Frontiers of Science: Prof. Miguel Soares
2026-09-10 12:00 - 13:00 (Europe/Helsinki)
10th September 2026
Onsite event
in Presidentti auditorium, BioCity

Dr. Miguel Soares, Gulbenkian Institute for Molecular Medicine, Portugal
Metabolic adaptation as a defence strategy against infection
Host: Antonio Sousa (antonio.sousa@utu.fi)

More information TBA

35th BioCity Symposium: Vision, expanded
2026-08-27 08:30 - 2026-08-28 16:30
27th-28th August 2026
Onsite event
in Mauno Koivisto Centre, BioCity, Turku

Save the date now in your agenda and stay tuned for updates!

Latest updates from the event webpage: https://biocityturku.fi/biocity-symposium/

Frontiers of Science: Prof. Sussan Nourshargh
2026-05-21 12:00 - 13:00
21st May at 12:00
Onsite event
in Presidentti auditorium, BioCity

Prof. Sussan Nourshargh, Queen Mary University of London, UK
Neutrophil breaching of microvessels: Regulation & dysregulation
Host: Sirpa Jalkanen (sirjal@utu.fi)

More information about the speaker TBA

Take a look at the Frontiers of Science updates from BioCity Turku web pages: https://biocityturku.fi/frontiers-of-science/

Frontiers of Science: Prof. Edward Holmes
2026-05-07 12:00 - 13:00
7th May at 12:00
Onsite event
in Presidentti auditorium, BioCity

Prof. Edward Holmes, University of Sydney, Australia
Metagenomics in One Health – from detection to prediction of emerging infections

Host: Heli Harvala (heli.harvala@utu.fi)

Take a look at the Frontiers of Science updates from BioCity Turku web pages: https://biocityturku.fi/frontiers-of-science/

Frontiers of Science: Prof. Kristian Strømgaard
2026-04-23 12:00 - 13:00
23rd April at 12:00
Onsite event
in Presidentti auditorium, BioCity

Prof. Kristian Strømgaard, University of Copenhagen, Denmark
Targeting receptor complexes with therapeutic peptides

Host: Pekka Postila (pekka.postila@utu.fi)

Take a look at the Frontiers of Science updates from BioCity Turku web pages: https://biocityturku.fi/frontiers-of-science/

Frontiers of Science: Prof. Paul Timpson
2026-04-16 12:00 - 13:00
16th April 2026
Onsite event
in Presidentti auditoroium, BioCity

Prof. Paul Timpson, Garvan Institute of Medical Research, Australia
Intravital imaging of cancer and drug responses

Host: Johanna Ivaska (joivaska@utu.fi)

Take a look at the Frontiers of Science updates from BioCity Turku web pages: https://biocityturku.fi/frontiers-of-science/

Frontiers of Science: Prof. Arthur J. Ragauskas
2026-04-09 12:00 - 13:00
9th April at 12:00
Onsite event
in Presidentti auditoroium, BioCity

Prof. Arthur J. Ragauskas, The University of Tennessee, USA
From the forest to fuel tank & 3D printer
Host: Chunlin Xu (chunlin.xu@abo.fi)

More information TBA

Take a look at the Frontiers of Science updates from BioCity Turku web pages: https://biocityturku.fi/frontiers-of-science/

Frontiers of Science: Dr. Laurent Groc
2026-03-12 12:00 - 13:00

Frontiers of Science: Dr. Evangelia Petsalaki
2026-03-05 12:00 - 13:00
5th March 2026 at 12:00
Onsite event
in Presidentti auditorium, BioCity

Dr. Evangelia Petsalaki, EMBL-EBI, UK
Network-based approaches for studying context-specific signalling

Host: Tomi Suomi (tomi.suomi@utu.fi)

Coffee and sandwich served at 11:45, first come first serve!

Six PhD researchers and early-career postdocs are welcome to have a lunch and discuss with Dr. Petsalaki after the seminar. This is a great possibility to learn hosting skills in a friendly environment and create connections for future. Everyone is welcome to join, BioCity Turku will offer the lunch.

If you got interested, please send an email to biocityturku@bioscience.fi

Evangelia Petsalaki's research group studies human cell signalling in healthy and disease conditions. The group uses interdisciplinary approaches, including data-driven network inference, modelling of cell processes and data integration, to understand how different environmental or genetic conditions affect cell signalling responses leading to diverse cell phenotypes. Their long-term aim is to create whole-cell signalling models, to better understand cell functions and disease. Evangelia has a PhD in structural bioinformatics from EMBL and the University of Heidelberg (2009) and did her postdoctoral work at the Lunenfeld-Tanenbaum Research Institute in Toronto, Canada (2010-2016).

Selected publications

Comprehensive evaluation of phosphoproteomic-based kinase activity inference. Müller-Dott S, Jaehnig EJ, Munchic KP, Jiang W, Yaron-Barir TM, Savage SR, Garrido-Rodriguez M, Johnson JL, Lussana A, Petsalaki E, Lei JT, Dugourd A, Krug K, Cantley LC, Mani DR, Zhang B, Saez-Rodriguez J. Nat Commun. 2025 May 22;16(1):4771

PhosX: data-driven kinase activity inference from phosphoproteomics experiments. Lussana A, Müller-Dott S, Saez-Rodriguez J, Petsalaki E. Bioinformatics. 2024 Nov 28;40(12):btae697

An unbiased ranking of murine dietary models based on their proximity to human metabolic dysfunction-associated steatotic liver disease (MASLD). Vacca M, …, Feigh M, Yunis C, Bedossa P, Stewart M, Cater HL, Wells S, Schattenberg JM, Anstee QM; LITMUS Investigators; Tiniakos D, Perfield JW, Petsalaki E, Davidsen P, Vidal-Puig A. Nat Metab. 2024 Jun;6(6):1178-119

Use of viral motif mimicry improves the proteome-wide discovery of human linear motifs. Wadie B, Kleshchevnikov V, Sandaltzopoulou E, Benz C, Petsalaki E. ‘Cell Rep. 2022 May 3;39(5):110764

Frontiers of Science: Prof. Mohamed Bentires-Alj
2026-02-12 12:00 - 13:00
12th February at 12:00
Onsite event
in Presidentti auditorium, BioCity

Prof. Mohamed Bentires-Alj, University of Basel, Switzerland
Breast Tumor Heterogeneity and Metastasis: From Mechanistic Insights to Functional Personalized Therapy

Host: Jenny Pessa (jenny.pessa@abo.fi)

Take a look at the Frontiers of Science updates from BioCity Turku web pages: https://biocityturku.fi/frontiers-of-science/

Frontiers of Science: Prof. Avner Schlessinger
2026-02-05 12:00 - 13:00
5th February at 12:00
Onsite event
in Presidentti auditorium, BioCity

Prof. Avner Schlessinger, Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai, USA
AI-guided discovery of conformation-specific inhibitors for challenging protein targets
Host: Parthiban Marimuthu (Parthiban.Marimuthu@abo.fi)

More information TBA

Take a look at the Frontiers of Science updates from BioCity Turku web pages: https://biocityturku.fi/frontiers-of-science/

TCRS Christmas Seminar
2025-12-11 15:00 - 20:00
11th December at 15:00-20:00
Onsite event
in Säätiö Auditorium at Medisiina D
Flyer

Christmas is more than lights and presents, it is also a wonderful time to get together, catch up with colleagues and hear the latest updates on cancer research happening across our campus. And of course, to enjoy a traditional Christmas dinner all these at the Turku Cancer Research Society (TCRS) Christmas Seminar.

The event is organised in collaboration with FICAN West. Register here at latest 7 December: https://link.webropolsurveys.com/EP/328D0BAFADACB277

We will start with some festive treats kindly sponsored by BIONORDIKA, followed by exciting talks, discussion and the announcement of the winners of the Best PhD Thesis Award. This year the society will award two cancer theses!

Program
15:00 Christmas Glögi
15:15 Opening words by TCRS Board
15:20 Pekka Taimen, MD, group leader. “TBA”
15:50 Sami Ventelä, MD, PhD. group leader & co-founder and CMO at Thestra ltd.
“Tackling the poor survival of neck squamous cells carcinoma (HNSCC) from bedside to bench
16:20 Anna Knittle, PhD, Medical Advisor Oncology, Associate Director Medical Affairs at MSD
“Bridging Innovation and Impact: Building Clinical and Payor Value in Oncology Drug Development”
16:50 Glögi refill and toilet break
17:00 Announce of the Winners of the best PhD theses 2025 and thesis presentations
17:30 End of the scientific part
17:45 Christmas dinner for members of the Turku Cancer Research Society at cafeteria Sodexo (Medisiina C)
20:00 End of the social program

Important!
Christmas Dinner only for members of the TCRS Society (Sponsored by Misvik biology). Dinner will be served around SODEXO's cafeteria. For those attending the dinner, please check that you have either registered or renewed your membership in the Society. Your membership is instrumental in supporting our mission to foster collaboration between basic researchers and clinicians at the Turku Campus. We deeply appreciate your commitment to advancing cancer research and value your continued support.

