amp; Harvard Medical School as a postdoctoral fellow, where her research on overcoming therapy resistance in lung cancer led to a clinical trial (NCT04676477). In 2022, Dr. Haikala established her research group at the University of Helsinki to study primary resistance to targeted therapies and immunotherapies, developing innovative, animal-free ex vivo models. The talented multidisciplinary research team of 16 scientists includes molecular biologists, data scientists, engineers, and MD scientists. In December 2024, Dr. Haikala was appointed to a tenure track position at Tampere University. Dr. Haikala is also the founder of Solid IO, a spin-off company advancing functional and individualized cancer diagnostics using patient-derived tumor-on-chip models.<\/p>\n<p>The seminar is organized by the UEF Faculty of Health Sciences together with the Cancer Research RC, and it is open to everyone interested.<\/p>\n<p><strong><em>Welcome!<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n<p><strong><em><a href=\"https:\/\/sites.uef.fi\/doctoral-program-courses-faculty-of-health-sciences\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/387\/2025\/02\/Seminars-in-Health-Sciences-Haikala.pdf\">Seminars in Health Sciences Haikala<\/a><\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\n\n\t<div id=\"accordion-block_91480d62e7f79e99ecf426d846c2b6cf\" class=\"accordions\">\n\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"accordion accordion-js\">\n\t\t\t\t<button class=\"accordion__button\" aria-controls=\"content-3059\" aria-expanded=\"false\" id=\"accordion-control-3059\">\n\t\t\t\t\t<h3 class=\"accordion__heading\" >\n\t\t\t\t\t\tFebruary 2025 (2)\t\t\t\t\t<\/h3>\n\t\t\t\t<\/button>\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"accordion__content\" role=\"region\" aria-labelledby=\"accordion-control-3059\" aria-hidden=\"true\" id=\"content-3059\">\n\t\t\t\t\t<p>A warm welcome to Seminars in Health Sciences seminar on Monday 24 Feb 2025 at 15:15-16:15 in SN300 (Snellmania).<\/p>\n<p><strong>Topic: <\/strong>Atherosclerosis: One Size Does Not Fit All &#8211; A Molecular Perspective<\/p>\n<p><strong>Speaker: <\/strong>Prof. Gerard Pasterkamp, MD<\/p>\n<p>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 &gt;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.<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/research.umcutrecht.nl\/researchers\/pasterkamp\/\">https:\/\/research.umcutrecht.nl\/researchers\/pasterkamp\/<\/a><\/p>\n<p>The seminar is organized by the UEF Faculty of Health Sciences, and it is open to everyone interested.<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/sites.uef.fi\/doctoral-program-courses-faculty-of-health-sciences\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/387\/2025\/01\/Frontiers-is-Health-Sciences_2402_2025_Pasterkamp.pdf\">Frontiers is Health Sciences_2402_2025_Pasterkamp<\/a><\/p>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\n\n\t<div id=\"accordion-block_7c6f02ea3457e295c8d44d58bef993de\" class=\"accordions\">\n\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"accordion accordion-js\">\n\t\t\t\t<button class=\"accordion__button\" aria-controls=\"content-5592\" aria-expanded=\"false\" id=\"accordion-control-5592\">\n\t\t\t\t\t<h3 class=\"accordion__heading\" >\n\t\t\t\t\t\tFebruary 2025 (1)\t\t\t\t\t<\/h3>\n\t\t\t\t<\/button>\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"accordion__content\" role=\"region\" aria-labelledby=\"accordion-control-5592\" aria-hidden=\"true\" id=\"content-5592\">\n\t\t\t\t\t<p>A warm welcome to Seminars in Health Sciences seminar on Friday 21 Feb 2025 at 10:00-11:00 in Tietoteknia Auditorium (TTA).<\/p>\n<p><strong>Topic: <\/strong>Genetic insights into the lifelong health of women and children<\/p>\n<p><strong>Speaker: <\/strong>Principal Investigator Taru Tukiainen, DSc (Tech)<\/p>\n<p>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\u2019s 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.<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/www.helsinki.fi\/en\/researchgroups\/genomics-of-sex-differences\">https:\/\/www.helsinki.fi\/en\/researchgroups\/genomics-of-sex-differences<\/a><\/p>\n<p>The seminar is organized by the UEF Faculty of Health Sciences, and it is open to everyone interested.<\/p>\n<p><strong><em>Welcome!