Find out who we are:
Principal investigator
I did my PhD on studying how cells are protected from death receptor-mediated apoptosis in laboratory of John Eriksson in University of Turku, Finland. For post doctoral training I joined laboratory of Pernille Rørth (EMBL Heidelberg, Germany & TLL and IMCB Singapore) to study behavior Drosophila border cells during their collective migration. I then joined Pekka Lappalainen’s laboratory (University of Helsinki), to apply Drosophila model system to study role of actin binding proteins in border cell migration. I started my own team in August 2018, and I aim to understand how actin filament disassembly is spatially regulated in epithelial cells during their morphogenetic movements.
I completed my bachelors in Biotechnology from VIT University, India in 2017 and moved to University of Queensland, Australia for my Master's in the lab of Prof. Alpha Yap where I worked on understanding the role of E-cadherins in mediating cell-cell communication during collective cell migration. I started with Poukkula group in November, 2019. I am currently interested in unravelling the mechanisms involved in actin disassembly. In my free time I love binge watching on Netflix and playing cricket.
Research assistant
Petteri is studying biology at University of Helsinki. He joined the lab for summer 2019 and is now working as a part time research assistant in during his studies.
We are always looking for enthusiastic and driven students and scientists to join our team. Strong interest towards research is required, and expertise in cell biological, genetic or imaging techniques are beneficial, but not necessary.
Mari Tolonen, MSc, Next position: Copenhagen Bioscience PhD program