Laboni Akter ([email protected])
Dr. Laboni Akter, MBBS, MPH, is an accomplished public health professional with a rich academic and professional background spanning several countries. She was awarded the prestigious Finland Scholarship 2023 for her exceptional application to the Master’s degree program in Public Health at the University of Eastern Finland (UEF). Previously, she received the Government Scholarship in China in 2017 to pursue a Master’s degree in Public Health at Southeast University, Nanjing, China.
Dr. Akter completed an internship at the Institute of Public Health and Clinical Nutrition at UEF and currently serves as a Project Assistant in the same institute. Her academic career includes teaching roles at Wuhan University of Science and Technology and Guizhou Medical University in China. Her professional journey also highlights her critical contributions to public health, particularly during the COVID-19 pandemic, where she worked as an Outbreak Investigation Officer at the Institute of Epidemiology, Disease Control, and Research (IEDCR) in Bangladesh under a WHO project. Additionally, She has held roles as a Study Physician at the International Center for Diarrhoeal Disease Research, Bangladesh (icddr,b), and as a Consultant with the Korea NGO Council for Overseas Development Cooperation (KCOC), evaluating maternal and child health programs for Save the Children International. Her diverse experience shows dedication to global public health, combining academic excellence with impactful fieldwork to improve health outcomes worldwide.
Leena Forma ([email protected])
I have a title of docent in health economics, especially the economics of ageing. I am interested in the use, costs and financing of health and social services among older people. I have studied these mainly using register data, but considering also hidden costs and all the different funding bodies also requires a multi-method approach. My more recent research interests include factors related to the retirement of older workers, as well as the economic evaluation of nutrition interventions. I belong to the Centre of Excellence in Research on Ageing and Care (CoE AgeCare).
I coordinate the preparation of the new bachelor’s program in economics. The program will be implemented in cooperation between several departments and will start in autumn 2025. I supervise master’s theses and doctoral dissertations in the field of health economics.
Maija Ylilauri ([email protected])
I am a registered dietitian and a Master of Health Sciences from the University of Eastern Finland and the University of Jyväskylä. I am writing a doctoral thesis in the field on nutrition epidemiology about dietary factors that are related to cognitive performance and the risk of memory disorders.
Maria Lankinen ([email protected])
I am an authorized clinical nutritionist, and docent in nutrition, with specialization in lipid metabolism working at the Institute of Public Health and Clinical Nutrition. I work as a university lecturer. I am responsible for sports nutrition studies and teach both sports nutrition and clinical nutrition studies. I have an over 15 years’ experience of randomized controlled clinical trials studying health effects of diet. Last years I have focused on gene-diet interactions related to fatty acid metabolism and prevention of type 2 diabetes and metabolic fatty liver disease. I also have an active role in the Fatty Acids and Outcomes Research Consortium, which goal is to understand the relationships between fatty acids from our diet and metabolic processes on chronic disease outcomes.
Projects: T2D-GENE, FADSDIET1&2, LIDIGE, DIFTOB
Nutrigenomics and molecular nutrition
Nutritional epidemiology research group
Roseanna Avento ([email protected])
Global development affairs: partnerships, funding support, communications and alumni relations.
Research interests: food and nutrition security, food innovation, aquaculture, biodiversity, community development and social entrepreneurship
Taisa Sallinen ([email protected])
I am teaching scientific information retrieval for health sciences students (dentistry, health promotion, medicine, clinical nutrition, public health) as well as the staff of UEF and Kuopio University Hospital. Moreover, I belong to UEF Data Support that offers services (guidance and training) about research data management for students and researhers.
More information about library services and information retrieval in UEF Library webpages (including KUH medical library services).
More information about research data management in UEF Data Support webpage.