Areas of Expertise

• Cell biology of soft tissue (muscle, cardiovascular)
• Cell Signaling and Mechanobiology
• Microtissue engineering

Research Projects

• Hematopoietic stem cell engineering (Making blood)
• Mechanobiology of hematopoietic stem cell niches and the endothelium
• Deciphering mechanisms of soft tissue development and regeneration
• Nanoparticle interactions with biological barriers
• Deciphering mechanisms of tumor-endothelial crosstalk
• Protein-protein crosstalk in cell fate decisions

Special Methodologies & Techniques

• Microtissue engineering and biomaterials
• Organ on Chips, flow and perfusion chambers, micropatterning, functionalized materials
• Cell and molecular biology
• Mass spectrometry (identification of protein-protein interactions)
• Optogenetic tools and synthetic biology tools
• Zebrafish to study soft tissue development (muscle, cardiovascular)
• Computational simulations of mechanochemical regulation of tissue architecture

Major Funding & International Networks

• Sigrid Juselius Foundation
• European Research Council and European Commission (H2024, Marie Curie Training Network)
• Academy of Finland and Inflames
• Turku Bioscience
• Materials-driven regeneration (https://mdrresearch.nl)
• Institute for complex molecular systems (https://www.tue.nl/en/research/institutes/institute-for-complexmolecular-systems)

Selected Publications

• Receptor stoichiometry predicts artery-typical vulnerability to altered Notch signaling during smooth muscle differentiation. DOI: 10.1101/2025.05.05.652186
• Mechanosensitive interactions between Jag1 and Myo1C control Jag1 trafficking in endothelial cells. DOI: 10.1101/2025.03.27.645426
• 2.5D Model for Ex Vivo Mechanical Characterization of Sprouting Angiogenesis in Living Tissue. J Vis Exp. 2025. DOI: 10.3791/67641
• Directing cellular responses in a nanocomposite 3D matrix for tissue regeneration with nanoparticle-mediated drug delivery. Materials Today Bio 2023. DOI: 10.1016/j.mtbio.2023.100865
• Engineered patterns of Notch ligands Jag1 and Dll4 elicit differential spatial control of endothelial sprouting. iScience 2022. DOI: 10.1016/j.isci.2022.104306

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