If you wish to become a member of Turku Cancer Research Society or renew your membership, please pay the 17 € annual membership fee (12€ for undergraduate students) on the Society’s bank account
IBAN: [REDACTED], Nordea
Receiver: Turun Syöpätutkijat ry
Please, write your name and email address in the message field

More information about the event from Gabriela Martínez (gabriela.chacon@utu.fi)

Frontiers of Science: Prof. Marco Demaria
2025-12-11 12:00 - 13:00
11th December at 12:00
Onsite event
in Presidentti auditorium, BioCity
Autumn 2025 program

Prof. Marco Demaria, University of Groningen, The Netherlands
Heterogeneity in cellular senescence: from mechanisms to interventions

Host: Gennady Yegutkin (genyeg@utu.fi)

No coffee nor sandwiches this time, but lunch instead!

BioCity Turku wants to thank all its people from the great 2025 which was full of great events and good vibes. After Prof. Demaria’s talk there is lunch served in BioCity 1st floor lobby. There are seats for 150 first ones to register and we hope many of you can make it.

Register here: https://link.webropolsurveys.com/S/A24F2F06197BBA30

Dr Demaria is an associate professor in Cellular Ageing and his research is focused towards identifying novel mechanisms and biomarkers associated to senescent cells. His laboratory has also a strong interest to characterize the pro-disease functions of senescent cells induced during aging and by anti-cancer therapies. A major goal is to exploit these findings for the development of rejuvenating interventions. In 2018 he co-founded a start-up company, Cleara Biotech, devoted to develop anti-senescence drugs.

Selected publications

Pharmacological CDK4/6 inhibition promotes vulnerability to lysosomotropic agents in breast cancer. Nehme J, Maassen S, Bravaccini S, Zanoni M, Gianni C, De Giorgi U, Soto-Gamez A, Altulea A, Gheorghe T, Wang B, Demaria M. EMBO J. 2025 Feb 10

Guidelines for minimal information on cellular senescence experimentation in vivo. Ogrodnik M, Carlos Acosta J, Adams PD, d'Adda di Fagagna F, …, Scharffetter-Kochanek K, Sedivy JM, Sikora E, Witwer K, von Zglinicki T, Yun MH, Grillari J, Demaria M. Cell. 2024 Aug 8;187(16):4150-4175

Converting cell death into senescence by PARP1 inhibition improves recovery from acute oxidative injury. Nehme J, Mesilmany L, Varela-Eirin M, Brandenburg S, Altulea A, Lin Y, Gaya da Costa M, Seelen M, Hillebrands JL, van Goor H, Saab R, Akl H, Prevarskaya N, Farfariello V, Demaria M.Nat Aging. 2024 Jun;4(6):771-782

The Quest to Define and Target Cellular Senescence in Cancer. Wang B, Demaria M. Cancer Res. 2021 Dec 15;81(24):6087-6089.

General information

You can download and save all the autumn 2025 FoS-seminars to your calendar from here: https://seafile.utu.fi/d/44a70f80ac1e46a9ad0a/
Registration is not needed, participation list is circulated in the audience
If you are a student and later wish to get a certificate of attendance from the Frontier of Science seminars, print out the seminar diary and after the seminar ask the BioCity coordinator to sign it https://seafile.utu.fi/d/44a70f80ac1e46a9ad0a/
Please note that any audio or video recording of the seminars is strictly forbidden.
Autumn 2025 image credits to Kari Kaunisto: Sahlberg family collections, Biodiversity unit, University of Turku

Infections and Immunity Seminar: Iannone
2025-12-10 13:15 - 14:00
10th December at 13:15-14
Hybird event
in Lauren 2, Medisiina D / Zoom
Autumn 2025 program

Dr. Valeria Iannone, University of Eastern Finland
Modulating gut barrier functions through diet: implications for host health

Come on-site or join the lecture in Zoom: https://utu.zoom.us/j/61507745698

More information from Sujit Kumar (sujit.kumar@utu.fi)

Everyone warmly welcome!

Immunology Seminar: Peterson
2025-12-09 14:00 - 15:00
9th December at 14:00-15:00
Online event
in Zoom

Pärt Peterson, University of Tarto
Title TBA

Host: Professor Riitta Lahesmaa (rilahes@utu.fi)

Register for the Immunology Seminar Series email list to get calendar invitation to the online seminar: https://link.webropolsurveys.com/S/D29C32AA6E8A2F7A

Immunology seminar series is jointly organised by the Finnish Society for Immunology, InFLAMES Flagship and Turku Bioscience. For further information contact Anne Lahdenperä (ankahy@utu.fi) or Riitta Lahesmaa (rilahes@utu.fi), University of Turku.

Guest Seminar: Fejtova
2025-12-05 10:00 - 11:00
5th December at 10:00
Onsite event
in BioCity 5th floor seminar room BEAR

Prof. Anna Fejtova, Division of Molecular Psychiatry, University Hospital Erlangen, Germany
Neuronal functions of the metabolic sensor CTBP1

Host: Eleanor Coffey (elecof@utu.fi)

Prof. Fejtova’s group investigates presynaptic plasticity, studying molecular mechanisms that control the plasticity of neurotransmitter release. They are currently interested in the link between nutrition, metabolism and brain function.

Prof. Fejtova will serve as opponent for Artemis Varidaki’s defence on December 4th at 13:00 in Aurum Argentum, Henrikinkatu 2, Turku. The title of Artemis’s dissertation is “Investigation of JNK1 substrates in the regulation of neuronal architecture and receptor trafficking”. Welcome to Artemis’s defence on Thursday and to Anna’s lecture on Friday!

Frontiers of Science: Prof. Sara Wickström
2025-12-04 12:00 - 13:00
4th December at 12:00
Onsite event
in Presidentti auditorium, BioCity
Autumn 2025 program

Prof. Sara Wickström, University of Helsinki, Finland
Mechanical regulation of cell states

Host: Jenny Pessa (jenny.pessa@abo.fi)

Coffee and sandwich served at 11:45, first come first serve!

Six PhD researchers and early-career postdocs are welcome to have a lunch and discuss with Prof. Wickström after the seminar. This is a great possibility to learn hosting skills in a friendly environment and create connections for future. Everyone is welcome to join, BioCity Turku will offer the lunch.

If you got interested, please send an email to biocityturku@bioscience.fi

The Wickström lab combines state-of-the-art scale-bridging technologies from nanoscale atomic force microscopy and next-generation sequencing to novel ex vivo tissue culture methods, the whole organism live imaging and in silico modeling all the way up to analysis of the clinical patient material. The research is highly interdisciplinary and involves collaborations with mathematicians, physicists, and clinical oncologists. Recent work from the Wickström group has uncovered how a generation of cellular forces is important for controlling stem cell fate and coordinating cell fate with cell position within the tissue. Furthermore, the laboratory has discovered how extrinsic forces generated by the tissue impact chromatin structure and epigenetic gene silencing, thereby controlling the transcriptional state and lineage commitment of stem cells.

Selected publications

Koester J, Miroshnikova YA, Ghatak S, Chacón-Martínez CA, Morgner J, Li X, Atanassov I, Koch M, Bloch W, Bartusel M, Niessen CM, Rada-Iglesias A, Wickström SA. (2021) Niche stiffening compromises stem cell potential during aging by reducing chromatin accessibility at bivalent promoters. Nat Cell Biol 7, 771-781.

