Institute for Molecular Medicine Finland (FIMM)

01/04/2026

"Meidän on Suomessa syytä miettiä ja koordinoida sitä, miten data- ja tekoälyvetoiseen terveydenhuoltoon suhtaudutaan ja miten sitä hyödynnetään. Muutos tapahtuu joka tapauksessa."
Lisää Olli Kallioniemen ajatuksia löydät Lääkärilehden tuoreesta haastattelusta:
🔗 https://www.laakarilehti.fi/terveydenhuolto/tekoaly-tulee-ovista-ja-ikkunoista/

30/03/2026

A must-attend symposium on 12 May 2026 for anyone working with advanced imaging and phenotypic analysis!

"From Cells to Systems: Advances in High-Content Imaging and 3D Image Analysis" symposium brings together top speakers to showcase the latest in 3D imaging, drug screening & integrative omics.
📆 12 May
📍Biomedicum Helsinki, LH2
Register by 5 May: https://www.lyyti.fi/reg/from_cells_to_systems_2026

27/03/2026

Uutta kuunneltavaa viikonlopuksi! 🎧

Tekoäly tulee, halusit tai et. Se on siirtymässä myös osaksi kliinistä arkea. Miten sitä hyödynnetään lääkärin työssä, sairauksien tunnistamisessa ja tutkimuksessa? Ja miltä näyttää tulevaisuus?

Näistä teemoista keskustellaan Suomen Lääketieteen Säätiön tuoreessa podcastissa, jossa Olli Kallioniemi on Mari Heikkilän haastateltavana.

24/03/2026

Upcoming FIMM dissertation! 📢

MSc Veera Timonen will defend her doctoral dissertation "Multimodal investigation of hematological features in healthy blood donors" in the Faculty of Medicine, University of Helsinki, on 27 March 2026 at 13:00.

The public examination will take place at Biomedicum 1, Lecture hall 2, Haartmaninkatu 8 and can also be followed via a live stream. Welcome!

Associate Professor Guillaume Jacquemet, University of Turku and Åbo Akademi University, will serve as the opponent, and Associate Professor Esa Pitkänen as the custos. The thesis has been supervised by Esa Pitkänen and Associate Professor Outi Kilpivaara.

Veera's thesis presents a computational framework for the multidimensional characterization of normal human hematological variation by integrating imaging, genetic, and multiomics data from healthy blood donors. These data enable the identification of genotype–phenotype associations and provide a baseline against which disease-related deviations can be detected.

In parallel, it describes some of the sample collection processes and down-stream analyses of the FinnGen study, demonstrating that routine blood donation can be leveraged for efficient, high-quality biobank sample collection.

Event page: https://tapahtumat.helsinki.fi/en-FI/page/69aa0e9bfafad1b3a66f7081

E-thesis: http://hdl.handle.net/10138/628952

23/03/2026

The Sigrid Jusélius Foundation is the biggest private supporter of medical research in Finland. Last week, the foundation announced the recipients of the 1–3-year grants. We are delighted to see that FIMM researchers were very successful in this call and warmly thank the Sigrid Jusélius Foundation for their continued and generous support!

Warm congratulations to all FIMM-affiliated grant recipients:

New projects: Heidi Haikala, Caroline Heckman, Mikko Myllymäki, Panu Luukkonen, Arafath Najumudeen, Aarno Palotie

Continuing projects:
Tero Aittokallio, Andrea Ganna, Eliisa Kekäläinen, Mika Kontro, Johan Lundin, Miina Ollikainen, Teijo Pellinen, Matti Pirinen, Esa Pitkänen & Tiinamaija Tuomi

Read more: https://www.sigridjuselius.fi/en/news/new-grants-awarded-the-sigrid-juselius-foundation-increases-its-support-for-medical-research-to-eur-30-million-in-2026/

20/03/2026

This week on The Genetics Podcast, Andrea Ganna joined host Patrick Short to discuss advances in genetics and data-driven medicine.

They explore the promise and limits of polygenic risk scores for disease prediction and clinical trials, how large-scale electronic health records and AI models could transform medical research and healthcare planning, what Finland’s national health data infrastructure enables for population-scale studies, and how genetics can be used to strengthen trial emulation in observational data.

🎧 https://podcasts.apple.com/fi/podcast/ep-231-from-polygenic-scores-to-ai-driven-medicine/id1462418412?i=1000756135556

19/03/2026

Warm congratulations to Maarja Jõeloo on being awarded a highly competitive Marie Skłodowska-Curie Actions (MSCA) Postdoctoral Fellowship. Her FIMM supervisor, Simone Rubinacci, is proud to support this outstanding achievement!

