Group members

People working in Lymphangiogenesis Research and Antibody Development group.
Are you in­ter­ested in do­ing things dif­fer­ently?

Do you feel that everybody just follows the crowd or the money instead of following their own ideas? We are looking for exceptional people. In our lab, you can do an internship, BSc project, MSc project, or even the whole shebang of a PhD in the field of molecular and cellular biology/biochemistry. If you are interested in working with us, send your applications or inquiries to . The funding situation is always tough in academia. Therefore, if you need financing for your postgraduate studies, please start your applications well ahead of time. It takes longer than you think to find a source for your salary or to apply for a grant: many organizations have only one deadline per year and then they still deliberate another few months before they let you know whether you got funded.
Senior researchers

Michael Jeltsch, Professor in Pharmaceutical Protein Drug Research

email: 
+358 2941 25514
+358 50 4486364

P.O. Box 63 (Haartmaninkatu 8)
P.O. Box 56 (Viikinkaari 5E)
00014 UNIVERSITY OF HELSINKI

Jaana Vulli, Postdoctoral Researcher

email: 

+358 2941 25520

+358 50 4486439

P.O. Box 56 (Viikinkaari 5E)

00014 UNIVERSITY OF HELSINKI
Gradu­ate & un­der­gradu­ate stu­dents

Honey Bokharaie, Postgraduate Student

email: 

+358 2941 25520

+358 50 4486439

P.O. Box 63 (Haartmaninkatu 8)

00014 UNIVERSITY OF HELSINKI

Jan Brokemper, Postgraduate Student

I, originally from Leipzig Germany, graduated from my master's studies in chemistry in the year 2023. During these studies, I went on an exchange semester to Finland and got to know the TRIM group in Kumpula. With my newfound interest for radiopharmaceutical chemistry, I proceeded to do doctoral studies there. Before officially starting my thesis studies, I joined the lab of Dr. Michael Jeltsch to work on efficient recombinant production of recombinant proteins using the piggybac transposon expression system. Since Feb 2024, I am under supervision of Dr. Mirkka Sarparanta (Kumpula) and co-supervision of Dr. Michael Jeltsch (Viikki) to work on the site-specific enzymatic protein radiofluorination with the goal to access high quality biomolecular fluorine-18 radiotracers for PET.

email: 
+358 2941 25520
+358 50 3248553

Gege Chen, Postgraduate Student

email: 
+358 2941 25520
‪+358 41 7260485‬

Setareh Sima, Postgraduate Student

I am Setareh (Star) from Iran. I earned my Pharm.D. from Isfahan University of Medical Sciences in 2018. For several years, I worked as a research assistant in the Pharmaceutical Biotechnology Laboratory at my university, specializing in the expression and purification of recombinant pharmaceutical proteins in both prokaryotic and eukaryotic systems.

In January 2025, I started my PhD in Michael Jeltsch’s group, an ideal environment for me to deepen my expertise in pharmaceutical protein production. My goal is to become a specialist in this field and contribute to the advancement of cost-effective and efficient therapeutic protein manufacturing.

Outside of research, I enjoy watching movies, cooking, cycling, and exploring the beautiful nature of Helsinki.

email: 
+358 2941 25520
‪+358 44 9423079

Shu Zhang, Postgraduate Student

My name is Shu Zhang, and I am from China. I completed my Master's degree at Jilin University in 2022, and I am currently pursuing my doctoral project in Michael Jeltsch's lab. I enjoy cooking, watching movies, and engaging in conversations with people from all walks of life. Feel free to reach out—I'd love to communicate with you! :-)

email: 
+358 2941 25520

Cao Gong, M.Sc. Student

Cao Gong, I am from China and hold a five-year Bachelor’s degree in Clinical Pharmacy from Jilin University. Currently, I am pursuing a Master’s degree in Pharmaceutical Research, Development, and Safety at the University of Helsinki.

email: 
+358 2941 25520

Ronja Vuorenoja, B.Sc. Student

I am a third-year Biomedicin student at the University of Eastern Finland. I spent a couple of months in the group as an intern, and afterwards I continued the research project on Dispersin B that I had started during my internship, as it supported my bachelor’s thesis topic. In my free time, I enjoy running and hiking with my dog. 

email: 
+358 2941 25520
Ex­change stu­dents & vis­it­ing sci­ent­ists
Technical staff
Alumni

Kia Peura, MSc student

+358 2941 25520

+358 50 4486439

P.O. Box 56 (Viikinkaari 5E)

00014 UNIVERSITY OF HELSINKI

Khushbu Rauniyar, Postgraduate Student

email: 

+358 2941 25520

+358 50 4486439

P.O. Box 63 (Haartmaninkatu 8)

