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Areas of expertise
Biography
Pekka Taimen received his MD degree from the University of Turku in 2001 and defended his thesis at the Department of Pathology, University of Turku in 2004. In 2008-2009 PT worked as a postdoctoral fellow in the laboratory of Prof. Robert D. Goldman, Northwestern University Medical School, Chicago. Postdoctoral studies focusing on nuclear intermediate filament proteins called lamins were further continued as a junior group leader after returning back to Turku in early 2010. In 2011 PT received a specialist degree in Pathology and since then he has worked as a part-time specialist at the Pathology Division, Turku University Hospital with special focus on uropathology. From 2012 PT has worked as a Clinical lecturer in Pathology and between 2015-2019 as a part-time Academy of Finland Clinical Researcher. PT was appointed as a tenure track Assistant Professor of Molecular Pathology in January 2019 and an Associate Professor in August 2020. In January 2022, PT was appointed as a Professor of Molecular Pathology and he currently serves as the head of the pathology unit at the Faculty of Medicine, University of Turku.
Teaching
Pekka Taimen has more than 10 years of experience in teaching medical students at the Institute of Biomedicine, University of Turku. He has served first as a university teacher and from 2012 as a clinical lecturer. In 2015 PT received the Lecturer of the Year award in the Faculty of Medicine.
Research
Professor Pekka Taimen has 20 years of experience in cell and molecular biology as well as in translational research. The main focus of his research group is on human diseases caused by lamin mutations, such as cardiomyopathies and premature aging syndrome. More recently, PT has also actively worked on prostate and bladder cancer related projects including novel biomarkers, biobanking, patient derived cell lines and improved imaging techniques utilizing digital pathology and machine learning approaches.