Henna Jäntti

I am an academy research fellow and principal investigator at the A.I.Virtanen Institute for Molecular Sciences. My research team uses CRISPR editing of human stem cell derived brain cells to uncover the neurobiological mechanisms governing glia-synapse interactions in diseases involving psychiatric symptoms. I am specifically interested in understanding how genetic and environmental risk factors affect the development of synapses and over time contribute to disease pathology.

Prior to my current position, I completed postdoctoral research at the Stanley Center for Psychiatric Research of the Broad Institute of MIT and Harvard at Beth Stevens and Matthew Johnson labs in Boston, USA. I focused on a common novel schizophrenia risk gene and developed methods to analyze the structure and function of human synapses in vitro strengthening my expertise in iPSC-neuron-astrocyte cocultures, complement, high-content confocal and super-resolution imaging, gene editing, and bioinformatics.

During my PhD at Prof. Tarja Malm lab, UEF, I gained expertise in human stem cell-derived brain microglia and developed one of the first differentiation methods to produce human iPSC-derived microglia with a suite of functional assays. My research revealed functional impairments upon genetic and environmental risk factors related to Alzheimer’s disease. I established a stem cell laboratory within the research group and gained leadership experience by training and supervising other researchers and MSc students. I also worked at Charles River Laboratories, performing drug testing on neurodegenerative in vivo models.

Before academia, I had an upper degree in industrial design and worked as a designer. I enjoy making illustrations and am happy to help with visualizing scientific concepts.