Tarja Pääkkönen Group Leader, DVM, PhD, DiplECVN, (publications under the name TS Jokinen)
Tarja serves as an associate professor in comparative disease research and is also the head veterinarian of the neurology specialty clinic at the University Animal Hospital. She has completed the European specialization in veterinary neurology. In her dissertation completed in 2016, "Benign Familial Juvenile Epilepsy in Lagotto Romagnolo Dogs," Tarja studied self-limiting juvenile epilepsy in dogs. Her ongoing research focuses on epilepsy and other hereditary neurological diseases in dogs. In addition to research, Tarja treats neurological patients at the neurology clinic in the University Animal Hospital. Tarja is a member of the International Veterinary Epilepsy Task Force (IVETF) (www.ivetf.org).
Anna-Mariam works as a clinical instructor in neurology at the Department of Equine and Small Animal Medicine in the Faculty of Veterinary Medicine. She has completed the European specialization in veterinary neurology. Her dissertation project on changes in the craniovertebral junction and syringomyelia in the Chihuahua breed was completed in 2022. Anna-Mariam continues to study the formation of cranial fontanelles and their connection to other changes in cranial development. Additionally, Anna-Mariam participates in our group's epilepsy research projects.
Jenni is a university researcher in our group and is responsible for isolating extracellular vesicles from various sample materials in our epilepsy research project, as well as further studies on the contents of these vesicles. She earned her PhD in cell and molecular biology from the University of Jyväskylä in 2014. Since then, she has worked as a postdoctoral researcher at the AIV Institute at the University of Eastern Finland and the Faculty of Veterinary Medicine at the University of Cambridge in the UK. Jenni has extensive expertise in laboratory methods used in extracellular vesicle research and has previously investigated the use of vesicles in the diagnosis of brain injuries and canine bladder cancer.
Petra began her doctoral studies in our group at the beginning of 2021 as part of the BioEpiCa research project. She holds a master's degree in animal nutrition. Her dissertation investigates biomarkers for the progression of epilepsy and treatment response.
Meri started her doctoral studies in our group in the fall of 2024. Her dissertation focuses on clinical, electrophysiological, and molecular biomarkers of treatment response in canine epilepsy.
Elina works as a hospital veterinarian in the diagnostic imaging unit of the University Animal Hospital. Her dissertation research investigates the mechanisms of persistent cranial fontanelle formation and is a collaborative project between the Neuropet research group and the diagnostic imaging discipline of the Faculty of Veterinary Medicine.
Vilma works as a clinical instructor in diagnostic imaging at the Department of Equine and Small Animal Medicine in the Faculty of Veterinary Medicine. She serves as an evaluator for skeletal screening X-rays for the Finnish Kennel Club and is particularly interested in hereditary skeletal diseases in dogs. Her dissertation research addresses the diagnostic imaging of spinal abnormalities and intervertebral disc degeneration in dogs and is a collaborative project between the Neuropet research group and the diagnostic imaging discipline of the Faculty of Veterinary Medicine.