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Elisa Tiilikainen (elisa.tiilikainen@uef.fi)

I am a social scientist interested in issues related to ageing and later life. Currently I work as an Associate Professor in Social Work at the Department of Social Sciences. My work includes work with research projects and teaching around questions related to social gerontology and gerontological social work. At the moment I am leading a four-year research project on old-age social inclusion in home care (SOLDEX) funded by the Research Counsil of Finland, and a workpackage on digital health technologies and services of older adults (75+) as part of a Nordic collaboration project (HAIDI). In addition, I am involved in several multidisciplinary programs and networks.

In my PhD I examined loneliness from a life course perspective identifying different pathways behind loneliness in later life and exploring how loneliness changes in time. I have also examined experiences of loneliness from the perspective of people living with aphasia and older migrant women. My studies have highlighted the multidimensional and dynamic nature of loneliness and its individual meanings in relation to different life events and transitions. In my studies I have used mostly qualitative methodologies, but I’m interested in finding ways to combine different methods, especially from longitudinal perspectives.

Kati Launis (kati.launis@uef.fi)

I’m a specialist of digital literary studies and 19th century literary history, especially women writers. Since my doctoral thesis on the first female novelist in Finland (2005) I have published widely on these topics and worked in several multidisciplinary projects. PI in the project Digital History for Literature in Finland (2022-26, SA).

Maarit Sireni (maarit.sireni@uef.fi)

Main research interests: 1. Gender and Space: feminist rural studies, farm women, entrepreneurship, motherhood and childcare in the countryside; 2. Imagined and Lived Rural Space: changing rural communities, sense of place, everyday life and mobility patterns in rural areas; 3. Cultural Geographies of Home: domestic material cultures of Karelian people; 4. Land Use Planning in the Countryside: sparsity, living in low density areas; 5. Geographies of Food: local food and second home owners; 6. Rural Services: integration of services.

Courses: Feminist Geography, 5116378, 5 cr; Rural Geography, 5116228, 5 cr (lectures in Finnish).
Editor of TERRA, Geographical journal

Marja Sorvari (marja.sorvari@uef.fi)

Marja Sorvari is Professor of Russian Literature and Culture, University of Eastern Finland, Joensuu Campus. She specializes in post-Soviet Russian literature from the perspectives of gender, cultural memory and multilingualism. Her Ph.D. dissertation examined Russian women’s autobiographical texts of the 1990s. Her current research focuses on multi- and translingual literature, displacement and (post)memory, and the reception of Russian literature in Finland. She has published two monographs, many peer-reviewed articles and co-edited several collections of articles.

Meysam Haddadi Barzoki (meysamh@uef.fi)

Dr Barzoki currently foucese on the sexual objectification among Muslim immigrant women in Europe as a vulnerable group who suffer from serious psychological trauma raises from difficult time of immigration and resettlement in Europe.

Molecular Mechanisms Of Cardiometabolic Diseases

Cardiometabolic diseases are the most common cause of death worldwide. The main goal of our group is to identify novel molecular mechanisms of development of calcific aortic valve disease and to reveal the effects of maternal cardiometabolic diseases on placental molecular processes and metabolic programming. Molecular mechanisms of calcific aortic valve disease: Calcific aortic valve disease (CAVD) is the most common form of valvular heart disease and the second-leading cause of cardiovascular mortality. CAVD is a slowly progressing disorder that ranges from mild valve thickening to severe calcification called aortic stenosis. There is no pharmacologic treatment for CAVD and only curative therapy of the disease is valve replacement. In our research, we provide translational insights in the development of aortic stenosis allowing identification of novel target therapies and diagnostic tools for CAVD. The effects of maternal cardiometabolic diseases on placental molecular processes and metabolic reprogramming: There is an increasing number of obese women of reproductive age, thus maternal overweight and obesity are resulting in negative outcomes for both women and foetuses including gestational hypertension, gestational diabetes, preeclampsia and preterm birth. Growing evidence links individuals susceptibility to chronic disease in adult life to events during his/her intrauterine phase of development. Our aim is to determine how maternal cardiometabolic disorders affect placental molecular processes and metabolic programming. The study material is obtained from Kuopio Birth Cohort platform (www.KuBiCo.fi).

