Congratulations to Mikaela Hukkanen for her recent first author publication in
Hukkanen, M., Kankaanpää, A., Heikkinen, A. et al.Epigenetic aging and lifespan reflect reproductive history in the Finnish Twin Cohort. Nat Commun 17, 44 (2026).
Mikaela is a doctoral researcher in the Ollikainen, Kaprio, and Cristofari groups. Drawing on her background in ecology and evolutionary biology, her research investigates the mechanisms of biological aging in both humans and birds. Her recent publication assessed how reproduction influences aging and survival through the lens of life-history trade-offs in the Finnish Twin Cohort. Currently, Mikaela studies DNA methylation in King penguins and is working to develop an epigenetic clock for avian species. In her free time, Mikaela likes to read books, play badminton, and spend time in nature.
Congratulations to Adithi Sundaresh for her recent first author publication in
Sundaresh A, Meistermann D, Lampela R, Yang Z, Woldegebriel R, Ganna A, Puigdevall Costa P, Kilpinen H. Joint profiling of cell morphology and gene expression during in vitro neurodevelopment. Elife. 2025 Dec 1;14:e102578. doi: 10.7554/eLife.102578.
Adithi is a doctoral researcher in the Kilpinen group. Her current research focuses on the cellular and molecular mechanisms of neurodevelopmental disorders, using human iPSCs as a model system. Overall, she is interested in combining experimental and computational expertise to uncover how complex disease genetics shape cellular phenotypes. Her recent publication explores this through the lens of cell morphology via Cell Painting combined with single cell transcriptomics. In her free time, she enjoys reading, dancing or starting yet another new art project.
Congratulations to Toni Saari for his recent first author publication in
Saari TT, Aaltonen A, Lohi K, Palviainen T, Schwarz C, Urjansson M, Palotie A, Runz H, Julkunen V, Kaprio J, Vuoksimaa E; FinnGen. Validity of telephone-administered word list learning measures for assessment of episodic memory in aging and Alzheimer's disease. Neuropsychology. 2025 Nov 6. doi: 10.1037/neu0001019.
Toni is a postdoctoral researcher in the Cognitive and Brain Aging group and his research focuses on early behavioral, cognitive and biological markers of Alzheimer’s disease using Finnish twin data and Alzheimer’s disease datasets. In his recent publication, he found validity evidence for a novel telephone-administered episodic memory task that could be used for large-scale screening in research projects related to aging and dementia. During his free time, he enjoys reading, running, and chasing the perfect cup of coffee.
Congratulations to Joseph Saad for his recent first author publication in
Saad J, Newman R, Khabusheva E, Aakko S, Durand E, Tambe M, Kuusanmäki H, Parsons A, Miettinen JJ, Javarappa KK, Olgac EJ, Ikonen N, Kontro M, Porkka K, Maacke H, Woo J, Halilovic E, Heckman CA. Predictors of response and rational combinations for the novel MCL-1 inhibitor MIK665 in acute myeloid leukemia. Mol Oncol. 2025 Sep 21. doi: 10.1002/1878-0261.70130.
Joseph is a doctoral researcher affiliated with both Caroline Heckman’s Translational Research and Personalized Medicine and Mika Kontro’s Individualized Therapies for Acute Leukemia groups. His doctoral research is focused on the identification and mechanistic validation of molecular biomarkers of response to approved or investigational therapies for acute myeloid leukemia. His recent publication in Molecular Oncology, titled ‘Predictors of Response and Rational Combinations for the novel MCL1 inhibitor MIK665 in Acute Myeloid Leukemia’ identifies subgroups of AML patients likely to be sensitive or resistant to MCL1 inhibition, and proposes effective combinations to re-sensitize resistant patients. In his free time, Joseph enjoys reggaeton dance training, climbing, running, and language classes.
Congratulations to Kira Detrois and Tuomo Hartonen for their recent publication in the
Detrois, K.E., Hartonen, T., Teder-Laving, M. et al. Cross-biobank generalizability and accuracy of electronic health record-based predictors compared to polygenic scores. Nat Genet (2025).