<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/sites.uef.fi\/doctoral-program-courses-faculty-of-health-sciences\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/387\/2025\/02\/Seminars-in-Health-Sciences-Tukiainen.pdf\">Seminars in Health Sciences Tukiainen<\/a><\/p>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\n\n\t<div id=\"accordion-block_7dc4f9c7dcf6ef3ca3e21044fbd5a649\" class=\"accordions\">\n\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"accordion accordion-js\">\n\t\t\t\t<button class=\"accordion__button\" aria-controls=\"content-9259\" aria-expanded=\"false\" id=\"accordion-control-9259\">\n\t\t\t\t\t<h3 class=\"accordion__heading\" >\n\t\t\t\t\t\tJanuary 2025\t\t\t\t\t<\/h3>\n\t\t\t\t<\/button>\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"accordion__content\" role=\"region\" aria-labelledby=\"accordion-control-9259\" aria-hidden=\"true\" id=\"content-9259\">\n\t\t\t\t\t<p><strong>Frontiers in Health Sciences seminar <\/strong><\/p>\n<p>A warm welcome to Frontiers in Health Sciences seminar on Thursday 23 Jan 2025 at 15:00\u201316:00 in CA102 (Canthia) and <a href=\"https:\/\/eur03.safelinks.protection.outlook.com\/ap\/t-59584e83\/?url=https%3A%2F%2Fteams.microsoft.com%2Fl%2Fmeetup-join%2F19%253ameeting_MTMwMzYxYmMtMGZlNy00Yzc2LWEzZGUtMDA5MDZmMGIzYzhi%2540thread.v2%2F0%3Fcontext%3D%257b%2522Tid%2522%253a%252287879f2e-7304-4bf2-baf2-63e7f83f3c34%2522%252c%2522Oid%2522%253a%2522e688c832-d88b-4cae-a251-f89fc5d1df7f%2522%257d&amp;data=05%7C02%7Cuef-dpdr-students%40groups.uef.fi%7C61b415ee4c234095ecc408dd200fa24b%7C87879f2e73044bf2baf263e7f83f3c34%7C0%7C0%7C638701974341123639%7CUnknown%7CTWFpbGZsb3d8eyJFbXB0eU1hcGkiOnRydWUsIlYiOiIwLjAuMDAwMCIsIlAiOiJXaW4zMiIsIkFOIjoiTWFpbCIsIldUIjoyfQ%3D%3D%7C0%7C%7C%7C&amp;sdata=7Z0t3ujVuX9cZ3pCgKP0mOEO6oVDd3tReH4slvNZEQw%3D&amp;reserved=0\">Teams<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p><strong>Topic: <\/strong>Transforming Healthcare: AI in diagnostics and patient treatment in Contact Dermatitis<\/p>\n<p><strong>Speaker: <\/strong>Prof. Nanna Fyhrquist, PhD<\/p>\n<p>\u201cMy research focuses on children&#8217;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 &#8220;biodiversity hypothesis,&#8221; showing that rural children have fewer allergies due to a more diverse microbiome. Additionally, I study the impact of chemical exposures on children&#8217;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.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>The seminar is organized by the UEF Faculty of Health Sciences, and it is open to everyone interested.<\/p>\n<p><strong><em>Welcome!<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/sites.uef.fi\/doctoral-program-courses-faculty-of-health-sciences\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/387\/2025\/01\/UEF_Frontiers_in_Health_Sciences_Fyhrquist-1.pdf\">UEF_Frontiers_in_Health_Sciences_Fyhrquist<\/a><\/p>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\n\n\t<div id=\"accordion-block_a45dada44394c178ea21ca49d0d10a58\" class=\"accordions\">\n\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"accordion accordion-js\">\n\t\t\t\t<button class=\"accordion__button\" aria-controls=\"content-6754\" aria-expanded=\"false\" id=\"accordion-control-6754\">\n\t\t\t\t\t<h3 class=\"accordion__heading\" >\n\t\t\t\t\t\tDecember 2024\t\t\t\t\t<\/h3>\n\t\t\t\t<\/button>\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"accordion__content\" role=\"region\" aria-labelledby=\"accordion-control-6754\" aria-hidden=\"true\" id=\"content-6754\">\n\t\t\t\t\t<p><strong>Frontiers in Health Sciences seminar <\/strong><\/p>\n<p>A warm welcome to Frontiers in Health Sciences seminar on Monday 16 Dec 2024 at 15:15-16:15 in SN200 (Snellmania) and <a href=\"https:\/\/teams.microsoft.com\/l\/meetup-join\/19%3ameeting_MDY5MGMwZDktMGUwNC00ZDJlLWI1Y2QtM2M4MjgxMGUxMGM2%40thread.v2\/0?context=%7b%22Tid%22%3a%2287879f2e-7304-4bf2-baf2-63e7f83f3c34%22%2c%22Oid%22%3a%229ce984a1-6cf6-48e1-b0c7-f604547bad5a%22%7d\">Teams<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p><strong>Topic: <\/strong>Dissecting human hematopoietic stem cell development, self-renewal and transformation<\/p>\n<p><strong>Speaker: <\/strong>Prof. Hanna K.A. Mikkola, MD, PhD<\/p>\n<p>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.<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/stemcell.ucla.edu\/member-directory\/hanna-ka-mikkola-md-phd\"><strong>https:\/\/stemcell.ucla.edu\/member-directory\/hanna-ka-mikkola-md-phd<\/strong><\/a><\/p>\n<p>The seminar is organized by the UEF Faculty of Health Sciences, and it is open to everyone interested.<\/p>\n<p><strong><em>Welcome!<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/sites.uef.fi\/doctoral-program-courses-faculty-of-health-sciences\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/387\/2024\/11\/Frontiers-is-Health-Sciences_16122024_HannaMikkola.pdf\">Frontiers is Health Sciences_16122024_HannaMikkola<\/a><\/p>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\n\n\t<div id=\"accordion-block_6553cd40231eac68eda54669658f210d\" class=\"accordions\">\n\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"accordion accordion-js\">\n\t\t\t\t<button class=\"accordion__button\" aria-controls=\"content-2151\" aria-expanded=\"false\" id=\"accordion-control-2151\">\n\t\t\t\t\t<h3 class=\"accordion__heading\" >\n\t\t\t\t\t\tNovember 2024\t\t\t\t\t<\/h3>\n\t\t\t\t<\/button>\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"accordion__content\" role=\"region\" aria-labelledby=\"accordion-control-2151\" aria-hidden=\"true\" id=\"content-2151\">\n\t\t\t\t\t<p><strong>Frontiers in Health Sciences seminar <\/strong><\/p>\n<p><strong>hosted by UEF Metabolic Diseases Research Community<\/strong><\/p>\n<h4>A warm welcome to Frontiers in Health Sciences seminar on Wednesday 20 November 2024 at 16:00 in <a href=\"https:\/\/uef.zoom.us\/j\/65798223386?pwd=6K9yh0cEDNEeeCFO1mbiU3ewH5PSPs.1\">Zoom<\/a>.