Sini is a specialist in neurology, docent and the group leader. Sini graduated as MD from University of Helsinki in 2009 and had also finished her degree in MSc Tech (Industrial Engineering and Management) in 2007 alongside with medical studies. Sini studied T cell immunology and defended her PhD thesis on T cell homeostasis in patients with Autoimmune polyendocrinopathy – candidiasis – ectodermal dystrophy in 2012 (University of Helsinki, Department of Immunology, group of MD PhD Petteri Arstila). She visited the group of Professor Fredrik Piehl in Karolinska Institute in 2023, to collaborate on myasthenia gravis
Anni is a postdoctoral researcher in the Autoimmune Neurology Lab. Her PhD research focused on T cell development in the human thymus. As a neurologist, her current research interests are in autoimmunity and prognostic factors in neurological diseases, particularly multiple sclerosis and myasthenia gravis.
Joona graduated with an M.D. from the University of Helsinki in 2021 and is set to defend his Ph.D. later this year. His research focuses on germinal center reactions in health, autoimmune diseases, and cancer, with the goal of understanding how follicular T cells help and regulate the development of memory B cells and plasma cells. To study germinal centers, Joona primarily uses multiplex cyclic immunofluorescence and image analysis, scRNA-seq, (sc)TCR/BCR sequencing, and flow cytometry. He has been particularly responsible for collecting and analyzing cervical lymph node samples from patients with multiple sclerosis.
Nea is a MSc student in bioinformatics at Aalto University and started working with the group in 2023 as a research assistant. She is involved in scRNAseq data analysis in MS research projects, and is working on her Master’s thesis related to scRNAseq analysis pipelines/methods.
Aatika is a MSc student in neuroscience and has a bachelor’s degree in medicine. She joined the lab in January 2025 and is currently working on her thesis on Myasthenia Gravis lymph nodes using Cyclic immunohistochemistry.