My main responsibilities relate to the Young Universities for the Future of Europe (YUFE) Alliance, which enables students and staff to study and develop their skills both in person and online across ten universities in Europe. I lead YUFE’s work package on lifelong learning and support other multilevel development initiatives connected to YUFE within our university. I am also pleased to discuss the opportunities offered by YUFE with a variety of stakeholders.
In addition, I work to enhance the internationalisation of studies for our Finnish students and to support the integration of our international students through cooperation with regional, national, and international networks.
I work as a researcher in the research project Intergroup relations and local encounters – Immigrant and Finnish young people’s perceptions of each other, their lives and future in multicultural Savo. In addition, I am working on my doctoral dissertation on young people’s lay perceptions related to social classes and their agency. I also teach part-time in the subject of social psychology.
My research interests are related to themes of inequality and young people, viewed from the young people’s own point of view, in the way how they themselves perceive society and what kind of connection these lay perceptions have on how they perceive their opportunities and alternatives in their own lives. Methodologically, I am interested in mixed method research and especially its integrative approach.
Pedagogically, I am interested in developing multi-modal teaching, especially in an online environment, in the way that it supports meaningful learning for students from different backgrounds. Also developing more diverse evaluation methods in online teaching is one of my core interests.
I work in Financial Services and my work includes providing guidance and support in financial issues together with other experts. Donations: [email protected] and taxes etc [email protected] . I have been controller since 2020.
I started working as project designer in year 2011 Department of Health and Social Management
In year 2015 I started in Financial Services:
- First years (2015 – 2018) in A. I. Virtanen Institute, Financial Affairs as project controller, Department of Neurobiology.
- 2018 – 2019 EU projects, Academy of Finland, grants etc, audits, funding team organizer. External and Basic Funding projects guidance and support.
- Study administrative support in Researcher Training Services
- Kamu Handbook of Doctoral Studies, Doctoral Education web pages, doctoralcourses.fi etc.
- Administrative support in Doctoral Education Pilots
I have earned my ThD degree from the University of Helsinki (2019) and worked as a postdoctoral researcher at the University of Eastern Finland. I’m a Fulbright alumna (Emory University, 2012-2013). Currently, I work also as a professional supervisor.
The Occupational Health and Safety Manager supports the employer and superiors in the acquisition of occupational health and safety expertise and in their collaboration with employees and occupational health and safety authorities. The Occupational Health and Safety Manager is responsible for joint occupational health and safety activities undertaken between the employer and employees at the workplace. You can contact and ask from occupational health and safety manager about occupational health care, work-place surveys, work-place conflicts and support for supervisors.
I assist researchers of the Faculty of Social Sciences and Business Studies in applying for research funding by:
- Identifying potential research funding instruments & their key requirements
- Supporting proposal preparation & providing feedback on proposals
- Offering information & training related to research funding & funders
Responsible for information literacy training and information services at the UEF Library. Responsible for research support services at the UEF Library.
The Cancer Cell Plasticity research group investigates how prostate cancer cells adopt stem-like, neuroplastic, and neuroendocrine states to drive therapy resistance and disease progression. The group studies how cancer cells transition between cellular states in response to both therapeutic pressure and signals from the tumor microenvironment. These include immune cell–derived factors, neural and neuroendocrine-associated programs, and mechanical cues such as extracellular matrix (ECM) stiffness, which actively regulate cancer cell behavior. The research integrates advanced imaging with functional genomics and epigenomics to capture dynamic changes in chromatin state and gene regulation. Genome-wide approaches (RNA-seq, ATAC-seq, ChIP-seq) are combined with live-cell high-content imaging, drug screening, and patient-derived models, including organoids and liquid biopsies. Zebrafish metastasis models are further used to study cancer cell dissemination and plasticity in vivo.
Key intrinsic regulators of plasticity have been identified, including transcription factors such as SIX2, which drive stem-like and androgen receptor–independent states through chromatin reprogramming. Key plasticity-associated effectors such as DPYSL5 supports neuroplasticity-associated phenotypes and antiandrogen resistance. In addition, DNA repair pathways, including the Fanconi anemia pathway (FANCI), support therapy resistance. Recent work demonstrates that ECM stiffness directly regulates chromatin accessibility and androgen receptor signaling, with stiff matrices promoting aggressive transcriptional programs associated with poor clinical outcome.
