EVENTS & NEWS 

Join the lecture online: link

Associate Professor Kristi Huik is a pharmacist by training and has >15 years of experience in clinical-molecular research. Her PhD study explored the associations between HIV infection and host genetics. At the same time, she developed HIV and HCV drug resistance testing in Estonia for clinical and screening purposes. Kristi did her post-doc at the National Cancer Institute in the National Institutes of Health (USA) where she studied population genetics of HIV reservoir and the microbiome of people with HIV.

Beyond HIV research she has participated in studies focusing on neonatal infections and their relationship to microbial colonisation, and antibacterial resistance. During the COVID-19 pandemic, she led national-wide SARS-CoV-2 sequencing in Estonia.

Now, her research concentrates on microbiome development in humans, especially on the role of viruses in hospital and community settings including viral transmission between different populations. In addition, Kristi is continuing to study HIV and HCV resistance in Estonia working in collaboration with Estonian hospitals and the Health Board, and being an Estonian representative in the European Society for Translational Antiviral Research.

Prof. Liam completed a PhD in Canada on RNA biology and yeast genetics and then postdoctoral training at the Department of Cell and Molecular Medicine at the Panum Institute in Copenhagen. Liam was next a Group Leader and Associate Professor at the Department of Cellular and Molecular Biology at the Karolinska Institute in Stockholm. Liam is now a Professor of Microbiology and Biotechnology at the Royal Veterinary College, London, with research commercialisation responsibilities as Associate Dean for Innovation. His interests include RNA biology, antimicrobials and cellular delivery technologies. Liam is a founding Director and CSO at Tecrea Ltd; a clinical-stage biotechnology company located in London. 

Watch the lecture online - link soon!

On the 28th of March 2024 we had the opportunity to learn from Professor Veranja Liyanapathirana. She is a Microbiology expert at the University of Peradeniya, earned her medical degree in 2006 and later delved into research, obtaining an MPhil in 2011. Pursuing doctoral studies in pneumococcal diseases at the Chinese University of Hong Kong from 2011 to 2015, she expanded her focus to antibiotic resistance and molecular epidemiology. Now back in Sri Lanka, she is actively securing grants to establish molecular detection methods for antibiotic resistance. Her primary objective is to develop community-centric strategies to curb the spread of antibiotic resistance.

Speakers:

1. Dr Nilakshi Barua

Research associate, Department of Microbiology, Faculty of Medicine, The Chinese University of Hong Kong, Hong Kong. Nilakshi's research interests include studying antimicrobial resistance in both Gram-positive and Gram-negative bacteria, as well as researching the gut microbiome. Additionally, she is involved in 3D skin culture and utilizes Caenorhabditis elegans as an infection model.

2. Ms. Liuyue Yang, Bella

PhD candidate, Department of Microbiology, Faculty of Medicine, The Chinese University of Hong Kong, Hong Kong. Liuyue Yang, Bella, is currently a Ph.D. student with a research focus on the epidemiology of antimicrobial-resistant bacteria.

3. Mr. Nannur Rahman

PhD candidate, Department of Microbiology, Faculty of Medicine, The Chinese University of Hong Kong, Hong Kong.Nannur completed his B.S.c (Hons) and M.Sc. (Applied Nutrition and Food Technology, taught program) from Islamic University, Bangladesh. He pursued a Master's degree in science (research program) in Human Nutrition at Ghent University in Belgium with the support of the VLIRUOS scholarship. After that, he worked in the Department of Food Technology and Nutritional Science, at Mawlana Bhashani Science and Technology University, Bangladesh. Nannur then decided to advance his career by pursuing further studies under the Hong Kong Ph.D. Fellowship Scheme. His research project focuses on the modulation of gut microbiota under the influence of probiotics, antibiotics, and other functional food.

10:00-10:30 "Introduction to Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis", Dr Nilakshi Barua 

10:30-11:00 "Covidence: A tool for systematic review", Ms. Liuyue Yang, Bella 

11:00-12:00 "Strategic Approaches to Systematic Review Development, PROSPERO Registration, and Meta-Analysis Techniques", Mr. Nannur Rahman 

You can watch the recording here: https://youtu.be/wStLnSAmTpo?feature=shared

On the 18th of March 2024 we were hosting the webinar with the following topics:

1. The European Cooperation in Science and Technology COST grant family, Prof. Tiziana A. Brevini

2. The Doctorate Network – Joint Doctorate Marie Slodowska-Curie Actions  (EIC) Work Programme grant family, Prof. Fabrizio Ceciliani 

3. The Marie Skłodowska-Curie Actions Postdoctoral Fellowships (PFs), Prof. Albert Luciano

4.  The European Innovation Council (EIC) Work Programme grant family, Prof. Fulvio Gandolfi

Watch the webinar here: https://youtu.be/TJQDDrH0yZM?feature=shared

Speakers:

Prof. Tiziana A. Brevini serves as Full Professor of Anatomy and Embryology at the University of Milan, Italy. Her main area of research focuses on the understanding of cell differentiation and commitment, epigenetic, paracrine and mechanosensing-related controls in mammalian cell fate and embryo. She has acted as MC Chair of the recent COST Action “CellFit”, which bloomed into 3 successfully ongoing European Projects.

