Keni Vidilaseris, Ph. D.
Originally from Indonesia, I have been a postdoctoral researcher in Helsinki since 2014. I study the membrane bound pyrophosphatases from protist parasites as a potential drug target. I got my Ph.D. in 2014 with Dr. Gang Dong (Max F. Perutz Laboratories, University of Vienna) with a scholarship from ASEAN-European Academic University Network on the BILBO1 protein from T. brucei. In 2017, I received a postdoctoral research grant from the Academy of Finland.
Jianing Liu, M.Sc
I joined the lab at 2020. Before that, I received my bachelor’s degree in chemical engineering from Beijing University of Chemical Technology. Then I got my M.Sc degree from the University of Chinese Academy of Sciences, specializing in biochemical engineering. Now I am a PhD student at the University of Helsinki and my main work is to solve membrane protein structures and discover potential inhibitors through crystallography and cryo-electron microscopy. My goal is to understand how proteins work at the molecular level.
Mimmu Hiltunen, M.Sc
I joined the lab in 2022 as a research assistant and PhD researcher. During my PhD I aim to structurally and functionally characterize Patched domain containing 1 (PTCHD1). Prior to joining I obtained a BSc and MPhil in cell and molecular biology from the University of Jyväskylä and carried out my master’s thesis research on enzymes involved in lignocellulose degradation at the Technical Research Centre of Finland (VTT). I was then part of Hideo Iwai’s group at the University of Helsinki, where I assisted in structurally and functionally characterizing sortases and inteins.
Orquidea De Castro Ribeiro, Ph. D.
Orquidea joined the lab in 2019 as a Research Technician. She was a Research Fellow at Trinity College Dublin, where she was a Task manager in the ITN project Aromagenesis, and at Imperial College, where she first worked on membrane proteins. Orquidea obtained her Licenciate in Biochemistry at the University of Algarve – Portugal. In 2012, she obtained her PhD at the University of Minho, Portugal in collaboration with VTT (Technical research Center).
Julia Johansson, M.Sc
I started working at the lab in the beginning of 2022 after working about 3 years in Hideo Iwai’s research group as a research assistant. During the time in Iwai’s group I completed my Bachelor’s and Master’s degrees studying in the University of Helsinki
Tuukka Eerikkilä
Tuukka joined the laboratory in 2013, when it moved to Biosciences. He works part-time in the lab, helping with technical support and ordering. In his spare time, he is a drummer in a band.