Turku Bioscience and BioCity Turku Scientific Advisory Board (SAB) is visiting Turku next week, and the members would love to meet our early-career researchers for an informal lunch and conversation. Come along, exchange ideas, ask questions, and get to know some internationally recognized scientists in their fields. Everyone is welcome — we will provide the lunch!

What: Meet the SAB over lunch
When: Tuesday 22 September 2026 at 12:00-13:00
Where: Restaurant Mauno, BioCity. Get together in BioCity lobby at noon.
For Who: For every UTU and ÅAU early-career researcher, including YOU
With whom: Ellen Rothenberg, Olli Kallioniemi, Mikael Rydén or Taina Pihlajaniemi

The lunch is arranged in a similar way than the Frontiers of Science lunch, so every SAB member will have five early-career researchers sharing a table with them. Don’t stress the lunch too much but consider it rather as an excellent possibility to widen your scientific networks and learn from the best.

Pick your preferred lunch company and register. First come first serve!
https://eve.utu.fi/e/sab

Get to know our SAB

Ellen Rothenberg, California Institute of Technology, USA
Ellen Rothenberg studies how blood-forming cells make the decision to develop into T cells. Her research focuses on the gene regulatory networks and molecular mechanisms that guide T-cell development and determine cellular identity—work that also helps shed light on how abnormal regulation can contribute to diseases such as leukemia.
https://rothenberglab.caltech.edu/

Olli Kallioniemi, University of Helsinki, Finland
Olli Kallioniemi is a leading researcher in molecular precision medicine and cancer research. His work aims to make cancer treatment more individualized by combining molecular profiling with functional testing of patient-derived cancer cells, helping to identify effective treatments and drug combinations for individual patients.
https://www.helsinki.fi/en/researchgroups/precision-systems-medicine

Mikael Rydén, Karolinska Institutet, Sweden
Mikael Rydén investigates the biology of adipose tissue and its role in metabolic health and disease. His research combines clinical studies of human adipose tissue with molecular and cellular approaches to understand how fat cells regulate metabolism and how their dysfunction contributes to conditions such as obesity, insulin resistance and type 2 diabetes.
https://ki.se/en/research/research-areas-centres-and-networks/research-groups/mikael-ryden-niklas-mejhert-lab

Taina Pihlajaniemi, University of Oulu, Finland
Taina Pihlajaniemi is internationally recognized for her research on the extracellular matrix, particularly collagens and their roles in tissue development, maintenance and disease. Her work explores how cell–matrix interactions influence processes such as tissue homeostasis, fibrosis and cancer, with the long-term aim of translating these discoveries into new diagnostic and therapeutic approaches.
https://www.oulu.fi/en/research-groups/prof-taina-pihlajaniemi-adj-prof-ritva-heljasvaara

More information about the lunch from Maija Lespinasse (miholm@utu.fi)