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Vadim Romashov ([email protected])

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 Iannone ([email protected])

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.

 

Vanesa Tomas Bosch ([email protected])

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.

Veera Nieminen ([email protected])

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.

Veli-Matti Maltamo ([email protected])

Matti Maltamo is currently a Professor of forest mensuration science with the Faculty of Science and Forestry, University of Eastern Finland, Joensuu.
He has also been a Visiting Professor at the research group of Prof. Erik Naesset at the Norwegian University of Life Sciences, As, Norway. He was together with Naesset and Jari Vauhkonen, the editor of the textbook Forestry Applications of Airborne Laser Scanning—Concepts and Case Studies published by Springer in 2014. He has authored over 200 scientifically refereed papers. His research interests include forestry applications of ALS.
Dr. Maltamo is an Editor-in-chief of the Silva Fennica. He was a recipient together with Prof. Juha Hyyppä the First Innovation prize of the Finnish Society of Forest Science in 2010 about “Bringing airborne laser scanning to Finland, and the bronze A.K. Cajander Medal of the Finnish Society of Forest Science, 2012.

https://scholar.google.fi/citations?user=RrEBDK8AAAAJ&hl=fi

Venla Okkonen ([email protected])

As a researcher, I’m interested in worker well-being in the changing working life. My thinking is based on critical psychology, intersectionality, and contextualized understanding of psychological phenomena.

I work as a university teacher in psychology, teaching history of psychology, discursive and narrative methodology, and professional ethics.

My PhD research explores the moral orders of worker well-being and the ways in which the ideal working subject is constructed in worker well-being interventions. I focus on well-being approaches where mental well-being is understood and acted upon as a biological and embodied phenomenon, such as self-tracking and neuroscience.

Prior to my PhD research, I studied work-related burnout as a rupture in the life course in a research project led by Maija Korhonen.

Veronika Górová ([email protected])

I am early-stage researcher in Cellular Neurobiology research group, lead by prof. Katja Kanninen. My field of interest is Alzheimer’s disease and its interplay with the microbiome.

Vesa-Pekka Lehto ([email protected])

Professor Lehto received his M.Sc. in 1993, Lic.Phil. in 1996, and Ph.D. in 1999 from the Department of Physics at the University of Turku, Finland. From 2004 to 2008, he led a research group at the same institution. Since 2008, he has served as a full professor of materials physics at the University of Eastern Finland (UEF). In addition to his academic roles, he worked as a Senior Scientist in the Discovery Group at Focus Inhalation Ltd. during 2002–2003. He is also the co-founder and Chairman of the Board of 3AWater Oy.

His research focuses on the development of silicon-based nanostructured materials for three key applications: (i) multifunctional drug delivery systems, (ii) anode materials for lithium-ion batteries, and (iii) adsorbents for metal ions, particularly in dilute aqueous solutions. He has a strong background in the physicochemical characterization of inorganic nanomaterials, pharmaceuticals, and disordered materials. He leads the Pharmaceutical Physics Research Group, comprising approximately 20 researchers in the Department of Technical Physics at UEF.

Professor Lehto has authored over 230 peer-reviewed publications. His work has been cited more than 8,000 times, with an h-index of 49 (Web of Science).

Vijay Saxena ([email protected])

A molecular biologist who has been translated to study proteins, their behavior, functionality and use as therapeutics. In the early part of research career, he has been exposed to solid phase peptide synthesis, peptide chemistry, and their conjugation and purification technologies. He has gained experience working with different G protein coupled receptor like MTNR1A and their role in influencing reproduction in sheep. He was selected for an Indo-Australian career-boosting fellowship which allowed him to work at the Centre of Animal Biotechnology, the University of Melbourne on M-cell targeted delivery system for triggering a mucosal immune response. He along with Dr Jean Pierre Scheerlinck and Alejandra Diaz, identified a novel M-cell marker in sheep and developed methods for targeted delivery of vaccine. He at his laboratory in India developed an engineered kisspeptin with an enhanced half-life. Another significant finding from his laboratory includes the identification of an unknown pathway of cysteine synthesis in a multicellular organism of animal kingdom. He also devised an alternative idea of pyridoxal phosphate permeability in E. coli. He has used protein engineering techniques to improve the properties and function of many therapeutic proteins. He has started a new group (PEBBLE Group) and established the Protein Science Laboratory at the School of Pharmacy, and he looks forward to making further contributions to the university’s research programs. He is using knowledge of antibody phage display and protein purification technologies to develop vaccines and biologics.

Some Important Publications

Mahla, A.S., Bunkar, S.K., Kumawat, B.L., Saxena, V.K., Selvaraju, S., Bhatt, R.S., Singh, R. and Kumar, A., 2023. Dietary n-3 PUFA augments pre-ovulatory follicle turnover and prolificacy in well-fed ewes. Animal Reproduction Science, 252, p.107231. [Elsieviers]

Saxena V. K*, Vedamurthy, G.V. and Raghvendar Singh (2022)., A novel concept of Pyridoxal 5′-phosphate permeability in E.coli for modulating the heterologous expression of PLP dependent proteins, Process Biochemistry, 113,pp 37-46 [Elsieviers]

Saxena, V.K.*, Vedamurthy, G.V., Swarnkar, C.P., Kadam, V., Onteru, S.K., Ahmad, H. and Singh, R.,(2021). De novo pathway is an active metabolic pathway of cysteine synthesis in Haemonchus contortus. Biochimie., 187,110-120 [Elsieviers]

Saxena, V.K., Diaz, A. and Scheerlinck, J.P.Y., (2019). Identification and characterization of an M cell marker in nasopharynx-and oropharynx-associated lymphoid tissue of sheep. Veterinary Immunology and Immunopathology, 208, pp.1-5. [Elsieviers]

Vedamurthy, G.V., Ahmad, H., Onteru, S.K. and Saxena, V.K., (2019). In silico homology modelling and prediction of novel epitopic peptides from P24 protein of Haemonchus contortus. Gene,703,pp102-111[Elsieviers]

Vili Virkki ([email protected])

I work in the Global Water Sustainability research group led by Associate Professor Miina Porkka on two projects.

The GloWater project, funded by the Strategic Research Council established within the Research Council of Finland, places Finland in the global water security context. I am currently analysing Finland’s contribution to changes in freshwater resources and water security elsewhere in the world (e.g. through trade markets) and the potential risks to Finland from freshwater change in selected highlight areas that emerge from the analysis  (e.g. for security of supply).

The AQUAGUARD project, funded by the European Research Council, investigates the impacts of human activities on the freshwater cycle and its subsequent effects on other parts of the Earth system. I am instructing two PhD theses within the project: Elina Paavonen’s research focuses on changes in aquatic and terrestrial ecosystems, and Ronit Bohra’s research delves into forests and climatic impacts of freshwater change. Moreover, I support the research of three AQUAGUARD postdoctoral researchers: Marija Cosovic‘s work on wetland biodiversity, Ville Lindgren‘s work on moisture recycling, and Vincent Sorjonen-Biard‘s work on flow changes and riverine ecosystem health.

My doctoral thesis, completed in autumn 2024, dealt with changes in the freshwater cycle and the role of these changes in the Earth system, with a particular focus on the planetary boundaries framework and its development.