Postdoctoral Researchers
Our Postdoctoral Researchers are selected through two open calls. Call 1 has finished and Call 2 will finish at the end of February, 2026. On this page, we will present each postdoc after they have started their project.
- Postdoc: Dr. Stefanie Klima, Human Brain Disease Modelling research group, A.I. Virtanen Institute for Molecular Sciences, Faculty of Health Sciences
- Project: Delineating disease mechanisms in Parkinson ‘s disease (PD) progression and identifying biomarkers in deep brain stimulated (DBS) patients
Stefanie’s research aims to reveal processes that are disturbed in the brains of patients suffering from Parkinson’s disease. She will analyse patient material and compare these findings to results obtained from patient-derived in vitro model systems.
Through her research, Stefanie hopes to get a better understanding of mechanisms causing and progressing Parkinson’s disease.
“This is important, as the disease currently can’t be cured nor can the progression be effectively halted. Even worse, Parkinson is the fastest growing neurodegenerative disease worldwide with a prevalence expected to double within the next 20 years. It places a huge burden on patients, family, healthcare systems, and economies with an estimated average annual cost for treatment of 21.000€ per PD patient in the EU. This does not account for social impacts like loss of income and social isolation of caregivers.”, Stefanie explains.
In the long run, her research will hopefully have an impact on improved healthcare for patients and also on the wider society, as not only patients are affected by Parkinson’s. The project will identify mechanisms crucial in Parkinson’s disease. The identified mechanisms will function as potential targets used in drug discovery to develop new medications more effectively treating Parkinson’s disease.
During her recently started postdoc period, Stefanie is looking forward to the combination of being able to fully immerse herself in this exciting topic for three years and to also get the opportunity of developing her career.
“I hope to sharpen my personal profile: To this end I am going to identify which skills I can develop further, and addressing these skillsets by assembling and attending a tailored training schedule comprising different areas (methods, leadership, project management, grant writing). Besides the work-related topics, I look forward to immersing into the Finnish culture, doing my best to learn some Finnish, getting to know the Finnish cuisine and way of living”, she shares.
Outside of research, Stefanie enjoys being outside in nature for hiking, rowing, climbing, camping and skiing. She also enjoys doing pottery, sewing, knitting, and cooking.
Fun facts about her: in German, her last name means “Climate”. She also had diplomatic status for a couple of years!