Olavi Airaksinen (olavi.airaksinen@uef.fi)

My main research areas are low back pain, electromyography, pain and sports medicine. On these fields I have supervised 25 PhD students and more will be coming.

I have published up to now 185 Original articles (published or accepted for publication) in peer reviewed indexed International Journals, over 50 other articles, two review articles in International Journals an eight review articles in Finnish Journals, over 30 chapters of books and 58 other publications and over 200 communications in International Medical Congresses concerning of the following topics: pain management, treatment of oedema, diagnostics and treatment of low back pain, diagnostics and treatment of sports injuries and the use of surface EMG as measurement of muscle fatigue and muscular activity.

One of my biggest research projects is collaboration with the WOMEN-UP – EU Horizon 2020 funded development and research project with Catalonian University (Barcelona) and Amsterdam Medical Center (2014-2019). Other productive projects was in the beginning of millennium (1999-2006) COST B 13 – Clinical Practice Guidelines for Low Back Pain. On the field of analysing the EMG signal I have been collaborating with project of “Parkinson EMG” funded several times by Finnish Technology foundation and Finnish Science Academy.

Rahma Hersi (rahma.hersi@uef.fi)

Rahma Hersi is an Islamic finance lawyer and advocate for economic justice in Africa. She has over 15 years of experience across several markets in North America, the Middle East, Sub-Saharan Africa, and Europe. Rahma works closely with regulators, multi-lateral organizations,development agencies, and companies in the public and private sector.
Rahma is currently a doctoral student and an early stage researcher  in the faculty of law and business studies at the University of Eastern Finland. She is pursuing her Ph.D. in law with a focus on religion and culture, international and human rights, labor law, feminism, and public
policy. 
Rahma graduated in 2008 with her Master of Laws (LL.M.) from the Indiana University RobertMcKinney School of Law, with a focus on international comparative law. She also received herLL.B. in Shari’a and Law and Bachelor of Islamic Studies from the Islamic University ofIslamabad in Pakistan. Additionally, Rahma has a Diploma in Islamic finance & arbitration from the Global International Center for Islamic Finance (INCEIF) in Malaysia and a Diploma in Arabic from the Islamic University of Africa in Sudan.Of note, she participated in the 5th Inter-Graduate Conference at Cornell University and presenteda paper titled, “A Value Oriented Legal Theory for Muslim Countries in the 21st Century: AComparative Study of Both Islamic Law and Common Law Systems.”  Ms. Hersi has been instrumental in pushing the agenda of Women in Business and Financial Inclusion for marginalized communities in not only Kenya but other African countries. She currently sits as a board member at a leading microfinance institution in Somalia and is the 1st woman appointed to this position in Somalia. Rahma also sits as the only advisor on Islamic finance in the Financial Review Panel appointed by the Capital Markets Authority (CMA). This was set up to ensure financial inclusion, access of financial products and opportunities are open to all and to reduce poverty and create a more productive society. Rahma is fluent in 4 languages including Arabic, Somali, English, and Swahili.

Publications:

She authored the first comprehensive report on Islamic finance and its growth inKenya published by John Wiley Islamic Finance Series entitled, “The Islamic Finance Handbook: A Practioner’s Guide to the Global Markets.” Rahma was featured in the 1st Women in Islamic Finance Report 2016 that was launched at the World Islamic Banking Conference, where shediscussed “breaking the cultural barriers in the industry.” Most recently, the 2018 Islamic Commercial Law Report published her article on Islamic microfinance in Kenya. Rahma has alsocontributed the 1st groundbreaking research on the Prospects and Challenges of Microfinance inthe IGAD Region published in May 2018.  In 2020 Rahma advised and worked on a DFID Somalia project and authored the report ” From Economic Darkness To Hope : A Rapid Review  Assessment of Somalia’s  Individual Debt & Credit.