Nava MM, Miroshnikova YA, Biggs LC, Whitefield DB, Metge F, Boucas J, Vihinen H, Jokitalo E, Li X, García Arcos JM, Hoffmann B, Merkel R, Niessen CM, Dahl KN, Wickström SA. (2020) Heterochromatin-driven nuclear softening protects the genome against mechanical stress-induced damage Cell, 181, 800-817

Kim CS, Ding X, Allmeroth K, Biggs, LC, Kolenc OI, L’Hoest N, Chacón-Martínez CA, Edlich-Muth C, Giavalisco P, Quinn KP, Denzel M, Eming SA, Wickström SA. (2020) Glutamine metabolism controls stem cell fate reversibility and long-term maintenance in the hair follicle. Cell Metabolism 32, 629-642.e8

Miroshnikova YA, Le HQ, Schneider D, Thalheim T, Rübsam M, Bremicker N, Polleux J, Höppner N, Tarantola M, Wang I, Balland M, Niessen CM, Galle J, Wickström SA. (2018). Adhesion forces and cortical tension couple cell proliferation and differentiation to drive epidermal stratification. Nat Cell Biol 20, 69-80.

General information

You can download and save all the autumn 2025 FoS-seminars to your calendar from here: https://seafile.utu.fi/d/44a70f80ac1e46a9ad0a/
Registration is not needed, participation list is circulated in the audience
If you are a student and later wish to get a certificate of attendance from the Frontier of Science seminars, print out the seminar diary and after the seminar ask the BioCity coordinator to sign it https://seafile.utu.fi/d/44a70f80ac1e46a9ad0a/
Please note that any audio or video recording of the seminars is strictly forbidden.
Autumn 2025 image credits to Kari Kaunisto: Sahlberg family collections, Biodiversity unit, University of Turku

Bioinformatics and a changing society: Wide-scope bioinformatics workshop
2025-12-04 09:00 - 16:00
4th December at 9.00-16.00
Onsite event
in Pub1 auditorium, Publicum

Join researchers and enthusiasts for a wide-scope Bioinformatics Workshop Day that bridges biology, technology and society. From molecular insights to big data ethics, this event offers a unique opportunity to learn, discuss and connect across disciplines.

This multidisciplinary hands-on bioinformatics workshop invites PhD researchers and anyone interested in bioinformatics to spend a day exploring the rapidly evolving interface between life sciences and data science. The morning program features a series of lectures — perfect for those who want to learn without committing to the full-day event — while the afternoon offers optional, hands-on workshops for a deeper dive into specialized topics.

Program
08.30 Helpdesk for checking the installations of the programs needed for the workshops
09.00 Morning coffee
09.30 Welcome words
Heli Harvala, Faculty of Medicine and
Saara Wittfooth, Faculty of Technology
09.35 Introduction to Bioinformatics
Anni Kauko, InFLAMES Flagship
10.00 Bioinformatics Applications in Medicine
Peter Simmonds, Faculty of Medicine
10.30 Big Data Applications and the Gut Microbiome
Matti Ruuskanen, Faculty of Technology
11.00 Legal Framework for Big Data and Bioinformatics
Tom Southerington, Faculty of Law
11.30 Lunch provided for workshop participants
12.30 Parallel workshops
14.30 Afternoon coffee
15.00 Wrap-up lectures
16.00 The day ends

After the lunch break — provided for participants staying on for the workshops — attendees can join one of five parallel sessions to explore specific themes in depth.

Please note that some workshops require prior bioinformatics knowledge, and all participants are expected to bring their own laptops with certain software installed beforehand. Check out the detailed instructions and workshop details from here, click!

Public Health Microbiology – Peter Simmonds & Heli Harvala
Spatial Transcriptomics – Lea Mikkola
Basic R-Programming – Nick Booth & Anni Kauko
Gut Microbiome – Tuomas Borman & Matti Ruuskanen
Legal Aspects of Bioinformatics – Juha Vesala & Sini Mickelsson

Register to the lectures and workshops at latest Wednesday 26 November: https://link.webropolsurveys.com/S/8223B55C33CFF26F

More information bout the event from https://www.utu.fi/en/node/418643

Welcome!

MSc Thesis Project Expo 2025
2025-12-03 09:00 - 11:00
3rd December at 09:00-11:00
Onsite event
in Tiedonkolu, Medisiina D

Are you a biosciences MSc student wondering where to find a lab to do your MSc thesis? Are you running a life science lab and looking for MSc students to join your group? Come to the MSc Thesis Project Expo and get connected!

The MSc Thesis Project Expo is a networking event for bioscience-related MSc students and research groups to meet and get to know one another. The event is intended for both domestic and international bioscience MSc students from the University of Turku and Åbo Akademi University.

This is a great opportunity for research groups to gain visibility among students and recruit new master’s thesis students!

Why for Research Groups?

This is your chance to meet motivated MSc students from various biosciences backgrounds.
Promote your projects, network with potential thesis workers, and increase your group’s visibility.

The event is organized as a poster exhibition — one poster (vertical A0) per PI. Please register only if you can take an MSc thesis student in the upcoming year. There is room for the first 50 research groups.

Register your research group by 23 November 2025: https://link.webropolsurveys.com/S/3F7474B1D6EBC7C8

The event and the Moodle site (https://moodle.utu.fi/mod/forum/view.php?id=2048845) are open for all MSc students from UTU and ÅAU who want to get to know the research groups related to biosciences in Turku area. The event is promoted especially for bioscience MSc students from the Faculty of Medicine (UTU), Faculty of Science and Engineering (ÅAU), and Departments of Life Technologies and Biology (UTU), but also other students are welcome to join.

Why for Students?

If you’re looking for a lab to do your MSc thesis work, come to the Expo! Explore your options, talk with research group members, and learn about available thesis projects.

UTU and ÅAU Career Services will also be there to offer tips on:

Career planning
Approaching supervisors professionally
Applying for positions

Information from all participating research groups will be available before and after the event on a Moodle site: https://moodle.utu.fi/mod/forum/view.php?id=2048845

No registration needed for students — just show up!

Welcome everyone!

More information about the event from:

Faculty of Science and Engineering (ÅAU): Annika Meinander (Annika.Meinander@abo.fi)
Department of Life Technologies (UTU): Anu Salminen (anusalmi@utu.fi)
Department of Biology (UTU): Päivi Koskinen (paivi.koskinen@utu.fi)
Faculty of Medicine (UTU): Nina Vainikka (med-mdp@utu.fi)

As well as from https://biocityturku.fi/msc-thesis-projects/

FICAN West Guest Lecture: Al-Samadi
2025-12-01 15:00 - 16:00
1st December at 15-16
Onsite event
in Lauren 1, Medisiina D, Kiinamyllynkatu 10

Ahmed Al-Samadi, Associate Professor, University of Eastern Finland
The Immune Microenvironment in Oral Cancer: From Prognostic Biomarkers to Novel Immunotherapies

Host: Maria Sundvall

Coffee & pulla will be served to the first twenty participants. Welcome!

Ahmed Al-Samadi is working as a Tenure track Professor of Oral Pathology (80%) in the University of Eastern Finland and as an Academy Research Fellow (20%) in the Department of Oral and Maxillofacial Diseases in the University of Helsinki. His research focuses on the understanding of immunological aspects of oral carcinogenesis and on the development of models for personalized medicine to head and neck cancer. Al-Samadi has received his PhD in 2015 from the Department of Clinical Medicine, Faculty of Medicine in the University of Helsinki and graduated in 2008 as a Doctor of Dental Surgery from the College of Dentistry in the University of Mosul in Iraq.

Selected recent publications:

Giedraityte et al. The protective role of IL-17C in oral squamous cell carcinoma. Transl Oncol 2025.

Wahbi et al. Evaluation of in vitro and in vivo personalized cancer treatment assays for oral squamous cell carcinoma. Transl Oncol 2023.

Sieviläinen et al. IDO1 Inhibition Reduces Immune Cell Exclusion Through Inducing Cell Migration While PD-1 Blockage Increases IL-6 and -8 Secretion From T Cells in Head and Neck Cancer. Front. Immunol 2022.

Bioscience Open Hardware Seminar Day
2025-12-01 08:30 - 15:00
1st December at 08:30-15:00
Onsite event
place TBA

Access to research hardware remains a global challenge and it impacts also researchers in high-income countries. The availability of hardware may be limited due to lack of funding, slow acquisition processes, geographic distance, and many scientific hardware solutions are not commercially available at all. To solve this issue the open source hardware (analogous to open source software) are being developed to facilitate hardware access, dissemination, and reproducibility.

The big difference to software is that with open hardware, the blueprints and assembly instructions are open, but the physical instruments and hardware still need to be built. The open hardware spans from simple 3D prints to complicated customized instruments. In order to lower the barrier to utilize the open hardware, it is crucial to provide researchers with practical experience in making hardware.