<\/h4>\n<p><strong>Topic: <\/strong>Integrating single cell omics data with biobank data to identify genes and biomarkers for cardiometabolic disorders<\/p>\n<p><strong>Speaker: <\/strong>Professor P\u00e4ivi Pajukanta, MD, PhD from UCLA<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI am P\u00e4ivi 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.\u201d<\/p>\n<p><strong>Website: <\/strong><a href=\"https:\/\/eur03.safelinks.protection.outlook.com\/?url=https%3A%2F%2Fbioscience.ucla.edu%2Fpeople%2Fpaivi-pajukanta%2F&amp;data=05%7C02%7Cjenni.kublbeck%40uef.fi%7C1591c29b941b40e7f7e608dcf5bd620d%7C87879f2e73044bf2baf263e7f83f3c34%7C0%7C0%7C638655440983739494%7CUnknown%7CTWFpbGZsb3d8eyJWIjoiMC4wLjAwMDAiLCJQIjoiV2luMzIiLCJBTiI6Ik1haWwiLCJXVCI6Mn0%3D%7C0%7C%7C%7C&amp;sdata=XlTFUJdhnRkLPR3NRBa9cNOv7D4OpSxl9%2BDgRMWsrZ0%3D&amp;reserved=0\"><strong>https:\/\/bioscience.ucla.edu\/people\/paivi-pajukanta\/<\/strong><\/a><\/p>\n<p><strong>Lab website: <\/strong><a href=\"https:\/\/eur03.safelinks.protection.outlook.com\/?url=https%3A%2F%2Fpajukantalab.dgsom.ucla.edu%2F&amp;data=05%7C02%7Cjenni.kublbeck%40uef.fi%7C1591c29b941b40e7f7e608dcf5bd620d%7C87879f2e73044bf2baf263e7f83f3c34%7C0%7C0%7C638655440983764056%7CUnknown%7CTWFpbGZsb3d8eyJWIjoiMC4wLjAwMDAiLCJQIjoiV2luMzIiLCJBTiI6Ik1haWwiLCJXVCI6Mn0%3D%7C0%7C%7C%7C&amp;sdata=fzt4gIbmMlJCfONegksVgR2fP1JTcVbh2aaDadr1f8o%3D&amp;reserved=0\"><strong>https:\/\/pajukantalab.dgsom.ucla.edu\/<\/strong><\/a><\/p>\n<p>The seminar is organized by the UEF Faculty of Health Sciences and hosted by <a href=\"https:\/\/www.uef.fi\/en\/research-community\/metabolic-diseases\">UEF Metabolic Diseases Research Community<\/a>.The event is open to everyone interested!<\/p>\n<p><strong><em>Welcome!<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/sites.uef.fi\/doctoral-program-courses-faculty-of-health-sciences\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/387\/2024\/11\/Frontiers-in-Health-Sciences-seminar-Paivi-Pajukanta-20112024.pdf\">Frontiers in Health Sciences seminar P\u00e4ivi Pajukanta 20112024<\/a><\/p>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\n\n\t<div id=\"accordion-block_70df121e560016cdd9e4565a6065c0d2\" class=\"accordions\">\n\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"accordion accordion-js\">\n\t\t\t\t<button class=\"accordion__button\" aria-controls=\"content-2590\" aria-expanded=\"false\" id=\"accordion-control-2590\">\n\t\t\t\t\t<h3 class=\"accordion__heading\" >\n\t\t\t\t\t\tOctober 2024\t\t\t\t\t<\/h3>\n\t\t\t\t<\/button>\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"accordion__content\" role=\"region\" aria-labelledby=\"accordion-control-2590\" aria-hidden=\"true\" id=\"content-2590\">\n\t\t\t\t\t<h4>A warm welcome to Frontiers in Health Sciences seminar on Thursday 24 October 2024 at 15:00 in BT1 3208 (Bioteknia) and <a href=\"https:\/\/teams.microsoft.com\/l\/meetup-join\/19%3ameeting_OWU4NTg5NmItYjViYy00M2U4LWE0MmItOGFkNzViMzczYWMw%40thread.v2\/0?context=%7b%22Tid%22%3a%2287879f2e-7304-4bf2-baf2-63e7f83f3c34%22%2c%22Oid%22%3a%229ce984a1-6cf6-48e1-b0c7-f604547bad5a%22%7d\">Teams<\/a>.<\/h4>\n<p><strong>Topic: <\/strong>Looking at neurodevelopmental disorders through the lens of evolution: a role for autophagy<\/p>\n<p><strong>Speaker: <\/strong>Prof. Nael Nadif Kasri<\/p>\n<p>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.<\/p>\n<p>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.<\/p>\n<p>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).<\/p>\n<p>This diverse array of activities underscores my commitment to advancing both fundamental neurobiological understanding and its translation into clinical applications.<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"http:\/\/www.nadifkasri-lab.com\/Home.html\"><strong>http:\/\/www.nadifkasri-lab.com\/Home.html<\/strong><\/a><\/p>\n<p><strong>Looking at neurodevelopmental disorders through the lens of evolution: a role for autophagy<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>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.<\/p>\n<p>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.<\/p>\n<p><strong>The seminar is organized by the UEF Faculty of Health Sciences and the event is open to everyone interested.<\/strong><\/p>\n<p><strong><em>Welcome!