Lab Members
Group Leader
John Eriksson Professor of Cell Biology, Faculty of Science, Åbo Akademi Univ.
Director General, Euro-Bioimaging ERIC
john.eriksson[at] bioscience.fi
john.eriksson[at] abo.fi
Contact Information
Turku Bioscience
P.O. Box 123, BioCity
(Street adr. Tykistökatu 6 B)
FIN-20521 Turku, Finland
+358-2-215-3313 (John Eriksson)
+358-400-513 701 (Departmental Office)
Technical Staff
Senior/Postdoctoral Researchers
Preethy Paul
Project Coordinator & Postdoctoral Researcher
+358 41 36 40 948 ppreethy [at] abo.fi ; prepau [at] utu.fiBackground
- Screening & development of natural compounds and small molecules for anti-cancer activity
- Studying the molecular mechanism of apoptosis induced by the compounds
Research interests
- Drug development research related to anti-cancer therapeutics
- Developing natural compounds/extracts & small molecules for treatment of HPV associated cancers and warts
- Studying the mechanism of cell death induced by the compounds in HPV associated cell lines by various biochemical and biophysical methods
Senthilkumar Rajendran
Senior Research Fellow
+358442362631 srajendr [at] abo.fi ; sekura [at] utu.fi ; biosen81 [at] gmail.comAreas of expertise
Drug discovery and development :- Synthesis of organic small molecules and inorganic metal complexes
- Natural products – Extraction and isolation of compounds
- Apoptosis cell signaling pathways
- Drug-DNA/protein interaction
- In Ovo chick chorioallantoic membrane (CAM) model
- Nanocarriers
Background
- Project Coordinator at Åbo Akademi Unviersity, Finland– January 2014 - present
- Postdoctoral Researcher at Swiss Federal Institute of Technology (EPFL), Switzerland – September 2009 - January 2011
- Senior Researcher Fellow at Bharathidasan University, India – April 2007 - August 2009
Doctoral Candidates
Background
I received my Master’s degree in Cell biology at Åbo Akademi University, Finland in 2018 while working under Professor Kid Törnqvist. During this period, I was mainly studying what role the transcription factors TRb1 and Runx2 have in follicular thyroid cancer. As I finished my Master’s degree, I hoped to learn new techniques that are used in cell biology and thus became a PhD student in Professor John Eriksson’s lab. Currently, I study the importance of vimentin in the maintenance of nuclear integrity in fibroblasts. In addition, I am also involved in studies involving vimentin phosphorylation and interactions between lamins and heat shock factor 1 during heat shock.Research interests
- Imaging
- Nuclear integrity and function
- Intermediate filament structure
- Mechanosensing
Background
- PhD in Cell Biology (ongoing)
- MSc in Molecular systems biology (Dec 2019)
- B. Tech. in Biotechnology (May 2016)
Research interests
- Fibroblasts in ECM deposition and remodeling
- Vimentin mediated mechanotransduction in adipogenesis
- Directional cell migration
- Microscopy and bioimage analysis
Peiru Yang
Doctoral Candidate
+385 (0)418084762 peiru.yang [at] abo.fi; peiru.yang [at] bioscience.fiBackground
- Trainee in John Eriksson Laboratory (2018-2019, Åbo Akademi University)
- Trainee in Pharmaceutical Science Laboratory (2017-2018, Åbo Akademi University)
- Master's Degree in Medicine (2016-2019, Jiangsu University, China)
- Medical internship and rotation in surgery and radiology (2015-2016, The 81st Hospital of the People's Liberation Army, China)
- Bachelor's Degree in Medicine (2010-2015, Jiangsu University, China)
Research interests
- Cytoskeletal signaling
- Lipid droplet development and lipid metabolism
- Immunometabolism
- Wound Healing
Sepideh Parvanian
Doctoral Candidate
sepideh.parvanian [at] bioscience.fi; sepideh.parvanian [at] abo.fiBackground
I received my Master’s degree in Genetic Engineering from the National Institute of Genetic Engineering and Biotechnology (Tehran, Iran) in 2013. I worked in the biopharmaceutical industry for six years in up-stream bioprocess and R&D, and also as an internal auditor and monoclonal antibody API supervisor. I came to Finland in March 2017 as a Research Assistant to work on vesicular compartments in bone-resorbing osteoclasts, as a member of the EU-funded EUROCLAST project (Marie Curie ESR) at the University of Turku. I joined Erikson's Lab in June 2018 as a PhD student. My research focuses on novel fundamental insights on the role of fibrotic-derived extracellular vesicles in myofibroblasts heterogeneity and mechanism of fibrosis.Research interests
• Extracellular Vesicles • Wound healing • Biopharmaceutical manufacturing
Background
- PhD in Cell Biology (ongoing)
- Trainee in Anatomical Pathology
- Trainee in Translational Medicine
- Master of Science in Biomedical Applications
- Bachelor’s degree in Biology
Research interests
- Cytoskeleton signaling
- ECM remodeling
- Cell migration in cancer and wound healing
- Imaging
"Navid Delshad is a Pharm.D.. He has joined the John Eriksson lab in 2021 as a project researcher. Now he is a PhD candidate in Biosciences and a member of HPV Horizon team."
Background
I have received my BSc and MSc in Biochemistry from University of Aveiro, Portugal. I had the opportunity to join the Eriksson laboratory as part of the Erasmus Programme for my master`s thesis, in which I focused on studying vimentin and cell size signalling. I joined the Proteomics core facility for my summer job in 2017 and then I decided to enrol as a PhD candidate. I focus on understanding the role of vimentin in cell growth signalling by looking at signalling partners and post-translation modifications using mass spectrometry.Research interests
- Mass spectrometry techniques and data analysis
- Cell metabolism and signalling
- Post-translational modifications
Background
I have done my Biochemistry degree in University of Aveiro, Portugal. During that time, I adventured myself in University of Southern Denmark, where I worked in pseudoexon activation in disease. After this experience, I decided to look for another place for me to do my master thesis. I was kindly accepted in John Eriksson’s lab, where I worked on c-FLIP regulation of cell population size. When the opportunity of starting PhD arrived, I embraced a new project working with human papillomavirus E6 and E7 oncoproteins.Research interests
- Human papillomavirus E6 and E7 oncoproteins
- Cell death
- Ubiquitination
- Proteomics
Background
Master of Science in Biomedical Imaging Bachelor’s degree in biotechnologyResearch interests
- Development of Functional materials at biological interfaces for wound healing.
- Vimentin’s role in cell migration (fibroblast, macrophages and zebrafish)
- Bioimaging and image analysis
Undergraduate Students
Background:
- Joined the HPV project to conduct her master’s thesis
- Technician at central animal laboratory of Turku (2019-2021)
- Master’s degree in Drug discovery and development (2020-2022)
- Bachelor’s degree in Biomedicine (2017-2020)
Research interest:
- Early phase drug development
- Oncology
- Computer aided drug design
- TurboID