Many suitable platforms in Turku exist already (eg. Protopaja, 3Dprinters, Maker´s studio, many labs etc.) but they are scattered and researchers are not well aware of them. In addition, working together with something new is also one of the best ways to promote collaboration and networking. Therefore, we are now organizing open hardware workshops aimed at enhancing skills of bioscience researchers and strengthening the collaborative environment in the BioCity Turku community.

Bioscience Open Hardware Workshop has two parts i) a seminar day (1.12.2025) with local presenters and networking and ii) having separate smaller hands-on workshop (25.-27.11.2025) where we would actually build something simple together. The focus will be in local infra and people, so that it would spark new ideas that could be explored rapidly using local capabilities.

Tentative seminar day program
Monday 1.12.2025
Onsite event
Venue TBA

08:30 – Registration & Morning Coffee
09:00 – Opening Remarks
09:10 – Open Hardware in Biosciences: Concepts, Impact, and Local Landscape
09:50 – Participant Labs: Open Hardware in Action (Session 1)
10:35 – Coffee Break & Networking
10:50 – Participant Labs: Open Hardware in Action (Session 2)
11:35 – Panel Discussion: Building a Collaborative Local Open Hardware Community
12:10 – Lunch & Informal Discussion
13:10 – Showcase: Practical Hands-on Workshop Results
14:10 – Collaborative Brainstorming
15:00 – Closing of the day

The lectures are open for everyone and the workshop is free of charge and intended for experienced researchers with M.Sc. or Ph.D. (or similar) degrees.

Register (seminar day and/or workshop) here: https://konsta.utu.fi/Default.aspx?tabid=88&tap=23205

More information from Ilkka Paatero (zebrafish@bioscience.fi) and from https://www.utu.fi/en/node/418498

FICAN Science Webinar: Hollmén
2025-11-26 15:00 - 16:00
26th November at 15:00-16:00
Online event
in Teams

Associate Professor Maija Hollmén, University of Turku, FICAN West
Shaping the future of high-risk MDS with bexmarilimab

More information and the Teams link: FICAN science -webinaari ”Shaping the future of high-risk MDS with bexmarilimab” – FICAN

Infections and Immunity Seminar: Kekäläinen
2025-11-26 13:15 - 14:00
26th November at 13:15-14
Hybird event
in Mitoosi, Medisiina D / Zoom
Autumn 2025 program

Eliisa Kekäläinen, University of Helsinki
Tracking spike-specific T-cell responses in B-cell-depleted patients after SARS-CoV-2 mRNA vaccination

Come on-site or join the lecture in Zoom: https://utu.zoom.us/j/61507745698

More information from Sujit Kumar (sujit.kumar@utu.fi)

Everyone warmly welcome!

Tutkijanarvioinnin työkalun kehittämistyöpaja
2025-11-26 09:00 - 12:00
26th November at 09:00-12:00
Onsite event
in ls07 lecture room, Turku School of Economics

The workshop language is Finnish.

Tutkijoita arvioidaan uran vaiheissa monin eri tavoin ja tutkijanarvioinnin käytäntöjä uudistetaan vauhdilla kansallisesti ja kansainvälisesti. Nyt sinulla on mahdollisuus olla mukana kehittämässä arviointikäytäntöjä, jotka tunnistavat entistä paremmin tutkijoiden monipuoliset kontribuutiot ja erilaiset urapolut.

Olemme kehittämässä yksittäisen tutkijan monimuotoiseen ja läpinäkyvään arviointiin tarkoitettua Finnish Career Assessment Matrix (FIN-CAM) -arviointityökalua, joka tukee vastuullisen tutkijanarvioinnin periaatteiden toimeenpanoa.

Kutsumme sinut mukaan kehittämään työkalua työpajaan, johon voi osallistua vain paikan päällä. Tarjoamme kahvit ja pientä aamupalaa.

Ilmoittaudu mukaan työpajaan 17.11.2025 mennessä: https://link.webropolsurveys.com/S/FD59E1A18F1794D9

Tervetuloa mukaan kehittämään uutta tutkijanarvioinnin kansallista työkalua!

AI2Med Conference
2025-11-25 09:00 - 2025-11-26 16:00
25th–26th November
Onsite event
in Presidentti auditorium, BioCity
Flyer

AI2Med is Turku’s dedicated event bringing together AI researchers and medical professionals. This two-day event focuses on the growing need for collaboration between computational scientists and healthcare practitioners, covering applications from medical imaging to protein design and clinical text mining. Whether you are an expert or early in your career, this event is designed to connect our vibrant AI and medicine community and open doors for new collaborations. 🎙️

Academic Keynote Speakers:
⭐ Professor Lalith Kumar Shiyam Sundar, Digital transformation in radiology (LMU Munich University Hospital) | Expert in AI applications in PET imaging and digital transformation in healthcare.
⭐ Dr. Luis Eduardo Juárez-Orozco, Medical Doctor, AIOS cardiology and postdoctoral researcher at UMC Utrecht | Machine learning expert specializing in cardiovascular risk prediction.

Industry Keynote Speakers:
⭐Kamal Jafarian Dehkordi, Data analysis director and lead algorithm developer at Precordior (Cardiosignal) | Expert in AI/ML and algorithm development for medical technology.
⭐ Dr. Serhii Vakal, Lead AI/ML scientist at Orion Pharma | Expert in computer-aided drug design, computational chemistry, and generative AI for drug discovery.

Check the event webpage for latest updates to the program: https://sites.utu.fi/ai2med/

AI2Med invites researchers, clinicians, and students to present their work in three formats: a 15-minute research talk for developed projects with results and methodologies, a 5-minute research pitch for early-stage or conceptual work that sparks collaboration, or a poster presentation in a relaxed setting. Outstanding contributions will be recognized with awards, with winners receiving certificates, prizes, and academic presentation credits. Do not miss this opportunity to share your research and compete for recognition!

Beyond the presentations, AI2Med offers hands-on mini workshops, Meet & Connect networking sessions, and expert panel discussions throughout the 2-day event.

Register and submit a title for your presentation/poster/pitch by November 11, 2025. Registration is free, but places are limited!

Register here at latest 11th November: https://sites.utu.fi/ai2med/registration/

Take a look at the call for presentations, click!
More information about the event from https://sites.utu.fi/ai2med/

Meanwhile, if you have any questions about the upcoming event, please contact Seyed M. Hosseini (seyed.m.hosseini@utu.fi)

The event is free of charge and open for everyone. Welcome!

Biocenter Finland Bioinformatics Webinar
2025-11-24 14:00 - 15:00
24th November at 14:00
Online event
in Zoom

Virpi Ahola, Research manager and leader of the UEF Bioinformatics Center
Exploring the UEF Bioinformatics Center: Operations and Opportunities

The Biocenter Finland Bioinformatics platform invites you for a webinar series to introduce the various types of bioinformatics services offered by the platform. The webinar series aims to provide insight into the technology employed and a deeper understanding of the purpose of a given technology and how it is used in research. The series will start off with presentations by the node leaders.

Join the webinar in Zoom: https://utu.zoom.us/j/61840189678

PiF Friday Cafe: Leivo
2025-11-21 12:00 - 13:00
21st November at 12:00-13:00
Onsite event
in Medicity Seminar Room, Biocity, 4th floor

Janne Leivo, Univeristy of Turku
From postdoc to PI and Research to Business

Janne Leivo, (PhD, adj. prof.), senior researcher fellow and InFLAMES Group leader at the Department of Life Technologies and FICAN West Cancer Centre. His group bridges novel biomarker concepts, extracellular vesicle analytics, and advanced immunoassay technologies to enable more sensitive and specific diagnostics. Recent translational focus is on a Business Finland R2B project (ICDx), which advances next-generation immunocomplex-based diagnostic technologies aimed at unmet clinical and commercial needs in hormone testing.

Don’t miss this opportunity to learn, connect, and enjoy a delicious lunch!

More information about the event from Khirul Islam (khirul.islam@utu.fi)

FibroHealth Symposium 2025
2025-11-19 09:00 - 16:00
19th November
Hybrid event
in Technopolis Peltola, Yrttipellontie 1, 90230, Oulu, Finland / Online

FibroHealth Symposium 2025: Translating Cell Biology into the Obesity Research and Drug Development – Focus on Adipose Tissue, Bone and Metabolism

We invite you to the FibroHealth Symposium 2025, organized on 19th November in Oulu by the University of Oulu Fibrobesity program, the Finnish Association for the Study of Obesity (FASO), the Finnish Society for Cell Biology, and the Finnish Bone Society. We will organize the fall meeting of the FASO and announce the winner of the Doctoral Thesis of the Year award during the day.