<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/sites.uef.fi\/doctoral-program-courses-faculty-of-health-sciences\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/387\/2024\/10\/Frontiers-is-Health-Sciences_24102024_N-Nadif-Kasri.pdf\">Frontiers is Health Sciences_24102024_N Nadif Kasri<\/a><\/p>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\n\n\t<div id=\"accordion-block_e0ee8aa09827ffcdef3aab5ab6f73cb8\" class=\"accordions\">\n\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"accordion accordion-js\">\n\t\t\t\t<button class=\"accordion__button\" aria-controls=\"content-9001\" aria-expanded=\"false\" id=\"accordion-control-9001\">\n\t\t\t\t\t<h3 class=\"accordion__heading\" >\n\t\t\t\t\t\tSeptember 2024\t\t\t\t\t<\/h3>\n\t\t\t\t<\/button>\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"accordion__content\" role=\"region\" aria-labelledby=\"accordion-control-9001\" aria-hidden=\"true\" id=\"content-9001\">\n\t\t\t\t\t<h4><strong>Frontiers in Health Sciences seminar <\/strong><\/h4>\n<p><strong>organized together with UEF Metabolic Diseases Research Community<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>A warm welcome to Frontiers in Health Sciences seminar on Wednesday 11 September 2024 at 15:00 in SN201 (Snellmania).<\/p>\n<p><strong>Topic: <\/strong>Towards better brain health with human cellular models \u2013 from molecular signatures to function<\/p>\n<p><strong>Speaker: <\/strong>Assistant Professor Helena Kilpinen<\/p>\n<p>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&#8217;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.<\/p>\n<p><strong>https:\/\/kilpinenlab.org\/<\/strong><\/p>\n<p><strong>Towards better brain health with human cellular models \u2013 from molecular signatures to function<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>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 <em>in vitro, <\/em>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.<\/p>\n<p>The seminar is organized by the UEF Faculty of Health Sciences together with <a href=\"https:\/\/www.uef.fi\/en\/research-community\/metabolic-diseases\">UEF Metabolic Diseases Research Community<\/a>. Coffee is served before the seminar in front of the seminar room<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/sites.uef.fi\/doctoral-program-courses-faculty-of-health-sciences\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/387\/2024\/09\/Frontiers-is-Health-Sciences_11092024_Helena-Kilpinen.pdf\">Frontiers is Health Sciences_11092024_Helena Kilpinen<\/a>.<\/p>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\n\n\t<div id=\"accordion-block_b6cc8dbbe14b828d9ad56234b6378be4\" class=\"accordions\">\n\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"accordion accordion-js\">\n\t\t\t\t<button class=\"accordion__button\" aria-controls=\"content-9189\" aria-expanded=\"false\" id=\"accordion-control-9189\">\n\t\t\t\t\t<h3 class=\"accordion__heading\" >\n\t\t\t\t\t\tAugust 2024\t\t\t\t\t<\/h3>\n\t\t\t\t<\/button>\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"accordion__content\" role=\"region\" aria-labelledby=\"accordion-control-9189\" aria-hidden=\"true\" id=\"content-9189\">\n\t\t\t\t\t<h4><strong>Frontiers in Health Sciences seminar<\/strong><\/h4>\n<p>A warm welcome to Frontiers in Health Sciences seminar on Thursday 29 August 2024 at 15:00 in SN200 (Snellmania).<\/p>\n<p><strong>Topic: <\/strong>Drug target discovery using novel single-cell and spatial technologies<\/p>\n<p><strong>Speaker: <\/strong>Sikander Hayat, PhD<\/p>\n<p>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 &#8211; Sequantrix GmbH that aims to find novel drug targets for fibrosis using AI and single-cell omics data.<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/eur03.safelinks.protection.outlook.com\/?url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.ukaachen.de%2Fkliniken-institute%2Finstitut-fuer-experimentelle-innere-medizin-und-systembiologie%2Fhayat-lab-in-translational-data-science%2F&amp;data=05%7C02%7Cdpmm%40uef.fi%7C421bd1ccd06e4ddcd49d08dcbf7e7bf7%7C87879f2e73044bf2baf263e7f83f3c34%7C0%7C0%7C638595797195688696%7CUnknown%7CTWFpbGZsb3d8eyJWIjoiMC4wLjAwMDAiLCJQIjoiV2luMzIiLCJBTiI6Ik1haWwiLCJXVCI6Mn0%3D%7C0%7C%7C%7C&amp;sdata=VCRJZPrvwNHPiPXca3Jzs8Uij%2FE%2FmAm20KEvvS%2F9KJo%3D&amp;reserved=0\">https:\/\/www.ukaachen.de\/kliniken-institute\/institut-fuer-experimentelle-innere-medizin-und-systembiologie\/hayat-lab-in-translational-data-science\/<\/a><\/p>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/sites.uef.fi\/doctoral-program-courses-faculty-of-health-sciences\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/387\/2024\/09\/Frontiers-is-Health-Sciences_29082024_Sikander_Hayat.pdf\">Frontiers is Health Sciences_29082024_Sikander_Hayat<\/a><\/p>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\n\n\t<div id=\"accordion-block_8d88580bb6ce1ff8cab8cad7f331f80b\" class=\"accordions\">\n\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"accordion accordion-js\">\n\t\t\t\t<button class=\"accordion__button\" aria-controls=\"content-6216\" aria-expanded=\"false\" id=\"accordion-control-6216\">\n\t\t\t\t\t<h3 class=\"accordion__heading\" >\n\t\t\t\t\t\tMay 2024\t\t\t\t\t<\/h3>\n\t\t\t\t<\/button>\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"accordion__content\" role=\"region\" aria-labelledby=\"accordion-control-6216\" aria-hidden=\"true\" id=\"content-6216\">\n\t\t\t\t\t<p><strong><a href=\"https:\/\/sites.uef.fi\/doctoral-program-courses-faculty-of-health-sciences\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/387\/2024\/04\/Frontiers-is-Health-Sciences_07052024_Reinier-Boon.pdf\">Frontiers is Health Sciences_07052024_Reinier Boon<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n<p><strong>Frontiers in Health Sciences seminar<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>A warm welcome to Frontiers in Health Sciences seminar on Tuesday 7th of May 2024 at 12:30-13:30 in TTA, Tietoteknia.