I am a researcher actively developing viral vectors for improved gene therapies. My focus in recent years has been to address the unmet need for targeted vectors that can regulate gene expression in specific cell lines. We use elements from super-enhancers which are clusters of enhancers in the genome, to regulate the expression of transgenes to endothelial cells. Our interest in endothelial cells goes hand-in-hand with our aim to improve angiogenic gene therapy for the treatment of ischemic diseases. In addition, to the translational projects that I manage, we are also pursuing new therapeutic targets for angiogenesis. For this endeavour, we are studying the non-coding genome. Our aim is to better understand the different regulatory roles of non-coding RNAs (including enhancers, small and circular RNAs) in affecting gene expression. Gained knowledge and new discoveries will open new avenues for therapeutic developments.
Niina Väänänen ([email protected])
I work as a University Lecturer and teach basic, intermediate and advanced studies in crafts and craft teacher education. My research focusses on sustainability in crafts and I am studying the topic from various viewpoints.
Niklas Löther ([email protected])
Niklas Löther is doctoral researcher at the Center for Climate Change, Energy & Environmental Law, University of Eastern Finland (UEF CCEEL). He holds an MSocSc in Environmental Policy and Law from UEF and an MA in Politics and International Relations from the University of Aberdeen. In his doctoral studies, he combines competencies from all these disciplines to investigate which pathways and obstacles exist to better integrating climate and air pollution governance in the EU from legal, political, and policy science perspectives. More broadly, he is interested in the intersection between environmental law and global politics, paying particular attention to the roles of science and non-state actors. He has published articles on policy integration, the governance of short-lived climate pollutants, and the functioning of the global climate regime. Besides his research, Niklas served as expert reviewer for IPCC and CCAC assessments and managed the organisation of the 2023 IUCN Academy of Environmental Law Colloquium. He regularly teaches in UEF’s masters-level Global Environmental Politics course and has given guest lectures at the University of Copenhagen.
Niko Loikkanen ([email protected])
I work as a project researcher in the AI-FormAKe project and am currently working on my doctoral dissertation. My doctoral research examines university teaching staff’s AI competency and AI literacy. In addition, I work as a part-time teacher in the Expertise in Education and Adult Education programme, where I teach, among other things, practical classes for the course Quantitative Research 1. My research interests focus on teaching staff’s digital pedagogical competence from the perspective of university pedagogy. At present, I am particularly examining areas related to artificial intelligence in higher education. I am also interested in special education perspectives in university teaching and in quantitative research methods.
Niko Soininen ([email protected])
Main research interests:
1) Sustainability law; the role of law in sustainability transitions and transformation
2) Law as a complex system
3) Water and marine environmental law; especially blue renewables (incl. hydropower & offshore windpower) and aquaculture and marine spatial planning
Niko Suhonen ([email protected])
My research interests are microeconomics, applied microeconometrics, risk-taking behaviour and gambling behaviour.
Niko Tynnyrinen ([email protected])
I work as a university teacher in Karelian. I am working on my PhD on translating into Karelian and neologisms created during the translation process as methods of language revitalisation. In addition to teaching and research, I actively take part in the revitalisation of Karelian and have been involved in, for example, the Karelian language revival project (University of Eastern Finland, 2021–2024) and the Karelian language specialist group (Institute for the Languages in Finland, 2023–2025), and was the first author of the Karelian Language Revitalisation Programme published in 2025. Above all, I approach linguistics from the viewpoint of language revitalisation, and, in addition to translation, I am interested in e.g., the identities of speakers of minority languages, and “reclaiming” endangered languages.
Niko Vartiainen ([email protected])
I work as a university lecturer in legislative studies at the UEF Law School. In my research and teaching, I have focused especially on questions related to the quality of law drafting and regulatory impact assessment. My practical impact assessment work has mainly focused on local government sector and municipal finance. My research and teaching is also characterized by the use of statistical methods and economic analysis in legal issues.
Nilay Kilinc ([email protected])
I am a migration and mobility studies scholar whose interdisciplinary research sits at the intersection of social anthropology and urban sociology with a focus on second generation, return migration, highly skilled migration, labour market integration, transnationalism, gender in migration, identities, home and belonging. I hold a PhD in Migration and Mobility Studies from the University of Surrey (UK, 2018) and an MA in European Studies from Lund University (Sweden).
Before my current position as a Senior Researcher at UEF, I served as a Grant-funded Researcher at the Helsinki Institute of Urban and Regional Studies (Faculty of Social Sciences, University of Helsinki) through my three-year KONE Foundation-funded project, “Narrating and Performing the Art of Becoming Citizens: Creative Migrants’ Democratic Participation in Finland.” (2023-2026). Previous to the KONE Foundation project, I completed a postdoctoral fellowship under the “Urban Inequalities” research group at the Helsinki Institute of Urban and Regional Studies (URBARIA), University of Helsinki, investigating the social and labor market integration of highly skilled Turkish nationals in Helsinki, Stockholm and Copenhagen. I am currently still affiliated with the University of Helsinki wherein I am a visiting scholar at the Department of Geosciences and Geography.
My international trajectory includes fellowships at prestigious institutions across Europe, including the Centre for Advanced Study Sofia (Gerda Henkel Fellowship), the New Europe College in Bucharest (Pontica Magna Fellowship, Volkswagen Stiftung), the Centre for Advanced Studies Southeast Europe at the University of Rijeka and Leipzig University.
I authored and co-authored extensive peer-reviewed literature in top-tier journals, including the Journal of Ethnic and Migration Studies, Ethnic and Racial Studies, Global Networks, and Population, Space and Place. My major publications include the monograph A Place in the Homeland? Turkish-German Return Migration (Edinburgh University Press, 2025, co-authored with Russell King) and the edited volume Handbook on Diasporas and Migration (Edward Elgar, 2026, co-edited with Ayhan Kaya).
I hold leadership roles within IMISCOE, including serving as co-chair of the PhD Academy Training Committee and a board member for the Standing Committee on Migration, Migrants, and Labour Markets (IILME). I previously served as vice-chair of the Society for the Study of Ethnic Relations and International Migration (ETMU) in Finland. Alongside holding a Senior Fellow credential from the UK Higher Education Academy, I design and teach postgraduate courses on sociology of migration, urban diversity, inequalities and qualitative methodologies. Between 2021 and 2024, I represented Finland as an expert on immigration and integration in the Nordic Migrant Expert Forum under the Nordic Council of Ministers. I also integrates arts-based methodologies into my academic practice; I wrote and directed the award-winning ethnographic film Arkadaşloch: Nobody’s Problem (2022), which was screened at 18 international film festivals.
Nina Hakulinen ([email protected])
PhD 2003, Post-doctoral Researcher 2003-2011, Adjunct Professor (Docent) “Structure-function studies of proteins” 2011, Academy of Finland Research Fellow 2012-2017, University Researcher 2017-
Research interests:
– Structural biology of industrial enzymes
– Enzymatic hydrolysis of lignocellulosic biomass
– Structure and function of metalloenzymes