Information on abstract submission, program and registration can be found on the event site: https://www.oulu.fi/en/events/fibrohealth-symposium-2025-translating-cell-biology-obesity-research-and-drug-development-focus

Abstract submission for both oral and poster presentations is now open! Deadline is 19 October! Submit your abstract here: https://link.webropolsurveys.com/Participation/Public/deb9fc01-d139-40bc-93ef-2b70c571b790?displayId=Fin3455384

Register here: https://link.webropolsurveys.com/Participation/Public/6be0bb97-2dba-42ba-bcec-0f87160ac1ba?displayId=Fin3455403

Welcome everyone!

Womens' Health Researcher Collision Event
2025-11-17 08:30 - 15:30
17th November at 08:30-15:30
Onsite event
in Cave auditorium, Joki innovation centre

Do you want to connect with others who are interested in doing research about women’s health? Are you curious about the new insights and opportunities shaping this field? Let’s put women’s health in the spotlight, share knowledge, and create the projects of tomorrow.

We warmly invite you to join us for a one-day academic networking event dedicated to Women’s Health. The day will bring together researchers to exchange insights, build collaborations, and explore new perspectives on health and wellbeing across the female lifespan.

The program features an inspiring keynote and research snapshots, but the core of this event are the interactive roundtable discussions designed to generate fresh ideas for research collaboration and new partnerships. Topics will range from healthy aging, nutrition, and menopause to global health challenges, cultural perspectives, and the promise of new diagnostics. We also invite our participants to share their ideas on the topics they would like to discuss about.

Research funding specialists will also be on-site to provide guidance on funding opportunities for the innovative projects that arise during the day. The event is open for everyone and free of charge, and the event language is English.

Womens' Health Researcher Collision Event
17th November 2025 at 08:30-15:30
Onsite event
in Cave auditorium, Joki innovation centre

Program

08.30 Morning coffee and registration

09.00 Welcome words and keynote introduction
Saara Wittfooth, University of Turku

09.10 Keynote: Healthier women, healthier society – Women’s Health Hub Finland
Megumi Hayashi, Business Turku

09.40 Q&A

10.00 Research Snapshots
List of speakers will be informed once the registrations is closed

11.30 Lunch

12.30 Round-table discussions, session 1

13.30 Coffee break and transition

14.00 Round-table discussions, session 2

15.00 Wrap-up and closing

Register to the event at latest 10 November 2025
https://link.webropolsurveys.com/S/08F2ECED8A5DC046

Pick your preferred discussion topics when registering, or suggest your own:

How gender bias influence medical research and treatment in women and how to address them?
2. What are the health and societal implications of menopause for women?
3. How to tackle the special challenges of cancer in women?
4. How do cultural and language barriers shape women’s experiences in healthcare?
5. How can novel biomarkers and diagnostic methods advance women’s healthcare and treatment options?
6. From Risk to Resilience: How can we promote health and workability for women?
7. How can diagnostics, education, and entrepreneurship improve women’s health in developing countries?
8. What are the opportunities and risks of using health data for advancing women’s health from a legal perspective?
9. How to improve the health of babies by targeting women's health?
10. Open topic related to women’s health: What do you suggest?

Join us in shaping meaningful conversations, building collaborations, and launching new projects in Women’s Health.

Welcome everyone!

This event is arranged by Health, Diagnostics and Drug Development multidisciplinary theme together with Business Turku and InFLAMES Flagship.

Turku Imaging Facilities’ Workshop
2025-11-14 13:00 - 16:00
14th November at 13:00-16:00
Onsite event
in BioCity, details TBA

The Field of View Research Program warmly invites you to a joint workshop of the Turku Imaging Facilities: “Turku Imaging Facilities – From Biological to Biomedical: available resources and good practices”

Program highlights:

Short talks from imaging facility about recent developments and new instruments
Good practices for navigating the imaging workflow
Key contacts – who to ask and how to get support

Do not miss this unique opportunity to get up-to date information on local imaging resources and meet the experts behind them, explore collaboration possibilities, and connect with fellow researchers over coffee and snacks.

Register by October 24 via this link: https://link.webropol.com/s/turku-imaging-facilities-workshop

Everyone warmly welcome!

IMMUNOCAPs Guest Seminar: Luke O'Neill
2025-11-12 14:30 - 15:30
12th November at 14:30-15:30
Onsite event
in Säätiö lecture room, Medisiina D

Professor Luke O’Neill, Trinity College Dublin, Ireland
How Mitochondria Control Cytokines

The seminar is open to everyone. Coffee and tea is served before the seminar from 14:00 onwards.

Luke O’Neill is Professor of Biochemistry in the School of Biochemistry and Immunology, Trinity Biomedical Sciences Institute at Trinity College Dublin, Ireland. He is a world expert on innate immunity and inflammation. He is listed by Thompson Reuters/ Clarivates in the top 1% of immunologists in the world, based on citations per paper. Professor O’Neill is a co-founder of Sitryx, which aims to develop new medicines for inflammatory diseases. Another company he co-founded, Inflazome was acquired by Roche in 2020 and is carrying out trials in Parkinson’s Disease, Severe Asthma and Heart disease using new therapeutics based on his work.

He was awarded the Royal Dublin Society / Irish Times Boyle Medal for scientific excellence, the Royal Irish Academy Gold Medal for Life Sciences, the European Federation of Immunology Societies Medal, the Landsteiner Award from the Austrian Academy of Sciences and the Science Foundation Ireland Science Communicator of the Year award 2020, for his media work during the COVID19 pandemic. He is a member of the Royal Irish Academy, EMBO (European Molecular Biology Organisation) a Fellow of the Royal Society and holds Honorary Degrees from the Universities of Massachusetts and Bath.

Luke has a weekly science slot with Pat Kenny on Newstalk and a weekly column on science in the Sunday Independent. He has published several books including Humanology: A Scientist’s Guide to our Amazing Existence, The Great Irish Science Book, Never Mind the B*ll*cks, Here’s the Science (which won the An Post prize for best popular non-fiction book). In 2021 he published Keep Calm and Trust the Science: A Remarkable Year in the Life of an Immunologist, which is his diary covering the COVID-19 pandemic. In 2023 he published To Boldly Go Where No Book has Gone Before, with Penguin Random House. His books have been translated into 8 languages.

Selected publications

Carpenter S, O’Neill LAJ. From periphery to center stage: 50 years of advancements in innate immunity. Cell. 2024 Apr 25;187(9):2030-2051. doi: 10.1016/j.cell.2024.03.036.

Murphy MP, O’Neill LAJ.A break in mitochondrial endosymbiosis as a basis for inflammatory diseases. Nature (2024) Feb;626(7998):271-279. doi: 10.1038/s41586-023-06866-z. Epub 2024 Feb 7.

Pålsson-McDermott EM, O’Neill LAJ Gang of 3: How the Krebs cycle-linked metabolites itaconate, succinate, and fumarate regulate macrophages and inflammation. Cell Metab. 2025 May 6;37(5):1049-1059. doi: 10.1016/j.cmet.2025.03.004

Infections and Immunity Seminar: Kakkola
2025-11-12 13:15 - 14:00
12th November at 13:15-14
Hybird event
in Reseptori, Medisiina D / Zoom
Autumn 2025 program

Laura Kakkola, University of Turku
Hide, Seek, and Sneak: Viruses vs. Innate Immunity

Come on-site or join the lecture in Zoom: https://utu.zoom.us/j/61507745698

More information from Sujit Kumar (sujit.kumar@utu.fi)

Everyone warmly welcome!

MetaStem Symposium
2025-11-12 09:00 - 16:00
12th November
Onsite event
in Biomedicum, Helsinki

Welcome to the Centre of Excellence in Stem Cell Metabolism, MetaStem, Symposium, Nov 12th 2025 in Biomedicum Helsinki. Registration and poster abstract submission is now open until October 22nd through this link. The symposium in free of charge and open to all.

On the program talks by our international invited speakers, Marcia Haigis (Harvard Medical School US), Lydia Finley (MSKCC US), Matthias Hebrok (Helmholtz, TUM, Germany), Thomas MacVicar (CRUK Scotland, UK) and MetaStem group leaders.

More information about the event from symposium webpages.

IMMUNOCAPs Guest Seminar: Luke O'Neill
2025-11-11 15:30 - 16:30
11th November at 15.30-16:30
Onsite event
in Arje Scheinin auditorium, Dentalia

Professor Luke O’Neill, Trinity College Dublin, Ireland
The Long and Winding Road: The career path of Luke O’Neill

Host: Cecilia Söderberg-Nauclér (cecilia.naucler@utu.fi)

The seminar is open to everyone. Coffee and tea is served before the seminar from 15:00 onwards.