Maarja’s project, RepSIC, explores an exciting and under-studied area of human genetics: the role of repetitive DNA variants in shaping disease risk. By developing new methods to detect and analyse tandem repeats and mobile elements at population scale, and applying them to the FinnGen and Estonian Biobank cohorts, her work has the potential to uncover previously hidden genetic influences on human traits and diseases.

Beyond the science, Maarja’s journey is also an inspiring reminder that impactful international research careers can be built alongside family life. As a mother of two young children, she exemplifies how determination, curiosity, and strong support networks can make it possible to pursue ambitious goals across borders.

We are excited to have you at FIMM, Maarja. Wishing you all the best for your research and for navigating life between Estonia and Finland!

19/03/2026

Upcoming FIMM dissertation! 📢

M.Sc. Swapnil Potdar from the FIMM High Throughput Biomedicine Unit (HTB) will defend his doctoral dissertation "Bioinformatics tools for quality control, analysis, and mining of drug screening data" in the Faculty of Biological and Environmental Sciences, University of Helsinki, on 20 March 2026 at 13:00.

Professor Matti Nykter, Tampere University, will serve as the opponent, and Professor Ville Mustonen as the custos. The thesis has been supervised by Docent Jani Saarela (FIMM) and Professor Krister Wennerberg, Biotech Research & Innovation Centre (BRIC), University of Copenhagen.

In this thesis, Swapnil has developed tools and methodologies that significantly improve the design, analysis, and interpretation of drug screening data, facilitating cancer research, functional precision medicine, and drug repurposing studies.

The public examination will take place at the following address: Tekla Hultin Hall, Main Building, Fabianinkatu 33. Welcome!

Event page: https://tapahtumat.helsinki.fi/en-FI/page/69a0d41bfafad1b3a64016d9/swapnil-potdar-bioinformatics-tools-for-quality-control-analysis-and-mining

E-thesis: http://hdl.handle.net/10138/628683

13/03/2026

Physician-scientist Mikko Myllymäki has joined FIMM as our new FIMM-EMBL Group Leader. His research focuses on clonal hematopoiesis, a phenomenon in which genetic alterations accumulate in blood stem cells with age, influencing immune function and disease risk.

By combining population-scale genetic data with experimental models and clinical insight, Myllymäki aims to uncover how these molecular changes affect immune function and disease risk, and how such knowledge could eventually translate into improved care for patients.

A very warm welcome, Mikko!

Physician-scientist Mikko Myllymäki has joined FIMM as our new FIMM-EMBL Group Leader. His research focuses on clonal hematopoiesis, a phenomenon in which genetic alterations accumulate in blood stem cells with age, influencing immune function and disease risk.

09/03/2026

Löytyykö lähipiiristäsi kevään biologian yo-kirjoituksiin valmistautuvaa nuorta?

Vinkkaa hänelle Instagram-tilistämme, jolle olemme näin lukuloman aikana taas tuottaneet monenlaista sisältöä kertaamisen tueksi!

Löydymme käyttäjänimellä 💡

02/03/2026

Delayed diagnoses, adverse drug effects, unnecessary pain. This reality for many women is the result of women’s health issues being understudied globally. We know less about diseases that particularly affect women.

At FIMM, women’s health is promoted by producing knowledge that supports the integration of precision medicine into healthcare. By combining extensive Finnish health data with world-class research, we can identify women's specific risk factors, symptoms, and responses to treatment more accurately than ever before.

By donating you can support our work!

Read more from the interview with our Vice Director, Elisabeth Widén:

Researchers at the University of Helsinki are using extensive genomic data that will help more effectively and precisely to identify, treat and prevent diseases occurring in women.

19/02/2026

Great to have Eva D'haene joining the growing pool of NORPOD postdoctoral fellows! Warm welcome to FIMM!

Eva is supervised by Helena Kilpinen and D**g Won (Thomas) Kim at DANDRITE, and together they are investigating the roles of chromatin regulators in neurodevelopment and disease.

Her project combines single-cell and spatial technologies with computational data integration to better understand how disrupted chromatin regulation affects the developing brain.

Find out more about Eva’s research and aspirations:

We spoke with Eva D’haene, who has just started as a NORPOD fellow. Her research focuses on chromatin regulators in neurodevelopment and disease. She is working with Helena Kilpinen at FIMM and Thomas Kim at DANDRITE.