I am an Early Stage Researcher working on a PhD thesis called “Photoacoustic tomography in a heterogeneous medium”. Photoacoustic tomography is an imaging method based on photoacoustic affect created by an externally introduced light pulse. It combines the benefits of both optical and acoustic imaging. The applications include, for example, imaging tissue vasculature and small animal imaging.
Often in photoacoustics, propagation of acoustic waves is assumed to happen in a homogeneous medium. This is not always the case and hence, by modelling the wave propagation in a heterogeneous medium, more accurate estimates could be obtained. The objective of my thesis is to form a photoacoustic model which allows the estimation of photoacoustic images in a heterogeneous medium.
I study historical criminology, especially the development of crime and punishment in Finland and the other Nordic Countries since the beginning of the 19th century to the present. A major part of my research is collecting and compiling historical criminal statistics. I have recently launched a statistical database on historical criminal statistics of the Nordic countries 1810–2022.
I teach criminology, legal theory, and the sociology of law in every phase of our curriculum from the very first semester to the advanced studies seminars and the doctoral program.
I belong to the research group in criminology.
The overall aim of my research is to understand the role of freshwater in the Earth system and the well-being of societies. My main focus is currently on my ERC-funded project AQUAGUARD, where we assess changes in the global water cycle and their human drivers and Earth system impacts, with the aim to identify feasible and just opportunities for safeguarding freshwater’s life-supporting functions.
Research interests:
– Eye targeting peptides
– Retinal cell models
– Melanosome biology and ocular melanin pigment
– Novel therapies for eye diseases (retinoblastoma, macular degeneration)
Secretary of UEF human sciences ethics committee. Preparatory funding for international research projects. Guidance: EU structural funds (ESF/ERDF), EU territorial cooperative objective (Northern Periphery and Arctic, Baltic Sea Region, Interreg Europe), CBC-programmes, NordForsk, European Agricultural Fund for Rural Development.
PhD 1999, University of Joensuu
Professor in Materials Chemistry 2013, Univerity of Eastern Finland
Head of Chemistry Department (UEF), 2016 –
Research topics: Functional material surfaces and Environmental catalysis
Mika P. Tarvainen, Ph.D, Docent, received the M.Sc. degree in 1999 and the Ph.D. degree in 2004 from the University of Kuopio, Kuopio,Finland. He is currently a Senior Researcher at the Department of Applied Physics,University of Eastern Finland and Consultant at the Department of Clinical Physiology and Nuclear Medicine, Kuopio University Hospital.
His current research interests include medical signal analysis methods and physiological modelling and their applications in assessing human health. Specifically, development of analysis methods for cardiovascular signals, including heart rate variability (HRV), and psychophysiological measurements. The main research applications include objective assessment of occupational stress, complications of diabetes, and cardiovascular diseases.
Mika Tarvainen is also the founder of Kubios Oy and Partner at Heart2Save Oy, both companies are based in Finland. Kubios Oy is a start-up company providing HRV and other biomedical signal analysis software tools for researchers and consumers, as well as algorithms and custom-built software for the health and wellbeing industry. Kubios HRV software is the most detailed HRV analysis software in the market and is used at roughly 1200 universities in 128 countries.
My research focuses on the intricate role of drug transporters in pharmacokinetics, drug delivery, and anticancer drug therapy. I aim to explore and overcome transporter-mediated drug resistance and increase drug therapy efficacy and safety through innovative drug delivery strategies.
My core research interests are investigating transporters involved in anticancer drug resistance and developing novel methodologies to address these challenges. I aim to elucidate, through pharmacoproteomics, disease-induced alterations in drug transporter and drug metabolizing enzyme expression, analyzing their implications for pharmacokinetics and drug delivery. I am developing advanced mass spectrometry techniques for quantifying proteins from various biological samples, including cancer cells and tumor biopsies. This information is employed for the development of tumor-targeted drug delivery systems. In addition, I investigate novel strategies for modifying transporter expression in cancer cells to accumulate anticancer drugs in target cells efficiently.
With a strong background in drug transporters and quantitative proteomics, our team employs cutting-edge techniques to study transporter protein expression, cellular localization, and function. Our multidisciplinary approach fosters collaborations with local and international cancer research and nanoparticle development experts, enhancing our findings’ depth and breadth.
I am teaching and supervising students in our international master’s degree program in toxicology. Also doing toxicological research as much as possible.
I was working 1.9.2022-31.8.2025 in my Research Council of Finland funded postdoctoral project: Genotoxicity Assessment and Comparison of Toxicity Mechanisms of Natural Anthraquinone Dyes. Before that project, I was working in UEF WATER research, studying possible adverse health effects of microplastics. I was also working in the BioColour -project, which aims to develop new methods of biocolourant production, characterization and application, which enable the buildup of novel processes leading to a variety of sustainable items.
During years 2014-2019 I worked at the Department of environmental and biological sciences in the radiation research group. I was studying biological effects of electromagnetic fields, especially genotoxicity and genomic instability.
