The position of the Dean of the Faculty of Medicine became vacant after the previous Dean Anne Remes was elected Vice-Rector of the University of Helsinki starting from the 1st of August 2023.
Arola is a graduate from the University of Helsinki and she holds a long career in the faculty as a teacher and as a researcher and as a pathologist at the HUS Diagnostic Center. Arola has also worked as Editor-in-Chief of Aikakauskirja Duodecim and she has been building the Finnish biobank field.
Arola was the Vice-Dean responsible for research administration starting from the 1st of April 2023 and took over the duties of the Dean from the 1st of August during the Dean's recruitment process.