The research that we conduct in the IEB lab spans several disciplines including genomics, developmental and cell biology as well as evolutionary biology, and takes advantage of their respective cutting-edge technologies.
In the pursuit of our scientific goals, our objective is to co-create a respectful, collaborative, and supportive environment. We are fully committed to purposefully fostering inclusion and creating a lab and teaching environment that takes strength from the diversity of perspectives, experiences, characters, and identities.
If you want to join us, collaborate with us, or simply want to know more about our research please contact Claudius.
Claudius is an Associate Professor at the Helsinki Institute of Life Science (HiLIFE) and the Faculty of Biological and Environmental Sciences. He has a background in developmental genetics, genomics, and evolutionary biology. The research of him and his team centers around the study of the genetic basis of phenotypic diversification with a strong focus on the evolution of color pattern diversity in tropical fish (particularly cichlid fishes).
Education and previous positions:
since 2023 | Associate Professor, HiLIFE & Faculty of Biological and Environmental Sciences, University of Helsinki, Finland
since 2021 | Group Leader, Institute of Biotechnology, University of Helsinki, Finland
2013 – 2020 | Postdoctoral Fellow, University of Konstanz, Germany
2008 – 2013 | Ph.D. in Neuroscience, Friedrich Miescher Institute, Basel, Switzerland
2004 – 2008 | Diploma studies in Biology, University of Freiburg, Germany
More information and social media:
UH Research Portal | Google Scholar | Twitter (Personal) | Twitter (Lab) | Researchgate
Contact (in English or German):
claudius.kratochwil@helsinki.fi | +358 50 341 2430 | Biocenter 2, Room 6028b
Nidal is a PostDoc at the 'Integrative Evolutionary Biology' Group in the Institute of Biotechnology, HiLIFE. His background lies in developmental and evolutionary biology. He has studied the link between genotype and phenotype in different traits of cichlid fishes, including color vision, jaw morphology, or hypertrophied lips. Currently, Nidal is studying the dynamics of genome evolution.
Education and previous positions:
since February 2022 | Postdoctoral Fellow, IntEvoBio group, University of Helsinki, Finland
2018-2022 | Ph.D. in Evolutionary Biology, University of Konstanz, Germany
2015-2018 | M. Sc. In Biological Sciences, University of Konstanz, Germany
2012-2015 | B. Sc. In Biological Sciences, University of Konstanz, Germany
More information and social media:
Google Scholar | Twitter | Researchgate | Personal homepage
Contact:
Nidal.karagic@helsinki.fi | Biocenter 2, Room 6027b
Hannah is a postdoc in the 'Integrative Evolutionary Biology' Group at the Institute of Biotechnology, HiLIFE, with a background in evolutionary and computational biology. For her Ph.D., Hannah focused on the evolution of mouthbrooding in cichlids, but she has also done work with sharks, catfish, snakes, wasps, turtles, and bats, studying traits from rates of fungal infection to the function of color patterns in social recognition. Hannah's major interests are 1) understanding how the many traits that make up a phenotype interact with each other over evolutionary time, and 2) coming up with accessible ways to measure those traits across many species and individuals, so that our ability to phenotype organisms keeps up with our ability to genotype them. Currently, Hannah is studying the role of phenotypic robustness across traits in cichlids.
Education and previous positions:
from September 2023 | Postdoctoral Researcher, IntEvoBio group, University of Helsinki, Finland
2019-2023 | PhD in Ecology and Evolutionary Biology, Brown University, RI, USA
2016-2019 | M. Sc. in Ecology and Evolutionary Biology, Brown University, RI, USA
2012-2016 | B. Sc. in Biology, University of Chicago, Il, USA
More information and social media:
Google Scholar | Twitter | Personal homepage
Contact:
hannahiweller@gmail.com | Biocenter 2, Room 6027b
Muktai is a Ph. D. candidate at the 'Integrative Evolutionary Biology' Group in the Institute of Biotechnology, HiLIFE. She has a background in bioinformatics, genomics and evolutionary biology. She has previously studied coloration as well as color vision in butterflies. She is interested in studying the evolution of sexually dimorphic color patterns in cichlid fishes.
Education and previous positions:
since June 2021 | Ph.D candidate, IntEvoBio group, University of Helsinki
2019 – 2021 | Research assistant, the National Centre for Biological Sciences (NCBS), India
2017 – 2019 | M. Sc. in Bioinformatics and Applied Biotechnology, Institute of Bioinformatics and Applied Biotechnology, India
2013 – 2016 | B. Sc. in Life Sciences, University of Mumbai, India
More information and social media:
UH Research Portal | Google Scholar | Twitter | Researchgate
Contact:
muktai.kuwalekar@helsinki.fi | Biocenter 2, Room 6027b
Jan is a Ph. D. candidate at the 'Integrative Evolutionary Biology' Group in the Institute of Biotechnology, HiLIFE. He has a background in developmental biology, functional morphology and behavioral ecology. Jan has previously studied rostral morphology in the billfishes and scale morphology in cichlids. He is studying the evolution of rapid color change in cichlid fishes.