Prof. Fabrizio Ceciliani is a full professor of Veterinary pathology. His interest lies in innate immunity and molecular pathology, with a focus on system biology applied to livestock diseases. He is the coordinator of the Veterinary and Animal Sciences PhD program at the University of Milan and the Editor-in-Chief of the Veterinary Research Communications Journal. 

Prof. Alberto M. Luciano - Professor of Veterinary Anatomy and Physiology at the University of Milan. His has been working on the role of progesterone in regulating granulosa cell apoptosis. His current research topic focuses on mammalian oocyte differentiation and on cellular and molecular determinants that confer oocyte meiotic and embryonic developmental competence. Co-founder of the Reproductive and Developmental Biology Laboratory (ReDBioLab), which coordinates since 2005. He tutored three MSCA PFs and is deputy coordinator of the H2020 MSCA-ITN-ETN "EUROVA".

Prof. Fulvio Gandolfi - Full Professor of Anatomy and Physiology of Domestic Animals at the University of Milan has been working in the field of biotechnology since the mid ‘80s. His research has spanned from embryology, ovarian physiology, transgenesis, stem cells to cell reprogramming, developing in vitro models. Now he is working on an advanced model of the fish intestine for developing sustainable diets, evaluating single nutrients or preventing microplastic transfer into the human food chain. He is supported by an EIC Pathfinder grant that has evolved in a Proof-of-concept study supported by private investors.

The event is a part of the Best Practise Transfer from the University of Milan.

Prof. Sourav Bhattacharjee, who visited us on 13-14th of March 2024, joined the Medical College and Hospital, Kolkata (India) in 1997 and graduated with an MBBS (Bachelor of Medicine and Surgery) in 2004. After a brief period of Resident training in Orthopedic Surgery, he joined the MSc in Biomolecular Sciences/Cell Biology at the Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam (2006). In the meanwhile, he moved to Edinburgh (UK), where he worked for almost 14 months under the supervision of Prof. Vicki Stone at Napier University. Upon finishing his MSc, he began his PhD at the Wageningen University (Netherlands) in 2008. He successfully defended in 2012 with a very good thesis grade and several research papers. Following that, he worked for a year as a postdoc at the University of Twente (Netherlands). In March 2014 he joined Prof. David Brayden's group at UCD as a postdoc working on the EU FP7-funded TRANS-INT consortium trying to develop nanoparticulate drug delivery platforms for oral insulin delivery. From February 2016 Sourav joined the UCD School of Veterinary Medicine as an Assistant Professor in Veterinary Anatomy while also trying to develop his niche of research encompassing a broad range of nanobiotechnology and advanced microscopy tools for effective diagnostic and drug delivery platforms. 

Watch the recordings from the lectures:

Modeling Tissue Fabric Based on Autofluorescence: From Concepts to Applications

Oral Delivery of Insulin: A Mission Impossible?

Our guests from Germany provided us with insightful lectures about lab automation topics. They also visited the Food hygiene laboratory at EMU as well as lab at the University of Tartu.

Nicole Rupp is a Ph.D. student in the field of laboratory automation at Albstadt-Sigmaringen University, Germany. With her background in pharmaceutical engineering and biomedical science, she joined Prof. Züchners research group in 2019, where she specializes in low-cost automation, particularly in robotic systems and automated software procedures for laboratory automation in bioanalytics. Nicole's ongoing PhD project focuses on the development of a flexible, innovative and cost-effective automation system for a wide range of life science processes. 

Michael Köppl is the Founder of 8-BOT robotics, a venture dedicated to developing and distributing devices for vendor-independent lab automation. Holding a master's degree in physics, Michael has been a part of the pharmaceutical industry since 2006, specializing in high throughput screening, compound management, and data analytics. He currently serves as the Chief Technology Officer at stemick-lab, a Customer Research Organization offering services for pharmacological and toxicological research.

The topic of "Algae - Potential in Food, Agriculture and Biomedical Applications" was presented to us on 15th of February by Dr Renu Geetha Bai from EMU!