Welcome everyone!

Frontiers of Science: Prof. Silvia Giordano
2025-11-06 12:00 - 13:00
6th November at 12:00
Onsite event
in Presidentti auditorium, BioCity
Autumn 2025 program

Prof. Silvia Giordano, University of Torino Medical School, Italy
Gastric cancer in the age of precision oncology: new opportunities to improve treatment

Host: Silvia Gramolelli (Silvia.Gramolelli@abo.fi)

Coffee and sandwich served at 11:45, first come first serve!

Six PhD researchers and early-career postdocs are welcome to have a lunch and discuss with Prof. Giordano after the seminar. This is a great possibility to learn hosting skills in a friendly environment and create connections for future. Everyone is welcome to join, BioCity Turku will offer the lunch.

If you got interested, please send an email to biocityturku@bioscience.fi

Altered regulation of tyrosine kinase receptors is frequent in solid tumors and it is often associated with the acquisition of an aggressive phenotype. Thus, therapies targeting these receptors have been proposed as molecular approaches to treat human cancers. The main problem with these therapies is the onset of resistance, which leads to treatment failure. It is therefore important to understand the mechanisms of resistance to molecular targeted therapies, in an effort to optimize the outcome of the treatments. Giordano group aims to study the molecular mechanisms that allow tumor cells to become insensitive to molecular targeted therapies. They focus on the study of gastric cancer that is the world’s third leading cause of cancer mortality. Giordano lab generated a platform of more than 70 patient-derived xenografts (PDXs) that recapitulate the heterogeneity of this disease. Giordano lab aims to genetically dissect the gastric tumor landscape in order to investigate mechanisms involved in sensitivity/resistance to targeted therapies against receptor tyrosine kinases.

Selected publications

Heat shock factor 2 regulates oncogenic gamma-herpesvirus gene expression by remodeling the chromatin at the ORF50 and BZLF1 promoter. Cutrone L, Djupenström H, Peltonen J, Martinez Klimova E, Corso S, Giordano S, Sistonen L, Gramolelli S. PLoS Pathog. 2025 Apr 17;21(4):e1013108

BRCA2 Germline Mutations Identify Gastric Cancers Responsive to PARP Inhibitors. Petrelli A, Rizzolio S, …, Degiuli M, Baiocchi GL, Amisano MF, Ferrero A, Marchiò C, Corso S, Giordano S. Cancer Res. 2023 May 15;83(10):1699-1710

Biological and targeting differences between the rare KRAS A146T and canonical KRAS mutants in gastric cancer models. Puliga E, De Bellis C, Vietti Michelina S, Capeloa T, Migliore C, Orrù C, Baiocchi GL, De Manzoni G, Pietrantonio F, Reddavid R, Fumagalli Romario U, Ambrogio C, Corso S, Giordano S. Gastric Cancer. 2024 May;27(3):473-483

HER2 Copy Number and Resistance Mechanisms in Patients with HER2-positive Advanced Gastric Cancer Receiving Initial Trastuzumab-based Therapy in JACOB Trial. Pietrantonio F, Manca P, Bellomo SE, Corso S, Raimondi A, Berrino E, Morano F, Migliore C, Niger M, Castagnoli L, Pupa SM, Marchiò C, Di Bartolomeo M, Restuccia E, Lambertini C, Tabernero J, Giordano S. Clin Cancer Res. 2023 Feb 1;29(3):571-580

General information

You can download and save all the autumn 2025 FoS-seminars to your calendar from here: https://seafile.utu.fi/d/44a70f80ac1e46a9ad0a/
Registration is not needed, participation list is circulated in the audience
If you are a student and later wish to get a certificate of attendance from the Frontier of Science seminars, print out the seminar diary and after the seminar ask the BioCity coordinator to sign it https://seafile.utu.fi/d/44a70f80ac1e46a9ad0a/
Please note that any audio or video recording of the seminars is strictly forbidden.
Autumn 2025 image credits to Kari Kaunisto: Sahlberg family collections, Biodiversity unit, University of Turku

Microscopy Live: Imusolmuke lähikuvassa
2025-11-04 17:00 - 18:00
4th November at 17:00 Online event in Youtube Tässä Microscopy Live -tapahtumassa sukellamme imusolmukkeen rakenteeseen ja toimintaan – paikkaan, jossa immuunipuolustus saa alkunsa. Näe mikroskoopin kautta, miten kehomme pienet solut tekevät suurta työtä terveytemme hyväksi.

Aika: 04.11.2025 klo 17:00 (EET)

Livelähetys YouTubessa: www.youtube.com/@turkubioscience

Immunology Seminar: Alanko
2025-11-04 14:00 - 15:00
4th November at 14:00-15:00
Online event
in Zoom

The Scandinavian Society of Immunology Young Investigator Awardee

Jonna Alanko, University of Turku
Dendritic cell navigation and self-generated chemokine gradients

Host: Professor Riitta Lahesmaa (rilahes@utu.fi)

Link to join the zoom meeting: https://utu.zoom.us/j/63682411952

Register for the Immunology Seminar Series email list to get calendar invitation to the online seminar: https://link.webropolsurveys.com/S/D29C32AA6E8A2F7A

Immunology seminar series is jointly organised by the Finnish Society for Immunology, InFLAMES Flagship and Turku Bioscience. For further information contact Anne Lahdenperä (ankahy@utu.fi) or Riitta Lahesmaa (rilahes@utu.fi), University of Turku.

PhD Jonna Alanko is a Principal Investigator at the Turku Bioscience Centre, University of Turku and Åbo Akademi University, and the winner of the Scandinavian Society for Immunology (SSI) Young Investigator Award 2025 from Finland. Jonna completed her PhD in 2016 in Prof. Johanna Ivaska’s group at the University of Turku, after which she conducted extensive postdoctoral research abroad in Prof. Michael Sixt’s group at the Institute of Science and Technology Austria (ISTA). After returning to Finland, Jonna continued her career as an InFLAMES Postdoctoral Fellow in Prof. Marko Salmi’s group until securing funding for her own research group (InstruFellow and Academy Research Fellow).

Jonna and her Immune Cell Navigation group investigate how immune cells—particularly dendritic cells—migrate and navigate in response to different molecular cues, using various live-cell migration setups (https://bioscience.fi/immune-cell-navigation/). Jonna’s previous work revealed dendritic cell–generated CCL19 gradients as a previously unknown guidance mechanism, and her group is now continuing this research to open new avenues for understanding immune responses. Their research aims to uncover the detailed mechanisms of leukocyte navigation, with the ultimate goal of therapeutically manipulating these mechanisms to guide cells to desired locations, such as toward tumors or away from autoimmune sites.

Selected publications:

Alanko, J., Uçar, M.C., Canigova, N., Stopp, J., Schwarz, J., Merrin, J., Hannezo, E., and Sixt, M. (2023) CCR7 acts as both a sensor and a sink for CCL19 to coordinate collective leukocyte migration. Sci Immunol 8, eadc9584, DOI:10.1126/sciimmunol.adc9584

Uçar, M.C., Alsberga, Z., Alanko, J., Sixt, M. & Hannezo, E. (2025) Self-generated chemotaxis of mixed cell populations, PNAS 122 (34) e2504064122, DOI: 10.1073/pnas.2504064122

BioBridge: Career Fair
2025-10-31 09:00 - 18:00
31st October at 09:00-18:00
Onsite event
in Cave, Joki Visiting Centre

Welcome to the BioBridge: Career Fair event organized by the Postdocs in Flames (PiF) and Turku Bioscience Centre PhD-PostDoc committees, in collaboration with InFLAMES Flagship and City of Turku.

The aim of the event is to introduce life science companies as potential employers to the local emerging talent pool of undergraduates, doctoral researchers, postdocs, and anyone interested in career opportunities in life sciences.

Short company presentations organised in two sessions, exhibition stands, lunch breakout tables with companies and informal networking.

Register here: https://konsta.utu.fi/Default.aspx?tabid=88&tap=22778

Confirmed companies include Orion, Roche, Faron Pharmaceuticals, Boco IP…and more!

This event is supported by BioCity Turku, InFLAMES Research Flagship, the City of Turku, SYS-LIFE, HDDD and participating companies.

This is the second event in the BioBridge series. The aim of the series is to bring knowledge of future possibilities for early-career scientists by bridging the gap between local researchers, funding agencies, and the life science industry. These events are open to all who are interested!

