The European Molecular Biology Organization (EMBO) has selected Professor Riitta Lahesmaa from the University of Turku as its member. The organization annually elects new members based on scientific merit.

EMBO is an international organization that promotes and funds cutting-edge research in the life sciences. Its mission is to support and advance life sciences research in Europe and to foster international collaboration. The organization has over 2,100 researcher members from Europe and around the world, including 23 from Finland.

Riitta Lahesmaa has been the director of the Turku Bioscience Centre since 1998. She is also a professor of systems immunology at the Faculty of Medicine at the University of Turku. At the Bioscience Centre, Lahesmaa leads a research group that is part of the InFLAMES flagship, which investigates the human immune response, particularly the development and functions of T cells, including their role in protecting the body against pathogens and cancer. The group has made significant discoveries, including new regulatory factors of T cell function and the disease process that leads to the development of type 1 diabetes in children.

Lahesmaa earned her doctorate from the University of Turku in 1987 and subsequently continued her career at Stanford University in the United States, where she worked as a postdoctoral researcher for three years. Before returning to Finland and taking on her current role, she worked for several years as a Principal Investigator leading of a research group in the pharmaceutical company Roche Palo Alto in California.

Lahesmaa has published over 250 original articles and reviews and holds several granted patents and patent applications. Under her supervision, 30 doctoral theses have been completed. She has been a member of the Finnish Academy of Science since 2012 and was appointed as an Academy Professor for a five-year term in 2016.

Lahesmaa has also served as the deputy director of the Academy of Finland’s Centre of Excellence in Systems Immunology and Physiology, and has been a visiting professor at Harvard University, Stanford University, and UCSF (University of California San Francisco).

“It is encouraging that Finnish research in immunology is gaining additional foothold and visibility within EMBO. The organization offers numerous opportunities for funding, training, and international exchange. As members, we can influence new member selections, among other things,” states Riitta Lahesmaa.