Renu Geetha Bai is a PhD graduate in Chemical & Environmental Engineering from The University of Nottingham. Currently, she works as a Postdoctoral Research Scientist in the Estonian University of Life Sciences, Tartu and also teaches at Tallinn University, Tallinn, Estonia. Her current research focuses on the development of high-value bio-materials from algal resources.

Dr. Renu's research interests are biotechnology, nanotechnology, marine algal biomolecules, nanomedicine, anticancer drug delivery, nanotheranostics, metal/carbon- nanomaterials, liposomes, microbiology, molecular biology, tissue engineering, in vitro cell culture (plant, animal, algae), mammalian (cancer & normal) cell culture techniques, environmental engineering, green chemistry, and electrochemical biosensing.

On the 5th of February, we had the pleasure to dig into the topic of "Do microplastics cause lifestyle diseases?" presented by Dr Karol Mierzejewski from the University of Warmia and Mazury in Poland!

Karol Mierzejewski currently works as an assistant professor at the University of Warmia and Mazury in Olsztyn in the Department of Animal Anatomy and Physiology. He received his PhD in biological sciences in September 2023. The topic of his dissertation concerned the influence of PPAR-gamma ligands on the regulation of the immune response in the endometrium of pigs with LPS-induced inflammation.

He is currently PI of the research project entitled "Extracellular vesicles as mediators of intercellular communication in an organism exposed to PET microplastics – multi-omic studies in domestic pig model". This research aims to determine the effects of polyethylene terephthalate (PET) microplastics (one of the most commonly used plastics) on the content of EVs isolated from selected body fluids (blood, bile, and urine), as well as the transcriptomic, proteomic, and metabolomic profile of tissues (liver and kidney) that are the main source of EVs in bile and urine. Research will be conducted using high throughput methods such as RNA-Seq/Small RNA-Seq for transcriptome analysis and liquid chromatography/tandem mass spectrometry (LC-MS/MS) for proteome and metabolome analysis.

On the 31st of January part of our team co-organized and took part in Networking Seminar "One Health Unveiled: Bridging the Gaps for Global Well-being“  in Brussels. 

Scientists from the universities of Estonia, Finland, and Italy spoke at a seminar titled "One Health Unveiled: Bridging the Gaps for Global Well-being" in Brussels today. They explained that compromising the health of animals can also compromise human health, and thus, we must take care of animal health as well. The seminar, organized by the Estonian University of Life Sciences and the ETAG - Estonian Research Council, took place at the Permanent Representation of Estonia to the EU. During the seminar, it was recognized that Estonia has unique advantages in creating a regional One Health Excellence Centre. 

More information here: https://www.emu.ee/en/about-the-university/news/uudis/2024/02/01/the-idea-of-a-unified-health-center-of-excellence-received-the-support-of-cooperation-partners-in-brussels/

On the 22nd of January, we attended the online guest lecture on the topic of "Lipid mediators in acute inflammation and its resolution – what, when and where?" presented by Dr Minna Holopainen from the University of Helsinki!

Minna Holopainen received her doctoral degree in Physiology and Neuroscience from the University of Helsinki in 2020. Her research topic was related to the immunomodulation of mesenchymal stromal cells, their extracellular vesicles and their (Metabo)lipidomics. She conducted the research at the Finnish Red Cross Blood Service and also started working at the Helsinki University Lipidomics Unit (HiLIPID) in 2018. Currently, she is a postdoctoral researcher at HiLIPID and runs the lipidomics core facility services and method development.

On November 29th and January 15th, we attended workshops on Data Management hosted by Data Support experts from the University of Helsinki & EMU. The workshops covered important topics such as the significance of research data management, data ownership and user rights, and documentation of research data. During the meeting, participants also worked on case studies to apply their new knowledge. 

The event was the element of the Best Practice Transfer from the University of Helsinki.

The speakers were:

On the 10th of January, we had the pleasure of attending an inspiring webinar hosted by the Una Europa Helsinki team members. 

The webinar focused on providing an overview of the Una Europa alliance and exploring the strategic approach to fostering One Health initiatives. During the session, we gained invaluable insights into the history, structure, and work system of Una Europa:

• Melissa Plath: Aims and structure of Una Europa

• Elina Tonteri: Writing a joint research strategy

• Anna-Leena Riitaoja: Promoting diversity and inclusion

• Topi Tanskanen: Case example: Building the One Health focus area

We are grateful for the opportunity to learn from the experts who shared their knowledge and expertise with us.

The event was the element of the Best Practice Transfer from the University of Helsinki.