Education and previous positions:
since August 2022 | Ph.D. candidate, IntEvoBio group, University of Helsinki
2019 – 2022 | M. Sc. in Fish biology, fisheries, and aquaculture, Humboldt University of Berlin
2016 – 2019 | B. Sc. in Biological Sciences, University of Konstanz, Germany
More information and social media:
Google Scholar | Twitter | Researchgate
Contact:
jan.haege@student.hu-berlin.de | Biocenter 2, Room 6027b
Olivia is a masters student at the 'Integrative Evolutionary Biology' Group in the Institute of Biotechnology, HiLIFE. Her background is in genetics, genomics, and developmental biology. Previously, she has studied the evolutionary maintenance of mutualisms. Olivia is studying the evo-devo of pigmentation and color patterns in cichlids.
Education and previous positions:
Since April 2022 | Master’s student, IntEvoBio group, University of Helsinki
2020 – 2021 | Undergraduate Research Assistant, Simms Lab, University of California, Berkeley
2017 – 2021 | BA in Molecular and Cell Biology with an emphasis in Genetics, Genomics and Development, University of California, Berkeley
2019 | UCEAP student, exchange semester, University of Oslo
2017 | Global Edge student, exchange semester, University of California, Berkeley & UC London Center
Contact:
olivia.dreilinger@helsinki.fi | Biocenter 2, Room 6027b
Paolo is a Masters student at the 'Integrative Evolutionary Biology' Group in the Institute of Biotechnology, HiLIFE who is currently completing his Master’s Degree in Genetics and Molecular Biosciences at the University of Helsinki. He comes from a background in biochemistry and has previously studied cancer genetics via CRISPR-Cas9 gene editing strategy. Paolo studies pigment cell metabolomics.
Education and previous projects:
Since April 2022 | Masters Student, IntEvoBio group, University of Helsinki, Finland
2019–2020 | Research Project, McKay lab, Carleton University, Canada
2016–2020 | B. Sc. In Biochemistry, Carleton University, Canada
Contact:
paolo.bottega@helsinki.fi | Biocenter 2, Room 6027b
João is an intern student. His background consists of developmental and evolutionary biology and scientific illustration. He has previously studied how different environments influence the evolution and adaptation of the nematode C. elegans. He is interested in studying the evolution and heritability of color pattern variation in cichlid fishes.
Education and previous positions:
since February 2022 | Research Intern, IntEvoBio group, University of Helsinki
2019 – 2021 | Illustration freelancer
2017 – 2019 | Post Graduation in Illustration, Autónoma University, Lisbon, Portugal
2013 – 2016 | B. Sc. in Life Sciences, University of Lisbon, Portugal
Contact:
joao.lopes@helsinki.fi | Biocenter 2, Room 6027b
Adrián is an M. Sc. student of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology here at the University of Helsinki (2022 - 2024). He obtained a B. Sc. in Biology from the University of Alicante, Spain (2018 - 2022). His background consists of field ecology, botany, and taxonomy, but he is currently focusing on conservation. He was awarded the prestigious HiLIFE Research Trainee scholarship to work in the IntEvoBio lab, and he is interested in studying changes in cichlid mate choice under different light conditions, caused in nature by invasive floating plants within their native distribution range.
Education and previous projects:
since March 2022 | HiLIFE Research Trainee, IntEvoBio group, University of Helsinki
2022 – | M. Sc., University of Helsinki, Finland
2018 – 2022 | B.Sc., University of Alicante, Spain
Contact:
adrian.colinobarea@helsinki.fi | Biocenter 2, Room 6027b
Swethaa is a Master’s student of Genetics and Molecular Biosciences at the University of Helsinki (2022-2024). She obtained a B.Tech degree in Industrial Biotechnology at Anna University, India. She believes that there is joy in fathoming how things work, especially when those things are within and around us. Her background involves molecular biology, genetics, and bioinformatics. She has co-authored articles one of which was published in Journal of Pharmacological and Toxicological Methods, Elsevier. Her main research interests lie in genetics, evolutionary biology, and cytogenetic characterization of cells. She is keen on using bioinformatic tools and models to study the coloration characteristics of cichlid fishes.
Education and previous positions:
since March 2023 | Research Intern, IntEvoBio group, University of Helsinki
September 2022-current | MSc student, Genetics and Molecular Biosciences, University of Helsinki, Finland
March 2022 – June 2022 | Project Intern, Ramachandra Institute of Higher Education, Chennai, India
May 2021 – August 2021 | Research Intern, Rawal Genomics Laboratory, Delhi, India
2018-2022 | B.Tech student, Industrial biotechnology, Anna University, Chennai, India
More information and social media:
LinkedIn
Contact:
swethaa.natrajgayathri@helsinki.fi | Biocenter 2, Room 6027b
We are currently looking for students and researchers at all levels to join our team!
If you are passionate and enthusiastic about coloration, evolution, genomics, development, and/or tropical fish & like to join our young, dynamic team, please contact Claudius:
claudius.kratochwil@helsinki.fi | +358 50 341 2430 | Biocenter 2, Room 6028b
For more information about the research in the lab please have a look at previous publications and the detailed description of our research.
Charitini Pantagaki | August 2022 — December 2022 | Erasmus Student, University of Crete, Greece | Project title: Identification of high impact mutations in coloration genes across Lake Malawi cichlid genomes
Thomas Stier | June 2022 — August 2022 | Erasmus Student, University of Konstanz, Germany | Project title: Analysis of the localization of the gene agrp2 in different Lake Malawi species
Alexandra Faur | June 2021 — December 2021 | External Masters Student, University of Iași, Romania | Thesis title: Genetic Control of Pigment Cell Diversity