00014 UNIVERSITY OF HELSINKI

Zalina Magomedova, Postdoctoral Researcher

email: 

+358 2941 25520

+358 50 4486439

P.O Box 63 (Haartmaninkatu 8)

00014 UNIVERSITY OF HELSINKI

Sanne Keskimäki, MSc student

+358 2941 25520

+358 50 4486439

P.O. Box 56 (Viikinkaari 5E)

00014 UNIVERSITY OF HELSINKI

Jouni Oksanen, MSc student

+358 2941 25520

+358 50 4486439

P.O. Box 56 (Viikinkaari 5E)

00014 UNIVERSITY OF HELSINKI

Zuzana Varaliová, Visiting PhD Student (1/2022-4/2022)

email: 

+358 2941 25520

+358 50 4486439

P.O. Box 56 (Viikinkaari 5E)

00014 UNIVERSITY OF HELSINKI

Viktoria Melanie Riha, Exchange Student (7/2021-8/2021)

email: 

+358 2941 25520

+358 50 4486439

P.O. Box 63 (Haartmaninkatu 8)

00014 UNIVERSITY OF HELSINKI

Andrea Díaz Iglesias, Exchange Student (4/2021-6/2021)

email: 

+358 2941 25520

+358 50 4486439

P.O. Box 63 (Haartmaninkatu 8)

00014 UNIVERSITY OF HELSINKI

Soheila Akhondzadeh, Visiting Scientist

email: 

+358 2941 25520

+358 50 4486439

P.O. Box 63 (Haartmaninkatu 8)

00014 UNIVERSITY OF HELSINKI

Johanna Anttila, (6/2015–10/2015)

Gunjan Pandey, (3/2015–8/2015)

Kenny Mattonet, (3/2014–8/2014)

Marcel Lackner, Erasmus internship (9/2013–11/2013)

Sawan Kumar Jha, Postgraduate Student (6/2014-5/2020)

email: 

+358 2941 25520

+358 50 4486439

P.O. Box 63 (Haartmaninkatu 8)

00014 UNIVERSITY OF HELSINKI

Pau Rosich Just, Exchange Student (2/2020-6/2020)

email: 

+358 2941 25520

+358 50 4486439

POBox 63 (Haartmaninkatu 8)

00014 UNIVERSITY OF HELSINKI

Timo Lehti, Postdoctoral Researcher (1/2018-12/2019)

email: 

+358 2941 25520

+358 50 4486439

P.O. Box 63 (Haartmaninkatu 8)

00014 UNIVERSITY OF HELSINKI

Moushumi Bhattacharyya, Postdoctoral Researcher, EMBO short-term fellow (8/2019-11/2019)

email: 

+358 2941 25520

P.O Box 63 (Haartmaninkatu 8)

00014 UNIVERSITY OF HELSINKI

Anna Gąciarz, Postdoctoral Researcher (2/2019-8/2019)

Eunice Maina, Erasmus Trainee (1/2018–9/2018)

Enni Isokangas, Laboratory Engineer (5/2015-11/2018)

email: 

+358 2941 25520

+358 50 4486439

POBox 63 (Haartmaninkatu 8)

00014 UNIVERSITY OF HELSINKI

Alisha GM, Undergraduate Student (TRANSMED, 3/2018-8/2018)

email: 

+358 2941 25520

+358 50 4486439

P.O. Box 63 (Haartmaninkatu 8)

00014 UNIVERSITY OF HELSINKI

Rustem Kasymov, Postgraduate Student (1/2017-6/2018)

email: 

+358 2941 25520

+358 50 4486439

POBox 63 (Haartmaninkatu 8)

00014 UNIVERSITY OF HELSINKI

Wanyi Chen, research internship (09/2107–12/2017)

Liisa Uotila, Postdoctoral Researcher (8/2017-12/2017)

email: 

+358 2941 25520

+358 50 4486439

P.O. Box 63 (Haartmaninkatu 8)

00014 UNIVERSITY OF HELSINKI

Ezgi Şengün, Exchange Student (6/2017-8/2017)

email: 

+358 2941 25520

+358 50 4486439

POBox 63 (Haartmaninkatu 8)

00014 UNIVERSITY OF HELSINKI

Satu Hyvärinen, Postdoctoral Researcher (9/2016-8/2017)

email: 

+358 2941 25520

+358 50 4486439

POBox 63 (Haartmaninkatu 8)

00014 UNIVERSITY OF HELSINKI

Yashavanthi Mysore, Postdoctoral Researcher (2/2017-6/2017)

email: 

+358 2941 25520

+358 50 4486439

POBox 63 (Haartmaninkatu 8)

00014 UNIVERSITY OF HELSINKI

Ewa Chronowska, Collaborative research visit (6/2016–7/2016)