Timo Otonkoski is the Emeritus Professor of Medical Stem Cell Research at the University of Helsinki. His long-term interest has been in human pancreatic development and its monogenic defects, and the possibilities to create stem-cell based model systems.
Email: timo.otonkoski (at) helsinki.fi
Diego Balboa is a Principal Investigator at the Faculty of Medicine, University of Helsinki. He is interested in understanding how human pancreas development is regulated at the genomic level and how to translate that information into the generation of stem cell-derived islets.
Email: diego.balboa (at) helsinki.fi
Jonna Saarimäki-Vire is a Staff Scientist and developmental biologist working in Otonkoski lab focusing differentiation of SC-islets, developing new differentiation methods and transplantation experiments.
Email: jonna.saarimaki (at) helsinki.fi
Maria Lindahl is a Principal Investigator at the Institute of Biotechnology, University of Helsinki, and she explores the effects of beta cell stress in diabetes, focusing on the trophic factor MANF to safeguard and restore beta cell function.
Email: maria.lindahl (at) helsinki.fi
Tom Barsby is a Postdoctoral Researcher in the Otonkoski Lab. His research explores the metabolic maturation of stem cell derived islets and the implications for their use in cell therapies for diabetes.
Email tom.barsby (at) helsinki.fi.
Väinö Lithovius is a Physician-Scientist, finalising his doctoral degree in the Otonkoski Lab. He uses stem cell islets to develop treatments for congenital hyperinsulinism and improved in vivo monitoring methods.
Email: Vaino.lithovius (at) helsinki.fi
Hazem Ibrahim is a Doctoral Researcher in Otonkoski Lab, experienced with genome editing and SC-islet differentiation. By combining the two techniques, he is modelling genes associated with T1D, T2D and monogenic diabetes.
Email: hazem.ibrahim (at) helsinki.fi
Sachin Muralidharan is a Doctoral Researcher in Balboa and Otonkoski labs. His work focusses on understanding the genetic regulation of early human pancreatic development using in vitro stem based models and single cell genomic tools.
Email: sachin.muralidharan (at) helsinki.fi