Our Group Leaders
Group Leaders at DANDRITE
Poul Nissen, Director & Speaker of the Nordic EMBL Partnership
Professor Nissen is head of the Structural and Functional Studies of Membrane Transporters in Brain group.
Research focus: Protein structure-function of membrane proteins.
Anders Nykjær
Professor Anders Nykjær is a Core Group Leader and head of the Receptor Biology Group at DANDRITE.
Research focus: Cell Biology and animal modeling of neuronal membrane receptor systems.
Poul Henning Jensen
Professor Henning Jensen is a Core Group Leader and head of the Neurodegenerative Disease Laboratory Group.
Research focus: Molecular neurodegenerative studies.
Anne von Philipsborn
Dr Anne von Philipsborn is head of the Circuits for Motor Control and Behavioural Organisation group.
Research focus: Drosophila circuit neuroscience and behaviour.
Mark Denham
Dr. Mark Denham is head of the Stem Cells group.
Research focus: Human pluripotent stem cells.
Duda Kvitsiani
Dr Kvitsiani is head of the Neuronal Basis of Decision-making in Fruit Flies and Mice group.
Research focus: Neuronal circuits and molecular basis of effort based decision-making.
Keisuke Yonehara
Dr Yonehara is head of the Spatially Asymmetric Neural Circuits in Visual System group.
Research focus: Structure, function and development of neural circuits in visual system.
Sadegh Nabavi
Dr. Nabavi is head of the Memory formation and consolidation at the synaptic and circuit levels Group.
Research focus: Memory formation and consolidation at the synaptic and circuit levels.
Group Leaders at FIMM
Tero Aittokallio
Dr Aittokallio is head of the Computational Systems Medicine group.
Research focus: Network-centric and machine learning-based approaches to modeling and predicting complex relationships between genetic dependencies and medical phenotypes.
Mark Daly, FIMM Director
Professor Mark Daly is head of the Human Disease Genetics group.
Research focus: Human genetic discovery and translation activities.
Andrea Ganna
Dr Andrea Ganna is head of the Data Science for Population-scale Registry and Biobank Data group.
Research focus: Statistical and deep learning approaches
Leif Groop
Professor Leif Groop is head of the Genomics of Type 2 Diabetes and Related Disorders group.
Research focus: The heterogeneity of diabetes and the pathogenic events leading to type 2 diabetes.
Caroline Heckman
Dr Caroline Heckman is head of the Translational Research and Personalised Medicine group.
Research focus: Pathogenic and drug resistance mechanisms in hematological malignancies.
Peter Horvath
Dr Peter Horvath is head of the BIOMAG (Biological Image Analysis and Machine Learning Group).
Research focus: Microscopic image segmentation and tracking, Microscopic image correction techniques, and Machine Learning.
Olli Kallioniemi
Professor Olli Kallioniemi is head of the Individualised Systems Medicine Group.
Research focus: Precision cancer medicine
Jaakko Kaprio
Professor Jaakko Kaprio, Head of Genetic Epidemiology Group
Research focus: Genetic Epidemiology
Helena Kilpinen
Dr Helena Kilpinen is head of the Cellular Genetics of Disease group.
Research focus: Cellular genetics and the cellular basis of developmental and other brain-related disorders
Katja Kivinen, Research Director
Dr Katja Kivinen is head of the Genomics of Pre-eclampsia group.
Research focus: Pregnancy-related disorders, with focus on pre-eclampsia.
Johan Lundin
Professor Johan Lundin is head of the Clinical Informatics and Image-based Diagnostics Group.
Research focus: The group studies and develops methods for personalized prediction of disease outcome and image based diagnostics.
Hanna Ollila
Dr Hanna Ollila is a FIMM-Group Leader.
Research focus: Genetics of sleep.
Miina Ollikainen
Dr Miina Ollikainen is head of the Epigenetics of Complex Diseases and Traits Group.
Research focus: To assess the contribution of genome and epigenome to obesity and other complex diseases and traits using study designs suitable for twin and population-based cohorts.
Aarno Palotie
Dr. Aarno Palotie is head of the Genomics of Neurological and Neuropsychiatric Disorders Group.
Research focus: The genetics of neurological, neurodevelopmental, and neuropsychiatric traits.
Matti Pirinen
Dr. Pirinen is head of the Computational Genomics Group.
Research focus: The group combines a thorough understanding of statistical modeling with real life experience on what works in practice.
Esa Pitkänen
Dr Esa Pitkänen is a FIMM-Group Leader.
Research focus: Esa group focuses novel machine learning and computational methods for biomedicine.
Samuli Ripatti, Assistant Director
Professor Samuli Ripatti is head of the Statistical and Translational Genetics.
Research focus: Genome-wide variation and its relation to complex traits and diseases, with a particular focus, but not limited to, on cardiovascular diseases and metabolism.
Janna Saarela
Professor Janna Saarela is head of the Human Immune Disorders group (shared with NCMM).
Research focus: Improving the understanding of biological pathways and pathogenic mechanisms behind rare and common immune diseases
Taru Tukiainen
Dr. Taru Tukiainen is head of the Genomics of Sex Differences in Health and Disease Group.
Research focus: The investigation of sex biases in both genetic and transcriptomic data particularly utilizing the extensively-phenotyped Finnish population cohorts.
Emmy Verschuren
Dr. Emmy Verschuren is head of the Lung Cancer Model Systems Group.
Research focus: The biological properties of lung cancer drivers in their physiological complex microenvironment, and using this knowledge to build diagnostic models of lung cancer.
