Excellence in Research at the Faculty of Health Sciences

The research activities of the Faculty are internationally acknowledged, and among the most central areas of expertise of the University of Eastern Finland.

The Faculty of Health Sciences has the following Centres of Excellence in Research in

Spearhead projects of the university of eastern finland

The University of Eastern Finland has selected altogether 13 spearhead projects to the areas of its research expertise. The Faculty of Health Sciences coordinates four spearhead projects in the area of Health and Well-being and one in the area of New Technologies and Materials.

Health and Well-Being

Cancer Center of Eastern Finland: Molecular Mechanisms of Cancer, Professor Veli-Matti Kosma

Cancer Center of Eastern Finland (CCEF) is an alliance of research groups extending from the fields of basic molecular science to University Hospital clinics. CCEF includes strong research infrastructure, wide-ranging national and foreign networking as well as top level scientific research. It forms 5 research working groups: cancer genetics, cancer epigenetics, interaction between cancer cell and tumor stroma, detection of metastatic tumors and identification of novel invasion/metastasis associated molecules as well as clinical implementation and biobanking, which comprise distinct but mutually reinforcing entities. CCEF expands the use of modern techniques at University of Eastern Finland, enforces University’s cancer research status both nationally and internationally and enhances supervision and guidance of Ph.D thesis studies. Further, CCEF aims at speeding up the time it takes of the scientific finding to become a tool for patient care, supports creating systematic tissue sampling (biobanking) and data handling.

Novel Endovascular Therapies in Post-genomic Area, Academy Professor Seppo Ylä-Herttuala

Endovascular treatments are one of the fastest growing new areas of therapy with significant advantages, such as less invasive nature and suitability for elderly patients with severe, life-threatening diseases. Combined with novel biological treatments (gene therapy, antibody therapy, biodegradable materials with bioactive compounds) endovascular treatments offer tremendous new possibilities for local targeted therapies in several diseases. To develop new biological therapies in-depth knowledge of the regulation of transcription factors at the genome-wide level is crucial for the understanding, how cellular signals program gene expression and regulate cellular processes. We hypothetisize that this will lead to identification of new potential treatments and targets for biological therapies. Key signalling systems which will be studied include vascular endothelial growth factors (VEGF) and their receptors, steroid receptors, PPARγ, Nf-κB, Nrf2 and calcium-dependent pathways. Furthermore, new RNAi-based approaches, non-coding RNAs and mi/siRNA-based approaches offer new possibilities for targeted therapy. In this project, we will focus on endovascular therapies for the heart, peripheral arteries and veins, and cerebral vasculature. We will (1) study regulation of gene expression with state-of-the-art methods at transcription factor, nuclear receptor (NR) and RNA level; (2) test the most potential endovascular therapeutic approaches in well-validated small and large animal models with focus on new biological treatments for cardiovascular and neurovascular system, and (3) transfer the most promising new endovascular treatments for clinical phase I trials in coronary and peripheral vascular diseases. If successful, results will bring new therapeutic options to several areas of clinical medicine.

Systems Genetics and Nutrigenomics of Type 2 Diabetes and Insulin Resistance Related Traits, Academy Professor Markku Laakso

Translational Identification of Biomarkers and Therapeutic Strategies for Neurodegenerative Diseases, Professor Asla Pitkänen

The UEF-Brain consortium is formed by 17 PIs in the UEF presenting two Faculties (Faculty of Health and Faculty of Science and Forestry). Investigators work at the A.I.Virtanen Institute for Molecular Sciences, the Department of Physics, and in Clinical Research with a close collaboration with University Hospital Neuro-Center and the Imaging Unit. The research fields include Alzheimer’s disease, epilepsy, traumatic brain injury, normal pressure hydrocephalus, alcoholism, and schizophrenia. The objectives of the research are (1) to set up of methodologies for data mining in large patient cohorts with multiple datasets, (2) to establish a platform for functional genetics, which integrates genetic, epigenetic, bioinformatics and cellular approaches to be employed for identification of disease-predicting genes and molecular pathways that can be developed to treatment-targets and biomarkers, (3) to develop signal analysis techniques for magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) suitable for analysis of progression of cellular and network changes in the brain, and for identification of imaging biomarkers for neurodegenerative diseases, and (4) to set-up methodologies for validation of disease mechanisms and biomarkers in clinically relevant in vitro and in vivo models. The added value comes from the interaction of the critical mass of about 200 investigators in the Consortium representing different fields of expertise, coordinated joint efforts to set-up, test, and use the methodological platforms currently unavailable both in experimental lab and clinic, and a possibility to combine materials from different patient cohorts for search of biomarkers and treatment targets for major neurodegenerative diseases in untraditional ways.

New Technologies and Materials

Novel Stem Cell Technologies and Materials for Translational Research in Molecular Medicine, Professor Jari Koistinaho

Biosciences addressing human physiology and behavior in health or disease suffer from translational roadblock: there are no relevant cellular or animal models that would allow us to reliably understand physiological functions of the human body in detail. Stem cell technologies have opened up novel avenues for biomedicine, such as tissue regeneration and engineering. Importantly, recently developed technologies for derivation of induced pluripotent stem cells (iPSC) allow the development of patient specific cellular models for basic and applied research that can be used for detailed studies on the molecular mechanisms of human diseases and for the development of novel therapeutics. The UEF-STEM consortium is formed by 14 research groups representing the fields of stem cells, disease modeling and molecular medicine of cardiovascular diseases, bone & joint diseases, neuropsychiatric diseases, cancer and drug metabolism. The objectives of the program are (1) to setup a methodological platform for state-of-the-art and novel technologies to generate safe disease-specific iPSC line material from various types of human cells; (2) to further develop methodologies and rodent transplantation models to fully characterize the produced iPSC lines differentiated into cardiocytes, neural, cancer, liver, bone and cartilage cells and make this material available for drug research and regenerative medicine. 

Novel materials, Technologies and Drug Molecules Based on Phosphorus and/or Nitrogen Compounds, Professor Jouko Vepsäläinen

The spearhead project “PN compounds” is based on novel phosphorus and/or nitrogen containing compounds. Here, these compounds are used as:

  • novel types of ion exchange materials to purify harmful metal ions (e.g. lead, cadmium and mercury ions) from waste waters
  • green chemistry catalyst applied to prepare various organic molecules with minimum amount of waste
  • research tools in drug discovery and clinical chemistry, for example to detect prostatic cancer from urine based on electronic nose
  • new radioisotope carriers for imaging purposes and
  • novel technique to integrate cartilage to bones.

The project combines knowledge from chemistry, biochemistry, material science, pharmacy and molecular medicine and it opeartes in extensive national and international co-operation networks. The goals of the project include significant inventions leading to scientific breakthroughs, high quality publications, commercial products owned by the UEF, as well as Master's and doctoral degrees completed within the project.

Research activities at the schools and departments

Please find information about the experts, their publications, projects and scientific activities from the Current Research Information System of the University of Eastern Finland: