Projektitutkija, Finnish University Partnership for International Development (UniPID), Historia- ja maantieteiden laitos, Yhteiskuntatieteiden ja kauppatieteiden tiedekunta
Nykyiset tutkimus- ja työalueet: Ruoka- ja ravitsemusturva sekä kestävä maatalous, ilmastonmuutos ja uusiutuva energia, AU–EU-tiedepolitiikka ja tiedediplomatia
Aiemmat ja nykyiset tutkimus- ja innovaatioprojektit:
- AKIS4FNSSA 2026-2030 (Horizon Europe), projektinjohtaja, Itä-Suomen yliopisto
- CEA-FIRST 2023–2027 (Horizon Europe), projektinjohtaja, Helsingin yliopisto / Itä-Suomen yliopisto
- REACT 2023–2026 (Suomen Akatemia), väitöskirjatutkija, Helsingin yliopisto
- LEAP-RE 2022–2026 (Horizon 2020), projektisuunnittelija, Helsingin yliopisto
- LEAP4FNSSA 2022 (Horizon 2020), projektisuunnittelija, Helsingin yliopisto
- SMARTLAND 2018–2022 (Suomen Akatemia), väitöskirjatutkija, Helsingin yliopisto
Muu relevantti kokemus:
Viittaukset mediassa:
I completed my PhD in Human Nutrition, minor in Molecular Biology & Biotechnology at the University of the Philippines joined with Colorado State University, USA. My PhD research focused on identification of dietary biomarkers in cereal bran using metabolomics from two human intervention studies in adults and children and determination of cereal bran property in inhibiting bacterial pathogenicity in mouse cell line. As my cognate was Molecular Biology & Biotechnology, during my PhD program, I also worked over three years as lar at the Grain Quality and Nutrition Center as well as the Genetic Transformation Laboratory of the International Rice Research Institute (IRRI) in the Philippines, the most renowned rice research organization in the world. My work at IRRI included rice metabolomics, identification rice varieties with high protein content, and genetic modifications of rice for vitamin A (Golder Rice project) and iron and zinc bio-fortification. I currently work within the LongITools project (https://longitools.org) to study the effects physical activity and diet exposures on human health in determining the risks of chronic cardiovascular and metabolic diseases.
Dr. Laboni Akter, MBBS, MPH, MSc, is a medical doctor and a doctoral researcher in Neurology at the Department of Clinical Medicine, University of Eastern Finland (UEF). Her current research focuses on dementia prevention and Brain Health, with a particular emphasis on the role of biomarkers in dementia prevention trials across high-, middle-, and low-income countries. She is currently working with the FINGER Study (Finnish Geriatric Intervention Study to Prevent Cognitive Impairment and Disability) in Finland, the WW-FINGER Network spanning more than 70 countries, and the BELIEVE Study (Bangladesh Longitudinal Investigation of Emerging vascular and Non-vascular Events) in Bangladesh, conducted by the University of Cambridge, UK.
She has a strong background in Medicine, Public health, and Global health research and was awarded the Finland Scholarship 2023 for Excellence in her application to the Master of Public Health program (specialized in Epidemiology) at UEF. Previously, she received the Chinese Government Scholarship to pursue a Master of Public Health (MPH) at Southeast University, China.
Dr. Akter has worked in academic, clinical, teaching, and field research settings across Finland, China, and Bangladesh. Her experience includes teaching positions at Wuhan University of Science and Technology and Guizhou Medical University in China, as well as research and professional roles at the Institute of Public Health and Clinical Nutrition (UEF), WHO, IEDCR, icddr,b (Bangladesh), and KCOC (Korea). Her work bridges medicine, epidemiology, clinical research, and global brain health, with a commitment to improving dementia prevention strategies globally.
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.