<\/p>\n<p><strong>Topic: <\/strong>How endothelial cells and non-coding RNAs regulate cardiac aging<\/p>\n<p><strong>Speaker: <\/strong>Professor Reinier Boon<\/p>\n<p>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\u2019s 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.<\/p>\n<p>The seminar is organized by the UEF Faculty of Health Sciences, and the event is open to everyone interested.<\/p>\n<p><strong><em>Welcome!<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\n\n\t<div id=\"accordion-block_9f027d31de4f368c01cffaab7a713425\" class=\"accordions\">\n\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"accordion accordion-js\">\n\t\t\t\t<button class=\"accordion__button\" aria-controls=\"content-537\" aria-expanded=\"false\" id=\"accordion-control-537\">\n\t\t\t\t\t<h3 class=\"accordion__heading\" >\n\t\t\t\t\t\tFebruary 2024\t\t\t\t\t<\/h3>\n\t\t\t\t<\/button>\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"accordion__content\" role=\"region\" aria-labelledby=\"accordion-control-537\" aria-hidden=\"true\" id=\"content-537\">\n\t\t\t\t\t<p><strong>Frontiers in Health Sciences seminar<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>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 <a href=\"https:\/\/teams.microsoft.com\/l\/meetup-join\/19%3ameeting_NzFiMDg3ZjItZWQ4YS00M2I4LWI0MGItZjFmNmJmNzZhZDlk%40thread.v2\/0?context=%7b%22Tid%22%3a%2287879f2e-7304-4bf2-baf2-63e7f83f3c34%22%2c%22Oid%22%3a%22e688c832-d88b-4cae-a251-f89fc5d1df7f%22%7d\">Teams<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p><strong>Topic:<\/strong> Use of real word data for decision making on medicines<\/p>\n<p><strong>Speaker:<\/strong> Prof. Olaf Klungel, Utrecht University<\/p>\n<p>Olaf Klungel is professor of pharmacoepidemiologic methods at Utrecht University, Utrecht, the Netherlands. He is chair of the division of Pharmacoepidemiology &amp; Clinical Pharmacology and scientific director of the Utrecht Institute for Pharmaceutical Sciences.\u00a0He is also adjunct professor of Pharmacoepidemiology at the University of Southern Denmark in Odense.\u00a0He was trained as a pharmacist and epidemiologist. His main research area\u00a0is 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.<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/sites.uef.fi\/doctoral-program-courses-faculty-of-health-sciences\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/387\/2024\/02\/UEF_Frontiers_In_Health_Sciences_Klungel.pdf\">UEF_Frontiers_In_Health_Sciences_Klungel<\/a><\/p>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\n\n\t<div id=\"accordion-block_7c1052ba117ff56eb2dee3753bbe0d21\" class=\"accordions\">\n\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"accordion accordion-js\">\n\t\t\t\t<button class=\"accordion__button\" aria-controls=\"content-2110\" aria-expanded=\"false\" id=\"accordion-control-2110\">\n\t\t\t\t\t<h3 class=\"accordion__heading\" >\n\t\t\t\t\t\tDecember 2023\t\t\t\t\t<\/h3>\n\t\t\t\t<\/button>\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"accordion__content\" role=\"region\" aria-labelledby=\"accordion-control-2110\" aria-hidden=\"true\" id=\"content-2110\">\n\t\t\t\t\t<p><strong>Frontiers in Health Sciences seminar<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>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 <a href=\"https:\/\/teams.microsoft.com\/l\/meetup-join\/19%3ameeting_YmQ5YWQxYmQtMjhmNi00NWRjLTljNmMtMjc4MGI1MjVkNTM2%40thread.v2\/0?context=%7b%22Tid%22%3a%2287879f2e-7304-4bf2-baf2-63e7f83f3c34%22%2c%22Oid%22%3a%229ce984a1-6cf6-48e1-b0c7-f604547bad5a%22%7d\">Teams<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p><strong>Topic: <\/strong><em>Eliminating the seeds of relapse \u2013 targeting residual disease following targeted therapy<\/em><\/p>\n<p><strong>Speaker: <\/strong><em>Kari Kurppa, University of Turku<\/em><\/p>\n<p>The laboratory of Dr. Kurppa aims to understand the means cancer cells use to develop resistance to cancer therapies. The laboratoy\u2019s 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\u2019s research is to develop rational combination strategies that will extend the long-term efficacy of clinically used cancer therapies.