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Juha carried out his PhD work in the group of Pekka Lappalainen studying membrane bending mechanisms that allow cells to dynamically alter their shape in order to carry out functions such as migration, attachment, and communication. From 2011-2017, he was a postdoctoral fellow at the ETH Zurich in the group of Yves Barral, where his interests expanded to proteostasis, asymmetric cell division, cellular aging, and the connections between these processes. In August 2017, he started as an tenure-track Assistant Professor where his group is studying how spatial control of protein folding and assembly states give rise to phenotypic diversity.
Leena received her MSc in Biomedicine in 2008 from the University of Turku and her PhD in Biopharmacy in 2014 from the University of Helsinki. After PhD studies, she worked as a postdoctoral researcher at the Utrecht University, the Netherlands (2015–2018) and at the University of Helsinki. Research topics of her PhD and postdoctoral studies included cell therapy applications and nucleic acid delivery. Leena joined the group in spring 2019. She is investigating the molecular mechanisms associated to the formation and stabilization of synaptic connections, focusing specifically on the processes leading to biochemical and anatomical compartmentalization and individualization of dendritic post-synapses. The aim of the studies is to enhance our understanding on mechanisms governing learning and memory. Leena is supported by the Finnish Cultural Foundation and the Magnus Ehrnrooth Foundation.
Uliana received her MSc in Biochemistry in 2013 and her PhD in Biochemistry in 2022 from the Vasyl Stefanyk Precarpathian National University, Ukraine. Throughout her doctoral studies, Uliana dedicated her research efforts to exploring the influence of nutrition on the aging process of Drosophila melanogaster, with a particular emphasis on metabolic aspects. In October 2022, Uliana became a member of our research group. Her primary research interest now revolves around the investigation of the origins of early multicellularity. Specifically, she aims to elucidate how multicellular adaptations emerge and whether cellular senescence plays a pivotal role in the development of cell differentiation within a multicellular organism during the transition from unicellularity to multicellularity. Her work also encompasses an exploration of the metabolic alterations that accompany this significant evolutionary transition. Uliana is supported by the
Vignesh received his MSc in Neuroscience (2015-2018) and his PhD in Biomedicine (2019-2024) from the University of Helsinki. His PhD research work focused on understanding the role of protein deubiquitinating enzyme USP14 in facilitating protein degradation mechanisms in neurons and cancer cells. Following this, he joined Saarikangas lab as a postdoc in November 2024 where one of his primary focuses is to identify structure-switching and phase-separating proteins that play an important role in neuronal synaptic plasticity. The aim of this work is to improve our understanding of neuronal mechanisms that regulate memory formation. Vignesh is supported by the Magnus Ehrnrooth Foundation.
Chang received an M.Sc. in Biology (2021) from Tongji University, China, and a Ph.D. in Neurobiology (2025) from the University of Basel and Paul Scherrer Institute, Switzerland. Her doctoral work focused on developing single-molecule nanopore electrophysiology and computational approaches to resolve peptide oligomerization. She received additional training in protein engineering, cryo-EM, and RNA-binding assays, enabling her to bridge structural biology and molecular neuroscience. She joined the group in November 2025. Her current research examines the conformational dynamics of dendritic spine proteins during synaptic plasticity, with the goal of identifying novel molecular mechanisms underlying memory formation.
Ellinoora received her MSc in genetics and genomics in 2020 from the University of Helsinki, as part of the Master’s Programme in Genetics and Molecular Biosciences. She joined the group as an intern in 2018, and completed her Master’s thesis work there during 2019–2020. Her Master’s thesis work was focused on biochemically characterizing the role of a protein-protein interaction in the context of radial glial cell division and cortical development. Currently Ellinoora is working as a PhD student and is a part of the
Youlim received her Bachelor’s degree in Biology from the College of Science and Technology at Yonsei University, Republic of Korea, in 2019. She obtained her Master’s degree in Science Education (Biology major) from Seoul National University, Republic of Korea, in 2024. During her Master’s studies in the Developmental Genetics Laboratory, she investigated Drosophila melanogaster models to define key molecular mechanisms by which Pss gene mutations lead to abnormal growth associated with the rare disease LMHD. She joined the group as a PhD candidate in 2025. Her current research focuses on investigating protein conformational changes and aberrant condensate formation related to ASD-associated proteins, aiming to elucidate their molecular roles and mechanisms in neurodegenerative diseases.
Yunzhu received her BSc in Biotechnology in 2022 and MSc in Biology in 2025, both from the Southwest University, China. Her bachelor and master’s work were focused on aging and age-related diseases, especially elucidating the role of oxidative stress during aging processing and improving healthspan. She joined the group as a technical assistant in the second half of 2025. Currently she is investigating the role of protein saturation in senescence of Saccharomyces cerevisiae, with the aim of illustrating the mechanism of daughter cell “rejuvenation” and defective retention of aging factors to the mother cell.
Mahdi received his M.Sc. in Biochemistry from the Institute of Biochemistry and Biophysics (IBB), University of Tehran, and his B.Sc. from Kharazmi University. During his M.Sc. research at the Protein Chemistry Lab (PCL), he worked on the HSPB family of molecular chaperones with a special focus on the pathogenic mutations of HSPB5 (αB-crystallin), related to Cataracts and (Cardio)myopathy. He also had a background in analytical chemistry research, and during his B.Sc. project, he designed a colorimetric sensor based on gold/silver core/shell nanoparticles for precise detection of H2O2. Mahdi's primary research interests involve investigating the structure and function of molecular chaperones and protein quality control systems within the context of cellular proteostasis and aging.
Fotios received his Bachelor of Science in Biology in 2022 from the University of Athens and continued his studies at the University of Helsinki Neuroscience MSc program. Fotios is currently working on his Master’s thesis focusing on mechanisms of synaptic information processing.
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