Group Members

Vladislav Verkhusha has received his M.Sc. in biophysics from the Moscow University of Physics and Technology and Ph.D. in chemical kinetics and catalysis from the Moscow State University, Russia. He obtained his postdoctoral training in the Osaka Bioscience Institute, Japan, and later worked as a research scientist in research centers of the governmental Japan Science and Technology Corporation. In 2002 he was appointed as an assistant professor at the University of Colorado and later has become an associate professor (2006) and a professor (2011) at the Albert Einstein College of Medicine in New York, USA. In 2012 he was awarded a Finnish Distinguished Professor position and started his laboratory at the University of Helsinki. His research has been funded by several grants from the Academy of Finland and by the EU FP7 Advanced grant. His research interests include engineering of fluorescent proteins, neuronal biosensors and optogenetic tools, design of molecular evolution approaches, and development of super-resolution and deep-tissue imaging technologies.

Anna Leopold obtained her MSc in microbial physiology from the Moscow State University, Russia, in 2009, under the supervision of Professor Vladimir Baklaushev. In 2012, she completed her PhD thesis in biochemistry at the Pirogov Research Medical University, Russia, under the supervision of Professor Vladimir Chekhonin. The main topic of her MS and PhD studies was engineering of recombinant vascular endothelial growth factors and their recombinant receptors. In 2014 she joined the laboratory of Professor Vladislav Verkhusha at the University of Helsinki, Finland, as a postdoc. Her current research interests consist of engineering of optogenetic tools including optically regulated kinases.

Olena Oliinyk received her M.Sc. in biochemistry from the National Taras Shevchenko University, Ukraine, in 2006. She completed a Ph.D. at the Palladin Institute of Biochemistry of the National Academy of Sciences of Ukraine under the co-supervision of Professors Serhiy Komisarenko and Dr. Sc. Denis Kolibo. The main topic of her studies was engineering of recombinant antibodies libraries and developing of scFv-antibodies to diphtheria toxin. In 2016 she joined the laboratory of Professor Vladislav Verkhusha at the University of Helsinki, Finland, as a postdoc. Her current research is focused on engineering and applications of near-infrared fluorescent probes.

Kateryna Tokarchuk received her M.Sc. in biochemistry from the National Taras Shevchenko University, Kyiv, Ukraine, in 2009. In 2016 she completed a Ph.D. at the Palladin Institute of Biochemistry of the National Academy of Sciences of Ukraine under the supervision of Dr. Yuri Danylovych. The main topic of her studies was aldehydes participation in oxidative stress in vitro and in vivo. In 2024 she joined the laboratory of Professor Vladislav Verkhusha at the University of Helsinki, Finland, as a postdoc. Her current research is focused on development of cancer therapeutic agents based on destabilized nanobodies.

Maksim Karasev obtained his MSc in 2011 from St. Petersburg State Technological Institute (Technical University). He then worked in Immunopharmacology R&D, focusing on antibody engineering and production for the development of therapeutics and immunoassays. In 2017, he joined Professor Vladislav Verkhusha’s lab at the University of Helsinki as a doctoral researcher, developing genetically encoded, light-sensitive proteins (optogenetic tools) for precise control of protein positioning, cell signaling, gene expression, cell death, and protein modifications. He received his Ph.D. in 2024 and is now a postdoctoral researcher focused on NIR biosensors and optogenetic tools for neuroscience.