Areas of expertise
Biography
I have made my MSc in Biochemistry in 1993 and obtained my PhD in 1999 in the University of Turku. For 2000-2002 I worked as a Marie Curie Fellow in the University of Umeå. I returned back to University of Turku to work as a postdoctoral researcher at the Department of Medical Biochemistry and Genetics and continued there as a University Teacher. In 2007-2008 I made a short visit to industry and worked as a Visiting Scientist at Valio Ltd. Adjunct professorship I received in 2008. Since 2018 I have worked as a Laboratory Manager at the Institute of Dentistry.
Research
My research consists studies on the role of saliva in the control of oral and oro-pharyngeal microbiota. Saliva contains a plethora of components that regulate oral microbiota. Activity and amount of these components differ between individuals. The main focus of our research is on identification of the nature and functions of these molecules and exploring their individual variations.