Kira is a doctoral researcher in the
Tuomo is working at the intersection of machine learning, health and genomics. His approach is to apply machine learning to real-world data, acknowledging the real-world limitations and problems such as incomplete data, privacy issues and model fairness. He currently works as an Academy of Finland Research Fellow at FIMM, leading the Machine Learning for Health (ML4HEALTH) team at the
Congratulations to Stephanie Zellers her recent publications in
Zellers S, Azzi E, Latvala A, Kaprio J, Maczulskij T. Causally-informative analyses of the effect of job displacement on all-cause and specific-cause mortality from the 1990s Finnish recession until 2020: A population registry study of private sector employees. Soc Sci Med. 2025 Apr;370:117867.
Heyard R, Pawel S, Frese J, Voelkl B, Würbel H, McCann S, Held L, Wever K E., Hartmann H, Townsin L and Zellers S. A scoping review on metrics to quantify reproducibility: a multitude of questions leads to a multitude of metrics. R. Soc. Open Sci.12242076, 2025.
Stephanie is a postdoctoral researcher in the Kaprio Group. She leverages unique "natural experiments" based on Finnish register data, alongside twin and family designs to understand causal influences of environmental exposures on behavior and health. In addition to her main research line, she is active in European networks to improve reproducibility and rigor in science, with a particular focus on equity, diversity, and inclusion. In her free time, she is heavily involved with the association Blues Dance Helsinki ry as an event organizer and dance teacher. She also likes cooking, baking, her cat Viivi, and studying Mandarin and Finnish languages.
Congratulations to Yingjia Chen her recent first author publication in
Chen Y, He L, Ianevski A, Nader K, Ruokoranta T, Linnavirta N, Miettinen JJ, Vähä-Koskela M, Vänttinen I, Kuusanmaki H, Kontro M, Porkka K, Wennerberg K, Heckman CA, Giri AK, Aittokallio T. A Machine Learning-Based Strategy Predicts Selective and Synergistic Drug Combinations for Relapsed Acute Myeloid Leukemia. Cancer Res. 2025 May 12. doi: 10.1158/0008-5472.CAN-24-3840.
Yingjia is a doctoral researcher in the Aittokallio group, and her research focuses on leveraging data-driven approaches to identify effective personalized therapies for patients with acute myeloid leukemia (AML). In her recent publication, she combined machine learning strategies and single-cell transcriptomic profiles to reveal cellular heterogeneity of AML and identify personalized drug combinations selectively and synergistically targeting leukemia cells, particularly in patients with relapsed/refractory disease. She is also involved in identifying prognostic biomarkers in AML using machine learning methods. In her free time, she enjoys swimming and Pilates.
Congratulations to Feiyi Wang for her recent first author publication in
Wang F, Liu A, Yang Z, Vartiainen P, Jukarainen S, Koskela S, Oram R, Allen L, Ritari J, Partanen J; FinnGen; Perola M, Tuomi T, Ganna A. Effects of parental autoimmune diseases on type 1 diabetes in offspring can be partially explained by HLA and non-HLA polymorphisms. Cell Genom. 2025 Apr 25:100854. doi: 10.1016/j.xgen.2025.100854.
Feiyi is a doctoral researcher under the supervision of Andrea Ganna and Tiinamaija Tuomi at FIMM, University of Helsinki. Her PhD research focuses on the genetic risk and familial aggregation of autoimmune diseases, particularly type 1 diabetes and multiple sclerosis. In her recent publication, she investigates the associations between T1D in offspring and 50 parental autoimmune diseases, including epidemiological analyses using FinRegistry, a comprehensive Finnish nationwide registry dataset, and genetic analyses using the FinnGen study, partitioning the genetic risk into HLA and non-HLA components. In this paper, she also proposes a parental polygenic score that properly integrates both HLA and non-HLA contributions to improve the prediction of T1D risk in offspring. This work represents the main focus of her PhD research, and she is scheduled to defend her thesis on June 16.