<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/sites.utu.fi\/kurppalab\/\">https:\/\/sites.utu.fi\/kurppalab\/<\/a><\/p>\n<p>This seminar is organized in collaboration with <a href=\"https:\/\/www.uef.fi\/en\/research-community\/multidisciplinary-cancer-research-cancer\">UEF CANCER Research community<\/a><\/p>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\n\n\t<div id=\"accordion-block_f693ec56792fcf45051d49c78c06a930\" class=\"accordions\">\n\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"accordion accordion-js\">\n\t\t\t\t<button class=\"accordion__button\" aria-controls=\"content-2920\" aria-expanded=\"false\" id=\"accordion-control-2920\">\n\t\t\t\t\t<h3 class=\"accordion__heading\" >\n\t\t\t\t\t\tSeptember 2023\t\t\t\t\t<\/h3>\n\t\t\t\t<\/button>\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"accordion__content\" role=\"region\" aria-labelledby=\"accordion-control-2920\" aria-hidden=\"true\" id=\"content-2920\">\n\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"x_x_elementToProof\">\n<p class=\"x_x_paragraph-412\"><span class=\"x_x_text-370 x_x_ContentPasted0\"><b>Frontiers in Health Sciences seminar<\/b><\/span><\/p>\n<p class=\"x_x_paragraph-412 x_x_ContentPasted0\">A warm welcome to Frontiers in Health Sciences seminar on Thursday 28th of September 2023 at 15-16 in <a id=\"OWAea5c1fa7-baae-c037-1066-9e1aace76ecc\" class=\"x_x_link-485 x_x_OWAAutoLink x_x_ContentPasted0\" title=\"https:\/\/teams.microsoft.com\/l\/meetup-join\/19%3ameeting_OGI0YzEwN2MtY2FkNS00NGJhLTk2ZTUtMTM0Yjc2ZGY4OGRl%40thread.v2\/0?context=%7b%22Tid%22%3a%2287879f2e-7304-4bf2-baf2-63e7f83f3c34%22%2c%22Oid%22%3a%224f5f0c33-4e45-4a7e-809c-5cf97d143862%22%7d\" href=\"https:\/\/teams.microsoft.com\/l\/meetup-join\/19%3ameeting_OGI0YzEwN2MtY2FkNS00NGJhLTk2ZTUtMTM0Yjc2ZGY4OGRl%40thread.v2\/0?context=%7b%22Tid%22%3a%2287879f2e-7304-4bf2-baf2-63e7f83f3c34%22%2c%22Oid%22%3a%224f5f0c33-4e45-4a7e-809c-5cf97d143862%22%7d\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\" data-auth=\"NotApplicable\" data-linkindex=\"0\">Teams<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p class=\"x_x_paragraph-412 x_x_ContentPasted0\"><strong><span class=\"x_x_text-370 x_x_ContentPasted0\">Topic<\/span><\/strong><i>: <\/i><em>The return of the lesion. Lessons from serendipity and perseverance.<\/em><\/p>\n<p class=\"x_x_paragraph-412 x_x_ContentPasted0\"><strong><span class=\"x_x_text-370 x_x_ContentPasted0\">Speaker<\/span><\/strong>: <em>Juho Joutsa, University of Turku<\/em><\/p>\n<p class=\"x_x_paragraph-412 x_x_ContentPasted0\">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 (<a id=\"OWAacf37b3b-51a1-a402-b4a6-fa0526a58b92\" class=\"x_x_link-485 x_x_OWAAutoLink x_x_ContentPasted0\" title=\"https:\/\/www.turkubrainlab.fi\/\" href=\"https:\/\/www.turkubrainlab.fi\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\" data-auth=\"NotApplicable\" data-linkindex=\"1\">www.turkubrainlab.fi<\/a>) and acts as the chair of Turku Brain and Mind Center.<\/p>\n<p class=\"x_x_paragraph-412 x_x_ContentPasted0\">Prof. Joutsa&#8217;s lab&#8217;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).<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>***<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<p><b>Frontiers in Health Sciences seminar<\/b><\/p>\n<p>A warm welcome to Frontiers in Health Sciences seminar on Thursday 7th of September 2023 at 10:00-11:00 in <a href=\"https:\/\/eur03.safelinks.protection.outlook.com\/ap\/t-59584e83\/?url=https%3A%2F%2Fteams.microsoft.com%2Fl%2Fmeetup-join%2F19%253ameeting_YmM2NjRmMTMtYTFiNy00ODU2LWIzNWItZDBmNWJlYjcwYThl%2540thread.v2%2F0%3Fcontext%3D%257b%2522Tid%2522%253a%252287879f2e-7304-4bf2-baf2-63e7f83f3c34%2522%252c%2522Oid%2522%253a%25229ce984a1-6cf6-48e1-b0c7-f604547bad5a%2522%257d&amp;data=05%7C01%7C%7C261afe971df94c8893e308dba4a32a4f%7C87879f2e73044bf2baf263e7f83f3c34%7C0%7C0%7C638284792913965086%7CUnknown%7CTWFpbGZsb3d8eyJWIjoiMC4wLjAwMDAiLCJQIjoiV2luMzIiLCJBTiI6Ik1haWwiLCJXVCI6Mn0%3D%7C3000%7C%7C%7C&amp;sdata=0l6%2BPHbozLcRrGQruh79m4X2uH76SonoeQSs0f9%2FLGw%3D&amp;reserved=0\">Teams<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p><b>Topic: <\/b><i>Making sense of antisense transcription in the failing heart \u2013 mechanistic insights and therapeutic opportunities<\/i><\/p>\n<p><b>Speaker: <\/b><i>Olof Gidl\u00f6f, Lund University<\/i><\/p>\n<p><i>\u00a0<\/i>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 Gidl\u00f6f lab revealing new insights into the biology and therapeutic potential of cardiac NATs will be disseminated.<\/p>\n<p><i>\u00a0<\/i>Olof Gidl\u00f6f 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\u2019s research is mainly focused on molecular and translational studies of heart failure, with the aim of identifying targets for RNA-based therapies.<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/sites.uef.fi\/doctoral-program-courses-faculty-of-health-sciences\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/387\/2023\/09\/UEF_Frontiers_In_Health_Sciences_07092023_Olof-Gidlof.pdf\">UEF_Frontiers_In_Health_Sciences_07092023_Olof Gidl\u00f6f<\/a><\/p>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\n\n\n<p><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>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!