The overall goal is to identify novel therapeutic targets and biomarkers and to develop strategies to prevent or reverse treatment resistance in advanced prostate cancer.
Find Ketola Lab pages: https://uefconnect.uef.fi/en/group/cancer-cell-plasticity-ketola-lab/
I am an early stage researcher, nutritionist and expert of food sciences. I currently work at the Stop Diabetes (StopDia) project in the Department of Clinical Nutrition in Kuopio. The StopDia study was set to create and implement evidence-based and digitally supported strategies for the prevention of type 2 diabetes at population level in three regions in Finland. It is funded by the Strategic Research Council and lasts until year 2019. I take care of practical issues of the StopDia randomized controlled trial and handle the RCT data.
I am interested in eating behavior and eating competence of the StopDia study participants, who are at increased risk for type 2 diabetes. With my study I hope to enhance knowledge on eating-related behavior and it’s association with obesity and type 2 diabetes. My goal is to find more efficient ways to make long-lasting healthy lifestyle changes and to conduct effective lifestyle interventions in healthcare and thus, preventing type 2 diabetes.
I’d like to build a research network. I am also active in social media and write nutrition-related blog posts.
I am a PhD researcher in nutrition science, a licensed dietitian and an expert in food science. I am currently working on the Kuopio campus in the Unit of Public Health and Clinical Nutrition in the Stop Diabetes (StopDia) project. The goal of the StopDia study was to create and implement ways to prevent type 2 diabetes in Finland based on scientific evidence and utilize digital tools. The study was funded by the Academy of Finland, Strategic Research. I take care of the practical matters of the randomized controlled trial StopDia, communication and analyse data. I also work in the T2D-Data project, which aims to find out who will benefit from using the BitHabit app in terms of type 2 diabetes prevention.
I also work as a nutrition expert in the national FOODNUTRI project, where we develop a measure of diet quality, the Healthy Diet Index, as a digital app for health promotion and health care services. The goal of the Healthy Diet Index app is to improve the effectiveness of nutritional counselling.
In my dissertation, I study the quality of the diet, the Healthy Diet Index, and eating behavior, more specifically the Satter Eating competence, and their connection to risk factors for type 2 diabetes in the StopDia data. With my research, I hope to increase knowledge on eating-related behavior and its connection to obesity and type 2 diabetes. My goal is to find more effective ways to make long-term health-promoting lifestyle changes, implement effective lifestyle interventions in healthcare and municipalities, and thereby prevent type 2 diabetes.
I would like to build my research network. I am also active on Twitter and I like to participate in nutrition communication.
Kristina Leppälä is a researcher whose current work examines the navigation and enactment of sustainability and the circular economy in organizational and industrial contexts. Her scholarship draws on practice‑theoretical approaches to investigate multi‑actor collaboration, materiality, technology, and transitions toward more sustainable industrial systems. She has published in international peer‑reviewed journals, contributed to scholarly edited volumes, and presented her research at national and international academic conferences.
She has served as a researcher in several major projects funded by the Research Council of Finland (Strategic Research Council), the EU Just Transition Fund (CE4ALL), the Finnish Ministry of Education and Culture, the Ministry of Economic Affairs and Employment, the Foundation for Economic Education, and Business Finland.
Leppälä teaches and supervises both Master’s and Bachelor’s students, working as a lecturer, responsible teacher, and thesis advisor. She has also held guest lecturer positions at Savonia University of Applied Sciences and Metropolia University of Applied Sciences. Prior to her academic career, she spent many years in research and development roles within the high‑tech industrial sector.
Her international experience includes visiting researcher appointments at Stanford University (USA) in 2024 and 2025, with the latter supported by a Fulbright Finland grant, and at the University of Exeter (UK) in 2023. She serves on multiple boards and is regularly invited to speak as an expert at academic, professional, and policy‑oriented events.
Originally from the United States, Leppälä has lived in Finland for several decades and maintains strong professional and personal ties across both countries.
