I provide support for researchers in the Faculty of Science, Forestry and Technology in research funding proposal development, especially with Horizon Europe proposals. My tasks are for example:
In my doctoral research, I study a self-care preparedness index and its associations with the health-related quality of life, health, and depressive symptoms in primary health care patients (Participatory Patient Care Planning in Primary Care 4PHC trial) and the effects of motivational self-care promotion on depressive symptoms in type 2 diabetes. In the DEPKuopio study, we will examine the effects of multicomponent motivational lifestyle intervention as a supportive treatment for depression in primary health care.
I am a Professor in Health and Human Services Master’s programme and an Adjunct Professor in Evidence Based Research and Development. My research interests are data structures and classifications in EHR, evidence-based health care and informatics competencies both for professionals and citizens including educational and organizational factors in enhancing digitalization in health and social care services. I am a chair of the Finnish nursing terminology, FinCC, vice chair of the IMIA NI Board, and a core staff member of the Finnish Centre for Evidence-Based Health Care: A Joanna Briggs Institute Centre of Excellence.
I am a supervisor for 16 doctoral students and several master’s thesis students, responsible for coordination and development of the HHSI educational program, PhD seminar, and Master’s thesis seminar.
I am a member of the Publication Forum (https://www.tsv.fi/julkaisufoorumi/haku.php?lang=en ), panel 14, 2022–2025 and 2025-2028 and a member of the Editorial Board of JMIR Nursing.
I got the IMIA fellowship Fellow of the International Academy of Health Sciences Informatics 2021
Teaching of master phase clinical studies in the curriculum of nutrition, nutrition research, clinical work at the Kuopio University Hospital. Head of the curriculum (nutrition).
Member of the National Nutrition Council; member of the working group of the Nordic Nutrition recommendations; member of the nutrition expertise group of the Finnish Heart Association; member of the expertise group of Finnish Coeliac association; chairperson of the panel 14 of the National Publication forum; member of the supervisory board of the Finnish Cultural Foundation
My research generally focuses on community narratives, practices, and spaces of everyday co-existence, as well as the solidarities and tensions that emerge in response to hegemonic socio-political orderings. I use ethnographic and participatory research methods, apply critical theory, and aim to translate academic knowledge into peace action.
Responsible teacher (together with Paul Fryer) of the Master’s course “Global Conflicts in an Era of Globalization” (Human Geography).
Member of the Borders, Mobilities and Cultural Encounters (BOMOCULT) research community.
Co-creator of the Critical Edges Podcast, where we explore and discuss critical edges that may seem distant and marginal at first glance, but which are, in fact, very much connected to, and even interdependent with, our global society and politics.
Book review editor of the Journal of Disappearance Studies (Bristol University Press).
Associate researcher of the project Co-Imagine: Rethinking co-existence from the margins.
PUBLICATIONS: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-4802-2829
Profile image: illustration by JP Ahonen
Valeria has a multidisciplinary background in nutrition and host physiology. Her research interests focused on investigating how diet shape the host via modulation of gut microbiota. She completed her PhD in Molecular Nutrition within a Marie Skłodowska-Curie ITN program (BestTreat consortium, No. 813781) at University of Eastern Finland at the Food and Health research group under the supervision of Prof. Marjukka Kolehmainen. During her PhD, she investigated metabolic dysfunction–associated steatotic liver disease (MASLD) and evaluated a novel microbiome-based therapeutic strategy in in vivo model. After her PhD, in the same research group she completed a postdoctoral project within the Cell2eat accademy project a (Research Council of Finland, nr. 339184) characterizing the protein quality of novel plant-based cell cultures in in vivo model and their impact on gut microbiota composition and function with in vitro colonic fermentation model. In 2026, she was awarded a two-year internal competitive postdoctoral position at the Faculty of Health Sciences at the University of Eastern Finland to develop an in vitro model for studying diet-host-microbiota interactions. Beyond her scientific expertise, she is actively engaged in scientific community leadership. She is currently the Vice-Chair of the Marie Curie Alumni Association (MCAA) Finland Chapter, which in the last year has enhanced her skills in communication, events coordination, and community engagement. In February 2026, she was also awarded the prestigious Marie Skłodowska-Curie Actions Individual Postdoctoral Fellowship.
My research project is focused on the identification and characterization of novel non-coding RNAs (ncRNAs), in particular long intergenic ncRNAs (lincRNAs), enhancer RNAs (eRNAs), and micro-RNAs (miRNAs) involved in the regulation of Vascular Endothelial Growth Factors (VEGFs) gene expression, and the study of mechanisms by which VEGF-signaling itself regulates the expression of ncRNAs in human endothelial cells. Our study will lay a foundation to decipher the regulatory events that control the developmental and pathological angiogenesis.
In my research, I investigate the mental health impacts of climate change, climate worry and -hope, pro-environmental behavior, nature relatedness, and attitudes towards climate change and the environment.
