Lab Members

    Group Leader

    Johanna Ivaska
    Academy of Finland Professor
    johanna.ivaska [at] utu.fi

    Contact Information

    Turku Centre for Biotechnology
    Box 123, BioCity
    (Street adr. Tykistökatu 6 B)
    FIN-20521 Turku, Finland

    Brief Background

    PhD in collagen-binding integrins (Turku, Finland); Postdoc at CR-UK, LIR with Prof. Peter J. Parker; Lab established in 2003 (VTT Technical Research Centre of Finland); Now Academy Professor and Professor of Molecular Cell Biology at University of Turku Centre for Biotechnology.
    For an interview with Johanna visit the Journal of Cell Biology: People and ideas.


    Technical Staff

    Petra Laasola

    Laboratory Technician

    petra.laasola [at] utu.fi
    +358 (0)29 450 3758

    Jenni Siivonen

    Laboratory Technician

    jenni.siivonen [at] utu.fi
    +358 (0)29 450 3758

    Doctoral Candidates

    Jasmin Kaivola

    Doctoral Candidate

    jasmin.e.kaivola [at] utu.fi

    Nicolas Pasquier

    Doctoral Candidate

    nicolas.pasquier [at] utu.fi

    Niklas Jäntti

    Doctoral Candidate

    niklas.z.jantti [at] utu.fi

    Omkar Joshi

    Doctoral Candidate

    omkar.joshi [at] utu.fi

    Huayi Li

    Doctoral Researcher

    huayi.li [at] utu.fi

    Aleksi Isomursu

    Doctoral Candidate

    aleksi.isomursu [at] bioscience.fi
    +358 (0)29 450 3789

    Postdoctoral Researchers

    Paulina Moreno Layseca

    Postdoctoral Researcher

    paulina.morenolayseca [at] bioscience.fi

    James Conway

    Postdoctoral Researcher

    james.conway [at] utu.fi

    Gautier Follain

    Postdoctoral Researcher

    gautier.follain [at] utu.fi

    Megan Chastney

    Postdoctoral Researcher

    megan.chastney [at] utu.fi

    Mathilde Mathieu

    Postdoctoral Researcher

    mathilde.mathieu [at] utu.fi

    Michal Dibus

    Postdoctoral Researcher

    michal.dibus [at] utu.fi

    Veli-Matti Leppänen

    Research Fellow

    veli-matti.leppanen [at] utu.fi

    Meri Pelkonen

    Project Researcher

    meri.h.pelkonen@utu.fi

    Michalis Gounis

    Postdoctoral Researcher

    michail.gounis@utu.fi

    Hellyeh Hamidi

    Research Coordinator

    hellyeh.hamidi [at] bioscience.fi
    +358 (0)29 450 3787

    Undergraduate Students

    Loane Simon

    Master Student

    loane.simon [at] utu.fi

    Elia Heinonen

    Trainee

    elia.j.heinonen [at] utu.fi

    Sofia Held

    Trainee

    sofia.held [at] utu.fi

    Eva Savulkina


    Trinh Pham

    Undergraduate Student



    Alumni

    Doctoral Candidates

    • Aki Stubb (thesis defended 2019)
    • Pranshu Sahgal (thesis defended 2018)
    • Jonna Alanko (thesis defended 2016)
    • Riina Kaukonen (thesis defended 2016)
    • Nicola De Franceschi (thesis defended 2016)
    • Reetta Virtakoivu (thesis defended 2015)
    • Gunilla Högnäs (thesis defended 2013)
    • Juha Rantala (thesis defended 2011)
    • Jonna Nevo (thesis defended 2011)
    • Karolina Vuoriluoto (thesis defended 2010)
    • Saara Tuomi (thesis defended 2010)
    • Teijo Pellinen (thesis defended 2009)
    • Elina Mattila (thesis defended 2009)

    Postdocs

    • Jaroslav Icha – 2019, next step: Application specialist for Promega cell-based assays and all luminescence products, Czech Republic
    • Maria Georgiadou – August 2018, next step: Senior Researcher at Orion Pharma, Finland
    • Mika Pietilä – until 2017, Next step: Astra Zeneca, Espoo, Finland
    • ​Anja Mai – until 2016, Next step: Researcher at BerGenBio, Bergen, Norway
    • Antti Arjonen – until 2015. Next step: Senior researcher at Misvik Biology Ltd, Turku, Finland
    • Ghaffar Muharram – until 2013. Next step: Scientist at University of Lille, Lille, France
    • Jeroen Pouwels – until 2013, Next step: group leader at Turku Centre for Biotechnology, Turku, Finland
    • Stefan Veltel, Next step: lecturer at University of Applied Sciences, Bremen, Germany
    • Emilia Peuhu – until 2019, next step: Group leader at Institute of Biomedicine, University of Turku
    • Guillaume Jacquemet – until 2019, next step: Group leader at Åbo Akademi, Faculty of Science and Engineering
    • Elisa Närvä -until 2021, Next step: group leader at Institute of Biomedicine, Turku, Finland