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

Ivaska Lab

+358 (0)29 450 3758

petra.laasola [at] utu.fi

Current Role

Day-to-day laboratory organisation and assisting in several research projects

Research skills

Molecular biology, immunoprecipitation, PLA, IHC & IF and FACS analysis

Jenni Siivonen

Laboratory Technician

Ivaska Lab

+358 (0)29 450 3758

jenni.siivonen [at] utu.fi

Current role

Day-to-day laboratory organisation and assisting in several research projects

Research skills

Cell culture, DNA & RNA purification, Western blotting, IF, recombinant protein production, qRT-PCR

Doctoral Candidates

Aleksi Isomursu

Doctoral Candidate

Ivaska Lab

+358 (0)29 450 3789

aleksi.isomursu [at] bioscience.fi

Project title

Mechanotransduction mechanisms in cancer

Research interests

Cancer, actin cytoskeleton, cell migration, ECM, mechanotransduction

Jasmin Kaivola

Doctoral Candidate

Ivaska Lab

jasmin.e.kaivola [at] utu.fi

Martina Lerche

Doctoral Candidate

Ivaska Lab

+358 (0)29 450 3789

martina.lerche [at] bioscience.fi

Project title

Integrin regulation and trafficking in mechanosensing

Research interests

ECM, integrin, mechanotransduction, integrin trafficking

Johanna Lilja

Graduate Student

Ivaska Lab

+358 (0)29 450 3789

johanna.lilja [at] bioscience.fi

Project title

Role of Shank family proteins in integrin activation

Research interests

Shank, integrin activation, sharpin, cell metabolism, tumour cell metastasis

Siiri Salomaa

Doctoral Candidate

Ivaska Lab

+358 (0)29 450 3786

siiri.salomaa [at] bioscience.fi

Project title

SHANK proteins in actin binding

Research interests

actin cytoskeleton, cell migration, cancer, SHANK, SHARPIN

Aki Stubb

Doctoral Candidate

Ivaska Lab

+358 (0)29 450 3789

asstub [at] utu.fi

Project title

Stem Cell adhesome

Research interests

Stem cell biology, regulation of pluripotency, adhesion qualities of hPSCs

Maria Taskinen

Doctoral Candidate

Ivaska Lab

matask [at] utu.fi

Project title

MASTL and cell adhesion

Research interests

Cancer, cell adhesion, actin cytoskeleton, cell cycle

Postdoctoral Researchers

Hussein Al Akhrass

Postdoctoral Researcher

hussein.al-akhrass [at] utu.fi

Project title

Signalling extent regulation of receptor tyrosine kinases in HER2-driven breast cancer

Research interests

Intracellular itinerary of membrane receptors, sorting proteins, cancer

Education

PhD student (University of Limoges, France)

James Conway

Postdoctoral Researcher

james.conway [at] utu.fi

Project title

Regulation of integrin phosphorylation

Research interests

FRET biosensors and 3D models

Hellyeh Hamidi

Research Coordinator

+358 (0)29 450 3787

hellyeh.hamidi [at] bioscience.fi

Research interests

Integrin activity, cell adhesion, cancer, cell migration

Jaroslav Icha

Postdoctoral Researcher

jaroslav.icha [at] utu.fi

Project Title

Spatio-temporal coordination of integrin-mediated adhesion and endocytosis.

Research Interests

Integrin trafficking, live-cell imaging 

Guillaume Jacquemet

Postdoctoral Researcher

+358 (0)29 450 3791

guillaume.jacquemet [at] bioscience.fi

Project title

Targeting filopodia to block cancer cell invasion

Research interests

Cell invasion, actin cytoskeleton, myosin-X, integrins

Paulina Moreno Layseca

Postdoctoral Researcher

paulina.morenolayseca [at] bioscience.fi

Project title

LIMA1 in Rab21-mediated integrin trafficking

Research interests

Rab21, integrins, endosomes, LIMA1, cancer

Elisa Närvä

Postdoctoral Fellow

+358 (0)29 450 3787

elisa.narva [at] utu.fi

Project title

Novel regulators of integrin activity and cell attachment

Research interests

Cell cycle, integrin activity, stem cell biology

Ilkka Paatero

Postdoctoral Fellow

+358 (0)29 450 3789

ilkka.paatero [at] bioscience.fi ; zebrafish [at] bioscience.fi

Project title

In vivo imaging of cell migration

Research interests

Confocal imaging, live in vivo imaging, zebrafish, angiogenesis, signalling, migration

Emilia Peuhu

Postdoctoral Researcher

+358 (0)29 450 3787

emilia.peuhu [at] bioscience.fi

Project title:

Regulation of stemness and invasion in normal mammary gland and breast cancer

Research interests:

Integrin, invasion, tumour microenvironment, ductal morphogenesis

Undergraduate Students

Dinc Defne

Undergraduate Student

Ivaska Lab

dddinc [at] utu.fi

Max Grönloh

Undergraduate Student

Ivaska Lab, office 4121

max.gronloh [at] utu.fi

Juho Irjala

Undergraduate Student

Ivaska Lab

juho.k.irjala [at] utu.fi

Alumni

Doctoral Candidates

• 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

• 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