RESEARCH TEAM

1.8.2017-

Contact:
Email:    pavlina.gregorova@helsinki.fi

Pavlina is involved in the project focusing on tRNA modifications and their effect(s) manifested during early stage of disease using cancer cell lines model.

Pavlina finished B.Sc. and M.Sc. degrees in Biochemistry at Masaryk University, Brno, Czech Republic. During the B.Sc. degree, she worked on development of enzymatic biosensors and later familiarized with RNA quality control mechanisms in mammalian mitochondria. During M.Sc. degree, she studied dynamics of m6A modification in mRNA of mammalian cells.

She joined RNAcious lab to study impact of tRNA modification changes on protein synthesis during disease. Pavlina also focuses on development of methods and tools to study RNA modifications.

In free time, she enjoys running, cycling and binge watching TV shows.

15.5.2019-

Contact:
Email:    minna-maria.heinonen@helsinki.fi

Minna is an M.Sc graduate working as a technical assistant in the RNAcious lab. She is studying RNA biology during the phage host interaction.

1.1.2020-

Contact:
Phone:   +358 2941 59815
Email:    salla.kalaniemi@helsinki.fi

Salla is involved in several projects to offer extra hands in the lab experiments.

Salla has finished her B.Sc. at Helsinki Metropolia University of Applied Sciences and her M.Sc. at the University of Iceland. She has worked in different laboratories at the University of Helsinki since 2013.

In her free time Salla likes to do handcrafts and practice yoga.

1.1.2020-

Contact:
Email:    mirka.lampi@helsinki.fi

Mirka focuses on studying the effects that tRNA modifications have on the translation efficacy in yeast-derived cell-free system. She also works with bacteriophage infection models to explore the expression of viral tRNA genes.

Mirka has her background in microbiology and more specifically in molecular virology. She obtained her M.Sc degree in 2015 from the Molecular Virology Research Program, University of Helsinki. Within her PhD research, she developed a novel virus purification method applicable for viruses with varying biochemical and –physical properties. She defended her thesis “Asymmetrical flow field-flow fractionation in virus purification” in 2019 (University of Helsinki). As a postdoc In RNAcious laboratory, Mirka is excited to explore and optimize the protein production in cell-free system. She also looks forward to study, how viruses hijack the translation control from the host cell.

The life outside the laboratory consists of casual everyday things with family and friends, lots of sports, reading and travelling.

1.11.2019-

Contact:
Email:    jenni.pedor@helsinki.fi

Jenni’s work aims are to enhance the efficiency of heterologous protein production in cell-free translation system by optimizing tRNA modificome.

She has obtained her M.Sc. degree in Gene Technology from the University of Tartu (Estonia) and after three months of training at Thermo Fisher Scientific Baltics (Vilnius, Lithuania) joined the RNAcious lab. Jenni is excited to investigate the translational machinery and to use new high-throughput RNA technologies to push the limits of heterologous protein production.

In her free time, Jenni likes to read, travel and hike. She also enjoys cooking and dancing.

1.6.2019-

Contact:
Email:    muhammad.qasim@helsinki.fi

Suleman works on dissecting the translational effects of post-transcriptional RNA modifications in vitro using a simplified cell-free translation system.

Suleman finished his M.Sc degree from University of Helsinki in Molecular Biotechnology. He later joined RNAcious lab in the summer of 2019 and started working on stress induced modifications in the tRNA of Shewanella bacterium. He is passionate about RNA biology, and epigenetic modifications on RNA molecule. 

In his spare time, he likes to play football, badminton and enjoys spending his holidays in a cottage near by a lake. 

02.05.2023-

Contact:
Email:    matea.radesic@helsinki.fi

Matea is currently working as a research assistant at RNAcious. She has re-joined the team to continue working on the optimization of cell-free protein synthesis systems.

Matea has obtained her Master’s degree in Microbiology at the University of Ljubljana, Slovenia.

1.9.2016-

Group Leader
University Lecturer
Novo Nordisk Foundation Emerging Investigator

Contact:
Phone: +358-2941-59533
Email:   peter.sarin@helsinki.fi

University of Helsinki Research Portal

My scientific journey started in 2003 with a passion for viruses, defending my M.Sc. thesis (in 2005) on the biochemical characterisation of the SARS coronavirus RNA-dependent RNA polymerase. Supervised by Dr. Minna Poranen and Prof. Dennis Bamford (Academy of Finland Centre of Excellence for Virus Research 2006-2011, UH), I explored the molecular mechanisms of the phage phi6 RNA polymerase and its utilization in biotechnological applications, obtaining my Ph.D. degree in 2011. As a postdoctoral researcher, I expanded my biochemical research into other viral polymerases, studied the membrane assembly phase of phage phi6, and developed RNA production and purification methods.

Upon receiving the Sigrid Jusélius Postdoc Fellowship (2012-2014), I entered the Max Planck Institute for Molecular Biomedicine (Münster, Germany) to study the evolutionary role of tRNA modifications in response to cellular stress factors. Mentored by Dr. Sebastian Leidel (Max Planck Research Group for RNA Biology), I co-developed a nano-LC mass spectrometry technique that is suitable for ribonucleoside analysis and allows accurate determination of changes in tRNA modification levels. Using this approach I revealed a temperature-dependent thiolation deficit in yeast and, studying several closely related yeast strains, showed that environmental adaptation strongly influences cellular stress responses and tRNA modification adaptation.

Having obtained the Academy of Finland Research Fellow 2016-2021 funding and becoming Principal Investigator (Faculty of Biological and Environmental Sciences, UH), I established the RNAcious laboratory in September 2016. My current research is supported by the Novo Nordisk Foundation (Emerging Investigator in Biotechnology-based synthesis & production 2019-2024), the Sigrid Jusélius Foundation (Young Group Leader grant 2017-2022), and the University of Helsinki. I was appointed Docent in Molecular Biology by the University of Helsinki in 2014.

I am guest editor and external reviewer for several scientific journals, and grant reviewer for three international funding agencies. In 2018, I was appointed as the National Delegate for the Federation of European Microbiological Societies (FEMS) and treasurer for the Finnish Learned Society for Biochemistry, Biophysics, and Microbiology. I am a full member of the RNA Society (2008-) and the American Society for Virology (2006-).