Congratulations to Linda Ottensmann her recent first author publication in
Ottensmann L, Tabassum R, Ruotsalainen SE, Gerl MJ, Klose C, McCartney DL, Widén E; FinnGen; Simons K, Ripatti S, Vitart V, Hayward C, Pirinen M. Examining the link between 179 lipid species and 7 diseases using genetic predictors. EBioMedicine. 2025 Mar 28;114:105671. doi: 10.1016/j.ebiom.2025.105671.
Linda is a doctoral researcher in the Statistical and Population Genetics group led by Matti Pirinen. She has a background in Bioinformatics and Biostatistics. Her doctoral research focuses on Lipidomics and its link to genetics and cardio-metabolic disease risk. Utilizing lipidomics data from the GeneRISK cohort she identified genetic loci associated with lipid species in GWAS and detected genetic links between lipid species and diseases beyond standard lipids. In her recent publication, she examines the link between lipid species and diseases by utilizing data from FinnGen, UKBB, and Generation Scotland. In her free time, she enjoys reading, running, and other outdoor activities.
Congratulations to Reyhane Eghtedarian her recent first author publication in
Eghtedarian R, Tervi AM, Jones SE; FinnGen; Partinen M, Viippola E, Ollila HM. Narcolepsy as a potential risk factor for Schizophrenia. Transl Psychiatry. 2025 Feb 17;15(1):55. doi: 10.1038/s41398-025-03259-w.
Reyhane is a PhD student jointly supervised by Hanna Ollila and Helena Kilpinen. She is interested in understanding the shared genetic determinants between sleep conditions and neuropsychiatric disorders through computational and experimental approaches. She utilizes genetic data, medical histories, and health records from FinnGen to elucidate the links between sleep and neuropsychiatric disorders. Additionally, she is using genome editing tools to model sleep phenotypes in iPSCs to better understand the effect of genetic variants on the morphology and transcriptome of the iPSC-induced neurons. Her recent publication, studies the causality between narcolepsy and schizophrenia, showing narcolepsy as a potential risk factor for schizophrenia in different ethnic backgrounds, and a modest bidirectional causality from schizophrenia to narcolepsy. Outside research, she enjoys cooking, watching movies, and outdoor activities.
Congratulations to Felix Vaura, Lea Urpa, Stephanie Zellers, Hannes Bode and Linda Ottensmann for receiving the Yrjö Jahnsson Foundation grant.
The Yrjö Jahnsson Foundation awards grants for postgraduate studies and research in economics, medicine and health economics and for the organization of scientific conferences.
Felix is a postdoctoral researcher in the Ripatti group, where he uses electronic health record data to understand how genes influence individual responses to cardiometabolic medications. His goal is to contribute to the implementation of personalized genomic medicine in everyday primary care. While Felix enjoys watching South Korean thrillers in his spare time, his two toddlers much prefer endless rewatches of Disney movies.
Lea is a postdoctoral researcher in the group of Hanna Ollila studying the genomic intersections of chronic disease, neurodevelopmental disorders and sleep. Her free time is mostly taken up by a delightfully energetic toddler, climbing, and reading.
Stephanie is a postdoctoral researcher in the Kaprio Group. She leverages unique "natural experiments" alongside twin and family data to understand causal influences of environmental exposures on behavior and health. In her free time, she is heavily involved with the association Blues Dance Helsinki ry as an event organizer and dance teacher. She also likes cooking, baking, and studying Mandarin and Finnish languages.
Hannes is a doctoral researcher in the Kaprio and Ollikainen groups. His research investigates the connections between environmental and behavioral factors and breast cancer risk, focusing on how these connections are reflected in DNA methylation patterns. Outside of his research, Hannes shreds the trails on his mountain bike through the forests around Helsinki. He enjoys the heat in the hottest saunas in the city and regularly plunges into ice-water.
Linda is a doctoral researcher in the Statistical and Population Genetics group led by Matti Pirinen. She has a background in Bioinformatics and Biostatistics. Her doctoral research focuses on Lipidomics and its link to genetics and cardio-metabolic disease risk. In her current project, she examines the link between lipid species and diseases by utilizing data from FinnGen, UKBB, and Generation Scotland. She enjoys reading, running, and other outdoor activities in her free time.