<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":864,"featured_media":0,"parent":0,"menu_order":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","template":"","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"class_list":["post-223","page","type-page","status-publish","hentry"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v27.1.1 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/product\/yoast-seo-wordpress\/ -->\n<title>Seminars in Health Sciences - Doctoral courses and events in the Faculty of Health Sciences<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/sites.uef.fi\/doctoral-program-courses-faculty-of-health-sciences\/frontiers-in-health-sciences\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Seminars in Health Sciences - Doctoral courses and events in the Faculty of Health Sciences\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"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!\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/sites.uef.fi\/doctoral-program-courses-faculty-of-health-sciences\/frontiers-in-health-sciences\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Doctoral courses and events in the Faculty of Health Sciences\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2026-04-10T11:54:04+00:00\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"1 minute\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/sites.uef.fi\/doctoral-program-courses-faculty-of-health-sciences\/frontiers-in-health-sciences\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/sites.uef.fi\/doctoral-program-courses-faculty-of-health-sciences\/frontiers-in-health-sciences\/\",\"name\":\"Seminars in Health Sciences - Doctoral courses and events in the Faculty of Health Sciences\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/sites.uef.fi\/doctoral-program-courses-faculty-of-health-sciences\/#website\"},\"datePublished\":\"2023-03-02T10:46:01+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2026-04-10T11:54:04+00:00\",\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/sites.uef.fi\/doctoral-program-courses-faculty-of-health-sciences\/frontiers-in-health-sciences\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/sites.uef.fi\/doctoral-program-courses-faculty-of-health-sciences\/frontiers-in-health-sciences\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/sites.uef.fi\/doctoral-program-courses-faculty-of-health-sciences\/frontiers-in-health-sciences\/#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\/\/sites.uef.fi\/doctoral-program-courses-faculty-of-health-sciences\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"Seminars in Health Sciences\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/sites.uef.fi\/doctoral-program-courses-faculty-of-health-sciences\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/sites.uef.fi\/doctoral-program-courses-faculty-of-health-sciences\/\",\"name\":\"Doctoral courses and events in the Faculty of Health Sciences\",\"description\":\"\",\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/sites.uef.fi\/doctoral-program-courses-faculty-of-health-sciences\/#organization\"},\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\/\/sites.uef.fi\/doctoral-program-courses-faculty-of-health-sciences\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":{\"@type\":\"PropertyValueSpecification\",\"valueRequired\":true,\"valueName\":\"search_term_string\"}}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Organization\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/sites.uef.fi\/doctoral-program-courses-faculty-of-health-sciences\/#organization\",\"name\":\"Doctoral courses and events in the Faculty of Health Sciences\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/sites.uef.fi\/doctoral-program-courses-faculty-of-health-sciences\/\",\"logo\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/sites.uef.fi\/doctoral-program-courses-faculty-of-health-sciences\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/sites.uef.fi\/doctoral-program-courses-faculty-of-health-sciences\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/387\/2022\/09\/cropped-UEF_wordpress_white.png\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/sites.uef.fi\/doctoral-program-courses-faculty-of-health-sciences\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/387\/2022\/09\/cropped-UEF_wordpress_white.png\",\"width\":250,\"height\":250,\"caption\":\"Doctoral courses and events in the Faculty of Health Sciences\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/sites.uef.fi\/doctoral-program-courses-faculty-of-health-sciences\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/\"}}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"Seminars in Health Sciences - Doctoral courses and events in the Faculty of Health