More information from https://inflames.utu.fi/events/biobridge-career-fair/

Frontiers of Science: Prof. Maddy Parsons
2025-10-30 12:00 - 13:00
30th October at 12:00
Onsite event
in Presidentti auditorium, BioCity
Autumn 2025 program

Prof. Maddy Parsons, King’s College London, UK
Imaging dynamics and mechanics in cancer

Host: Guillaume Jacquemet (guillaume.jacquemet@abo.fi)

Coffee and sandwich served at 11:45, first come first serve!

Six PhD researchers and early-career postdocs are welcome to have a lunch and discuss with Prof. Parsons after the seminar. This is a great possibility to learn hosting skills in a friendly environment and create connections for future. Everyone is welcome to join, BioCity Turku will offer the lunch.

If you got interested, please send an email to biocityturku@bioscience.fi

Parson labs’ research is aimed at understanding the mechanisms that regulate adhesion and migration in adherent cells. Adhesion is essential for development and homeostasis but also drives pathological states such as cancer, fibrosis and inflammation. Using 3D model systems, molecular biology and advanced microscopy approaches, the team analyses how receptors convert signals from the extracellular environment to control cell behaviour. Their goal is to then translate this information into defining new targets for therapeutic intervention in cancer, skin disease and lung inflammation.

Selected publications

Bronchoconstriction damages airway epithelia by crowding-induced excess cell extrusion. Bagley DC, Russell T, Ortiz-Zapater E, Stinson S, Fox K, Redd PF, Joseph M, Deering-Rice C, Reilly C, Parsons M, Brightling C, Rosenblatt J. Science. 2024 Apr 5;384(6691):66-73

Imaging actin organisation and dynamics in 3D. Phillips TA, Marcotti S, Cox S, Parsons M. J Cell Sci. 2024 Jan 15;137(2):jcs261389

Epithelial coxsackievirus adenovirus receptor promotes house dust mite-induced lung inflammation. Ortiz-Zapater E, Bagley DC, Hernandez VL, Roberts LB, Maguire TJA, Voss F, Mertins P, Kirchner M, Peset-Martin I, Woszczek G, Rosenblatt J, Gotthardt M, Santis G, Parsons M. Nat Commun. 2022 Oct 27;13(1):6407

Nuclear fascin regulates cancer cell survival. Lawson CD, Peel S, Jayo A, Corrigan A, Iyer P, Baxter Dalrymple M, Marsh RJ, Cox S, Van Audenhove I, Gettemans J, Parsons M. Elife. 2022 Aug 30;11:e79283

General information

You can download and save all the autumn 2025 FoS-seminars to your calendar from here: https://seafile.utu.fi/d/44a70f80ac1e46a9ad0a/
Registration is not needed, participation list is circulated in the audience
If you are a student and later wish to get a certificate of attendance from the Frontier of Science seminars, print out the seminar diary and after the seminar ask the BioCity coordinator to sign it https://seafile.utu.fi/d/44a70f80ac1e46a9ad0a/
Please note that any audio or video recording of the seminars is strictly forbidden.
Autumn 2025 image credits to Kari Kaunisto: Sahlberg family collections, Biodiversity unit, University of Turku

CTD and FSDSCB Annual Meeting
2025-10-30 09:00 - 2025-10-31 16:00
30th–31st October
Onsite event
in Hyytiälä research station
Flyer

The Annual Meeting of the Cell and Tissue Dynamics (CTD) Program & Finnish Society for Developmental and Stem Cell Biology (FSDSCB) is arranged on the 30th and 31st of October 2025 in Hyytiälä https://www.helsinki.fi/en/research-stations/hyytiala-forest-station.

The event will gather together scientists working with cell tissue dynamics, developmental biology and stem cells around Finland.

Keynote Speaker:
Prof. Fredrik Lanner, Karolinska Institutet, Karolinska University Hospital, Stockholm
Embryonic stem cells to model human development and manufacturing of cell therapy products,

The registration is open until 30.9.2025: https://link.webropolsurveys.com/S/89CB06DB6E3299BC

More information from https://www.fsdb.fi/

Infections and Immunity Seminar: Kolehmainen
2025-10-29 13:15 - 14:00
29th October at 13:15-14
Hybird event
in Blokki 1, Medisiina D / Zoom
Autumn 2025 program

Pekka Kolehmainen, Univeristy of Turku
H5N8 vaccine-induced immune responses against Avian Influenza Clade 2.3.4.4b Viruses

Come on-site or join the lecture in Zoom: https://utu.zoom.us/j/61507745698

More information from Sujit Kumar (sujit.kumar@utu.fi)

Everyone warmly welcome!

Bioinformatics Webinar: Pitkänen
2025-10-27 14:00 - 15:00
27th October at 14:00
Online event
in Zoom

Esa Pitkänen, Institute for Molecular Medicine Finland (FIMM), Helsinki
Deep representation learning for biomedicine

The Biocenter Finland Bioinformatics platform invites you for a webinar series to introduce the various types of bioinformatics services offered by the platform. The webinar series aims to provide insight into the technology employed and a deeper understanding of the purpose of a given technology and how it is used in research. The series will start off with presentations by the node leaders.

Esa Pitkänen is a FIMM-EMBL Group Leader at the Institute for Molecular Medicine Finland (FIMM), Helsinki Institute of Life Sciences (HiLIFE) and the Applied Tumor Genomics Research Program in the Research Programs Unit, University of Helsinki. Esa’s research group focuses on developing new integrative and interpretable machine learning methods for multilayered data in biomedicine and translating the results into clinical practice.

Join the webinar in Zoom: https://utu.zoom.us/j/66323478453

Everyone warmly welcome!

FIN3RC Annual Symposium
2025-10-27 09:00 - 2025-10-28 16:00
27th –28th October
Onsite event
in LähiTapiola Hall, Turku School of Economics
Flyer

This year in Turku, we are gathering professionals on national and international level to share and discuss the newest developments regarding the 3Rs. This year, participants in Turku will have the opportunity to join lectures and talks, as well as the practical ‘Power Analysis’ workshop as part of the Symposium program. Attending the lectures, participants are eligible to receive the certificate of attendance.

Registrations and event program from here, click!

More information about the event from Petra Sipilä (petra.sipila@utu.fi)

Hope to see many of you there!

Frontiers of Science: Prof. Francesca Bottanelli
2025-10-23 12:00 - 13:00
23rd October at 12:00
Onsite event
in Presidentti auditorium, BioCity
Autumn 2025 program

Prof. Francesca Bottanelli, Freie Universität Berlin, Germany
Unravelling the inner secrets of cells with live-cell super-resolution microscopy

Host: Paulina Moreno Layseca (paulina.morenolayseca@utu.fi)

Coffee and sandwich served at 11:45, first come first serve!

Six PhD researchers and early-career postdocs are welcome to have a lunch and discuss with Prof. Bottanelli after the seminar. This is a great possibility to learn hosting skills in a friendly environment and create connections for future. Everyone is welcome to join, BioCity Turku will offer the lunch.

If you got interested, please send an email to biocityturku@bioscience.fi

Bottanelli laboratory integrates endogenous tagging with live-cell super-resolution STED microscopy to illuminate dynamic processes occurring at the nanoscale and in the unperturbed physiological environment of the cell. They have generated a comprehensive library of proteins involved in membrane homeostasis. The ability to explore endogenous cellular dynamics is revealing novel and unexplored sorting mechanisms. Bottanelli lab has provided functional characterization of a novel sorting compartment that was named ARF1 compartment. ARF1 compartments orchestrate clathrin-dependent post-Golgi trafficking via maturing into recycling endosomes. Bottanelli lab also studies the function of microvilli as a signaling organelle and investigate how signalling molecules dynamically re-organize on membrane protrusions during chimeric antigenic receptor (CAR)–mediated activation.

Selected publications

Stockhammer A, Adarska P, Natalia V, Heuhsen, …, Haucke V. & Bottanelli F. (2024) ARF1 compartments direct cargo flow via maturation into recycling endosomes. Nat Cell Biol.

