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

Current Role
Day-to-day laboratory organisation and assisting in several research projectsResearch skills
Molecular biology, immunoprecipitation, PLA, IHC & IF and FACS analysis
Current role
Day-to-day laboratory organisation and assisting in several research projectsResearch skills
Cell culture, DNA & RNA purification, Western blotting, IF, recombinant protein production, qRT-PCRDoctoral Candidates

Project title
Mechanotransduction mechanisms in cancerResearch interests
Cancer, actin cytoskeleton, cell migration, ECM, mechanotransduction


Project title
Integrin regulation and trafficking in mechanosensingResearch interests
ECM, integrin, mechanotransduction, integrin trafficking
Project title
Role of Shank family proteins in integrin activationResearch interests
Shank, integrin activation, sharpin, cell metabolism, tumour cell metastasis

Project title
SHANK proteins in actin bindingResearch interests
actin cytoskeleton, cell migration, cancer, SHANK, SHARPIN
Project title
MASTL and cell adhesionResearch interests
Cancer, cell adhesion, actin cytoskeleton, cell cyclePostdoctoral Researchers

Project title
Signalling extent regulation of receptor tyrosine kinases in HER2-driven breast cancerResearch interests
Intracellular itinerary of membrane receptors, sorting proteins, cancerEducation
PhD student (University of Limoges, France)
Project title
Regulation of integrin phosphorylationResearch interests
FRET biosensors and 3D models
Jacquemet Lab: https://cellmig.org/lab-members/

Hellyeh Hamidi
Research Coordinator
Ivaska Lab, 4th floor
+358 (0)29 450 3787
hellyeh.hamidi [at] bioscience.fiResearch interests
Integrin activity, cell adhesion, cancer, cell migration
Project title
LIMA1 in Rab21-mediated integrin traffickingResearch interests
Rab21, integrins, endosomes, LIMA1, cancer
Project title
Novel regulators of integrin activity and cell attachmentResearch interests
Cell cycle, integrin activity, stem cell biologyUndergraduate Students

Kühl David
Undergraduate Student
Ivaska Lab, office 4121

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