Sciences","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/sites.uef.fi\/doctoral-program-courses-faculty-of-health-sciences\/frontiers-in-health-sciences\/","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"Seminars in Health Sciences - Doctoral courses and events in the Faculty of Health Sciences","og_description":"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!","og_url":"https:\/\/sites.uef.fi\/doctoral-program-courses-faculty-of-health-sciences\/frontiers-in-health-sciences\/","og_site_name":"Doctoral courses and events in the Faculty of Health Sciences","article_modified_time":"2026-04-10T11:54:04+00:00","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_misc":{"Est. reading time":"1 minute"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/sites.uef.fi\/doctoral-program-courses-faculty-of-health-sciences\/frontiers-in-health-sciences\/","url":"https:\/\/sites.uef.fi\/doctoral-program-courses-faculty-of-health-sciences\/frontiers-in-health-sciences\/","name":"Seminars in Health Sciences - Doctoral courses and events in the Faculty of Health Sciences","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/sites.uef.fi\/doctoral-program-courses-faculty-of-health-sciences\/#website"},"datePublished":"2023-03-02T10:46:01+00:00","dateModified":"2026-04-10T11:54:04+00:00","breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/sites.uef.fi\/doctoral-program-courses-faculty-of-health-sciences\/frontiers-in-health-sciences\/#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/sites.uef.fi\/doctoral-program-courses-faculty-of-health-sciences\/frontiers-in-health-sciences\/"]}]},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/sites.uef.fi\/doctoral-program-courses-faculty-of-health-sciences\/frontiers-in-health-sciences\/#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/sites.uef.fi\/doctoral-program-courses-faculty-of-health-sciences\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"Seminars in Health Sciences"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/sites.uef.fi\/doctoral-program-courses-faculty-of-health-sciences\/#website","url":"https:\/\/sites.uef.fi\/doctoral-program-courses-faculty-of-health-sciences\/","name":"Doctoral courses and events in the Faculty of Health Sciences","description":"","publisher":{"@id":"https:\/\/sites.uef.fi\/doctoral-program-courses-faculty-of-health-sciences\/#organization"},"potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/sites.uef.fi\/doctoral-program-courses-faculty-of-health-sciences\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Organization","@id":"https:\/\/sites.uef.fi\/doctoral-program-courses-faculty-of-health-sciences\/#organization","name":"Doctoral courses and events in the Faculty of Health Sciences","url":"https:\/\/sites.uef.fi\/doctoral-program-courses-faculty-of-health-sciences\/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/sites.uef.fi\/doctoral-program-courses-faculty-of-health-sciences\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/sites.uef.fi\/doctoral-program-courses-faculty-of-health-sciences\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/387\/2022\/09\/cropped-UEF_wordpress_white.png","contentUrl":"https:\/\/sites.uef.fi\/doctoral-program-courses-faculty-of-health-sciences\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/387\/2022\/09\/cropped-UEF_wordpress_white.png","width":250,"height":250,"caption":"Doctoral courses and events in the Faculty of Health Sciences"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/sites.uef.fi\/doctoral-program-courses-faculty-of-health-sciences\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/"}}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/sites.uef.fi\/doctoral-program-courses-faculty-of-health-sciences\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/223","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/sites.uef.fi\/doctoral-program-courses-faculty-of-health-sciences\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/sites.uef.fi\/doctoral-program-courses-faculty-of-health-sciences\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/page"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sites.uef.fi\/doctoral-program-courses-faculty-of-health-sciences\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/864"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sites.uef.fi\/doctoral-program-courses-faculty-of-health-sciences\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=223"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/sites.uef.fi\/doctoral-program-courses-faculty-of-health-sciences\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/223\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1913,"href":"https:\/\/sites.uef.fi\/doctoral-program-courses-faculty-of-health-sciences\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/223\/revisions\/1913"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/sites.uef.fi\/doctoral-program-courses-faculty-of-health-sciences\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=223"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}