I work as Managing Director in the Foundation for the Finnish Cancer Institute (FCI), Helsinki, Finland. The purpose of the FCI is to enhance high-quality cancer research in Finland and thus contribute to cancer prevention and treatment. The FCI offers researcher positions focused on different career stages but also promotes societal debate on the development of cancer care and cancer research in Finland. In addition to working at the FCI, I have a Head of Laboratory position at the Institute for Molecular Medicine Finland (FIMM), University of Helsinki, Finland. FIMM is an international research institute focusing on human genomics and personalized medicine. In this position, I have been broadly involved in biobanking for more than 10 years through planning, implementing, and developing sample collection, processing and access policies in different biobanks located in the Helsinki area.
My background is in clinical laboratory science, and I received my doctorate in biomedicine. In my thesis work, I studied pulmonary carcinoid tumours and the performance of Finnish hospital-integrated biobanks. I have continued my research activities as a post-doctoral researcher in Prof. Johanna Arola’s Research Group, University of Helsinki, which focuses on finding better tissue-based biomarkers for neuroendocrine, endocrine, and primary sclerosing cholangitis-related cancers.