Maib H, Adarska P, Hunton R, Vines J, Strutt D, Bottanelli F & Murray D. H. (2024) Recombinant biosensors for multiplex and super-resolution imaging of phosphoinositides. J Cell Biol. 223 (6): e202310095

Rentsch J, Bandstra S, Sezen B, Sigrist PS, Bottanelli F, Schmerl B, Shoichet S, Noé F, Sadeghi M and Ewers H (2024) Sub-membrane actin rings compartmentalize the plasma membrane. J Cell Biol. 1;223(4):e202310138

Wong-Dilworth L, Rodilla-Ramirez C, Fox E, Restel S, Stockhammer A, Adarska P and Bottanelli F (2023) STED imaging of endogenously tagged ARF GTPases reveals their distinct nanoscale localizations. J Cell Biol, 222 (7): e202205107

General information

You can download and save all the autumn 2025 FoS-seminars to your calendar from here: https://seafile.utu.fi/d/44a70f80ac1e46a9ad0a/
Registration is not needed, participation list is circulated in the audience
If you are a student and later wish to get a certificate of attendance from the Frontier of Science seminars, print out the seminar diary and after the seminar ask the BioCity coordinator to sign it https://seafile.utu.fi/d/44a70f80ac1e46a9ad0a/
Please note that any audio or video recording of the seminars is strictly forbidden.
Autumn 2025 image credits to Kari Kaunisto: Sahlberg family collections, Biodiversity unit, University of Turku

7th Annual Finnish Symposium on Brain Tumors
2025-10-23 09:00 - 2025-10-24 17:00
23rd-24th October
Onsite event
in Hamburger Börs, Turku

The Finnish Brain Tumor Research Association (FiBTRA) is arranging its 7th Annual Symposium on Brain Tumors, which will take place on 23–24 October 2025, in Turku. This symposium brings together researchers, oncologists, and experts in the field of brain tumors to advance our understanding of brain cancer and promote both national and international collaborations. This year’s key themes include (1) Brain tumor microenvironment and immunity, (2) Pediatric brain tumors, (3) Innovative therapeutic approaches, and (4) Translational research.

Registration is open, and the abstract submission deadline is 15 August 2025.

Turku Biomaterial Days
2025-10-23 09:00 - 2025-10-24 16:00
23rd-24th October
Onsite event
Arje Scheining auditorium, Dentalia

This year, the theme of the Turku Biomaterial Days is “Bio-based Materials in Healthcare.”

The program will feature both national and international speakers, and we look forward to engaging discussions and scientific exchange. A finalized program will be shared with you later, so save the date for now!

More information about the event from Sufyan Garoushi (sufgar@utu.fi)

CellCom Seminar: Prof. Mattias Belting
2025-10-22 14:15 - 15:15
22nd October at 14:15-15:15
Onsite event
in Auditorium Biologi, Biocity 2nd Floor (The lab side)

Prof. Mattias Belting, Lund University, Sweden
Tumor associated foam cells in cancer

Host: Oxana Denisova (oxana.denisova@utu.fi)

Coffee, tea, and buns served at 13:45!

Join us for an inspiring seminar by Prof. Mattias Belting. Prof. Belting heads the Tumor Microenvironment group at the Medical Faculty of Lund University and serves as Senior Consultant of Neuro-Oncology at Skåne University Hospital. His research focuses on metabolic adaptation in the tumor microenvironment and how adaptive mechanisms can be harnessed for the development of new therapies in brain cancer. His lab has developed novel TS-MAP technology for the identification of tumor surface antigens as targets for antibody and CAR-T cell-based therapies. Currently, his team is developing an antibody–drug conjugate for clinical application in brain tumors. In addition to his research, Prof. Belting is subspecialized in neuro-oncology, coordinating multidisciplinary treatment decisions and enrolling brain tumor patients into clinical trials.
Get to to know the speaker

Turku Imaging Day
2025-10-22 09:00 - 18:00
22nd October
Onsite event
in Holiday Club Caribia, Turku
Flyer

Registration for the Turku Imaging Day 2025 (TID) is open! The event is organized by the Field of View Research Program and will take place in the Caribia Hotel, Turku on October 22, 2025.

Whether you are an expert or early in your career, this event is designed to connect our vibrant imaging community and open doors for new collaborations. TID will have a poster and flash talk competition with very nice prizes! Do not miss a chance to participate and present your research! For up-to-date info, programs, and activities during the event, please visit the TID website.

Register and submit an abstract for a poster/flash talk presentation by September 12, 2025 in https://link.webropolsurveys.com/EventParticipation/EventPublic/1fbbe882-358a-4c34-aef7-4fc1970bcb04?displayId=Fin3411522

More information about the event from https://www.bioimaging.fi/turku-imaging-day/

Meanwhile, if you have any questions about the upcoming event, please contact Dado Tokic (dado.tokic@utu.fi)

BioCity Turku Guest Seminar: Prof. Mark Daly
2025-10-21 12:00 - 13:00
21st October at 12:00-13:00
Onsite event
in Presidentti auditorium, BioCity

Prof. Mark Daly, Massachusetts General Hospital; Harvard Medical School, USA
FinnGen and the road ahead in human genetics

Host: Teemu Niiranen (tejuni@uti.fi)

Coffee and sandwich for the first 40 to come on-site at 11:45!

Mark Daly is the founding Chief of the Analytic and Translational Genetics Unit (ATGU) at Massachusetts General Hospital and Assistant Professor at the Harvard Medical School. His research has historically focused on the development and application of statistical methods for the discovery and interpretation of genetic variation responsible for complex human disease, and with the creation of the ATGU, he and other core faculty are focused on the interpretation of genome sequence and the use of genome information in clinical settings. Mark is also an institute member and co-director of the Program in Medical and Population Genetics at the Broad Institute of MIT and Harvard, where he leads many large-scale genome sequencing studies in autism and inflammatory bowel disease.

Mark was appointed Director of the Institute for Molecular Medicine Finland (FIMM) at the University of Helsinki from February of 2018 through April 2023 while maintaining his lab in Boston. He has returned to Boston and maintains an affiliate position at Institute for Molecular Medicine Finland. FIMM is a translational research institute focusing on cancer, digital diagnostics, genetics, and epidemiology and is home to landmark efforts such as the FinnGen Project.

While developing computational and statistical methods that can be broadly applied, his group has several primary medical genetics research foci. He has an extensive research program in neuropsychiatric genetics - particularly in autism, schizophrenia, and ADHD – and has led large-scale GWAS and exome sequencing efforts in this area. His lab and Dr. Ben Neale's lab serve as an analytic hub for the Psychiatric GWAS Consortium, an international consortium leading the largest collaborative GWAS studies in 5 major psychiatric disorders. He also has a longstanding effort in the mapping of genes for Crohn’s disease and ulcerative colitis, where he helped found and lead an international effort that has identified more than 150 genetic risk factors and, in collaboration with Dr. Ramnik Xavier’s group, pursues the functional interpretation and clinical ramifications of these continued gene discovery efforts. Along with Dr. Rehm, he is co-PI of the gnomAD project and is committed to ensuring the output of all ATGU genomic research is maximally accessible and useful to the clinical and research communities.

Mark received his B.S. in physics from MIT and his Ph.D. in human genetics from Leiden University, Netherlands.

Selected recent publications

Rare genetic variation in PTPRB is associated with central serous chorioretinopathy, varicose veins and glaucoma. Rämö JT, Gorman BR, ... , Palotie A, Peachey NS, Turunen JA, Boon CJ, Ellinor PT, Iyengar SK, Daly MJ, Rossin EJ. Nat Commun. 2025 May 3;16(1):4127

Genome-wide association study reveals mechanisms underlying dilated cardiomyopathy and myocardial resilience. Jurgens SJ, Rämö JT, ..., Palotie A, Amin AS, Charron P, Meder B, Ellinor PT, Daly M, Aragam KG, Bezzina CR. Nat Genet. 2024 Dec;56(12):2636-2645

Polygenic risk scores as a marker for epilepsy risk across lifetime and after unspecified seizure events. Heyne HO, Pajuste FD, Wanner J, Daniel Onwuchekwa JI, Mägi R, Palotie A; FinnGen; Estonian Biobank research team; Kälviainen R, Daly MJ. Nat Commun. 2024 Jul 25;15(1):6277

Public platform with 39,472 exome control samples enables association studies without genotype sharing. Artomov M, Loboda AA, Artyomov MN, Daly MJ. Nat Genet. 2024 Feb;56(2):327-335

Infections and Immunity Seminar: Rämet
2025-10-15 13:15 - 14:00
15th October at 13:15-14
Online only
in Zoom
Autumn 2025 program

Mika Rämet, Tampere University
An mRNA-vaccine against tuberculosis

Join the lecture in Zoom: https://utu.zoom.us/j/61507745698

More information from Sujit Kumar (sujit.kumar@utu.fi)

Everyone warmly welcome!