Eero Vuoksimaa
Dr. Eero Vuoksimaa is head of the Cognitive and Brain Ageing Group.
Research focus: The group aims to understand the pathways from protective and risk factors to old age cognition and brain health, aiming to improve the early identification of individuals with high risk of cognitive impairment, dementia and Alzheimer’s disease.
Elisabeth Widén
Dr. Elisabeth Widén is head of the Genes Influencing Puberty and Their Impact on Adult Health Group.
Research focus: The group seeks to uncover novel mutations and genes causing fatal arrhythmia, a disorder for which there is an urgent need for more accurate pre-symptomatic molecular diagnosis, and to elucidate the genetic and developmental framework underlying puberty.
Group Leaders at MIMS
Niklas Arnberg
Dr. Niklas Arnberg is head of the Virus-host Interactions Group.
Research focus: To explore the molecules and mechanisms involved in the early stage of the viral life cycle: attachment and entry.
Jonas Barandun
Dr. Jonas Barandun is head of the Structural Biology in Infection Medicine Group.
Research focus: The group uses a combination of in vivo assays, biochemistry and cryo-electron microscopy to study macromolecular complexes of specialized pathogenic organisms.
Sven Bergström
Professor Sven Bergström is head of the Pathogenesis, antigenic variation and genetic organisation.
Oliver Billker - Director
Dr. Oliver Billker is head of the Experimental Genomics of Malaria Transmission Group.
Ellen Bushell
Dr. Ellen Bushell is head of the Parasite-host interactions that govern malaria infection and disease Group.
Felipe Cava
Felipe Cava is head of the Cell Wall Biology and Genetics in Bacteria Group.
Maria Fällman
Professor Maria Fällman is head of the Molecular mechanisms in the interplay between bacteria and host during gastrointestinal infections Group. She is also Assistant Director of MIMS.
Åke Forsberg
Professor Åke Forsberg is head of the Molecular mechanism of Type III secretion systems Group. He is also MIMS' Scientific Secretary.
Vasili Hauryliuk
Dr Vasili Hauryliuk is head of the Ribosome-associated factors involved in stress responses and antibiotic resistance Group.
Johan Henriksson
Dr Johan Henriksson is head of the T cell Systems Biology Group.
Jörgen Johansson
Professor Jörgen Johansson is head of the RNA-Mediatied Virulence Regulation Group at MIMS.
Anna Överby
Anna Överby is head of the Tick-borne Encephalitis Virus Group.
Andrea Puhar
Andrea Puhar is head of the Endogenous danger signals in infection and inflammation Group.
Björn O. Schröder
Björn O. Schröder is head of the Gut Microbiota and Intestinal Mucosal Barrier Function Group.
Barbara Sixt
Dr. Barbara Sixt is head of the Cell-autonomous Immunity Group.
Anders Sjöstedt
Professor Anders Sjöstedt is head of the Type VI secretion systems of Gram-negative bacteria - defining the functions of T6SS components and their contribution to virulence Group.
Bernt Eric Uhlin
Professor Bernt Eric Uhlin is head of the Bacteria-Host Interactions Group.
Constantin Urban
Constantin Urban is head of the Antifungal Immunity Group.
Sun Nyunt Wai
Professor Sun Nyunt Wai is head of the Molecular Mechanisms of Bacterial Pathogenesis Group.
Group Leaders at NCMM
Camila Vicencio Esguerra
Dr Camila Esguerra is head of the Chemical Neuroscience Group.
Irep Gözen
Dr Irep Gözen is head of the Bionanotechnology and Membrane Systems Group.
Emma Haapaniemi
Dr Emma Haapaniemi is head of the Precision Pediatrics and Gene Editing Group.
Marieke Kuijjer
Dr Marieke Kuijjer is head of the Computational Biology and Systems Medicine Group.
Area of expertise: Use of computational and systems biology to better understand gene regulation.
Sandra Lopez-Aviles
Dr Sandra Lopez-Aviles is head of the Cell Cycle Regulations Group.
Area of Expertise: Mechanisms controlling progression through the cell cycle, using fission yeast Schizosaccharomyces pombe as a model organism.
Hartmut Luecke, Assistant Director
Professor Hartmut Luecke is head of the Structural Biology and Drug Discovery Group.
Area of expertise: Structure-function studies of integral membrane proteins & structure-based drug discovery, using crystallography, nuclear magnetic resonance, cryo electron microscopy and computational techniques.
Anthony Mathelier
Dr Anthony Mathelier is head of the Computational Biology and Gene Regulation Group.
Research Focus: Computational biology, with a focus on gene expression regulation and the mechanisms by which it can be disrupted in human diseases such as cancer.
Janna Saarela, Director
Professor Janna Saarela is head of the Human Immune Disorders Group.
Research Focus: Understanding of biological pathways and pathogenic mechanisms behind rare and common immune diseases.
Nikolina Sekulic
Dr Nikolina Sekulic is head of the Structural Biology and Chromatin Group.
Research Focus: The Sekulic Group is interested in understanding the molecular mechanisms that assure genomic stabliity during cell division.
Judith Staerk
Dr Judith Staerk is head of the Stem Cell Group.
Research Focus: The group focuses on deciphering the molecular processes that govern human pluripotent stem cell renewal and differentiation, and physiological and malignant hematopoitic and neural development.
Sebastian Waszak
Dr Sebastian Waszak is head of the Computational Oncology Group.
Research Focus: Large patient populations, multi-modal data integration, and computational methods to study rare cancers. One specific focus is the development of precision medicine strategies for pediatric brain cancer patients.