The Leppä group consists of a multidisciplinary group of skilled and motivated scientists and supportive personnel.
People
Sirpa Leppä
Principal Investigator, MD, Professor
I am principal investigator in the group and a professor of clinical oncology. Apart from being a group leader, I work as a chief physician of the Clinical Trial Unit at the Department of Oncology of the Helsinki University Hospital Comprehensive Cancer Center. I believe that combination of clinical and molecular approaches is pivotal in understanding resistance mechanisms and prognosis and to discover new tools for optimal cancer therapies.
Marko Hyytiäinen
PhD, Docent
My background is in biochemistry and cell biology, and translational/basic cancer research. I work as a senior scientist in the laboratory, and my research focuses on the determination of consequences of patient derived mutations on cellular signaling pathways.
Suvi-Katri Leivonen
PhD, Docent
I am a senior scientist with expertise in molecular and cellular cancer biology. My research interests include the molecular mechanisms behind treatment resistance of B-cell lymphoma. Currently, I am characterizing the tumor immune microenvironment and its impact on lymphoma survival.
MD, PhD, Post-doctoral fellow
I am a medical oncologist focused on lymphomas, testicular cancer and osteosarcoma. My research interests include the biological mechanisms of testicular lymphoma and its tendency of central nervous system homing. Additionally, I’m interested in the molecular biology of testicular cancer with the aim of reducing treatment toxicity.
Annika Pasanen
MD, PhD, Post-doctoral fellow
I am a specialist in oncology and my main research focus is on genetic alterations and prognostic biological factors of diffuse large B-cell lymphomas. I am also involved in conducting clinical lymphoma trials with novel and risk-adapted therapies.
Marjukka Pollari
MD, PhD, Post-doctoral fellow
I am a specialist in oncology. My research projects focus on the tumor microenvironment of diffuse large B-cell lymphoma.
Kristiina Karihtala
MD, PhD student
I am a medical oncologist and working in the Helsinki University Hospital Comprehensive Cancer Center. My study focuses on clinical and biological prognostic factors in primary and relapsed Hodgkin lymphoma. I am especially interested in the composition of the tumor microenvironment, the interactions between neoplastic and benign cells therein, and the immunological mechanisms associating with the treatment resistance.
Heli Vajavaara
MD, PhD student
I am a medical oncologist and my special interests are survival-associated signaling pathways and soluble factors in diffuse large B-cell lymphoma.
Pauli Vähämurto
MD, PhD
Patients suffering from extranodal lymphomas are close to my heart. I'm trying to find new prognostic factors for extranodal diffuse large B-cell lymphomas that could help us better understand lymphoma biology and lead to more personalized treatment. I'm also radiology resident at the Helsinki University hospital.
Matias Autio
MD, PhD student
My research focuses on tumor microenvironment of diffuse large B-cell lymphoma. I am interested in immunological factors that have an impact on patient survival.
Leo Meriranta
MD, PhD student
My projects integrate genetic alterations of diffuse large B-cell lymphoma with clinical and biological characteristics of the disease. These projects aim to recognize clinically relevant mutations from patient plasma (ctDNA sequencing) and elucidate their functional impact on drug resistance and molecular pathogenesis of the disease.
Bachelor of Laboratory Services
I started working in the Lymphoma Biology and Survival Group at the end of 2009 as a laboratory technician.
Marja-Liisa Karjalainen-Lindsberg
MD, Docent, Pathology consultant
PhD thesis:
Pauli Vähämurto: Aggressive B-cell lymphomas of sinonasal tract and testis — clinical manifestations and treatment outcome (2020). E-thesis
Marjukka Pollari: Testicular Diffuse Large B-cell Lymphoma; Prognostic Clinical, Molecular, and Immunological Factors (2019). E-thesis
Sari Riihijärvi: Host and tumour related prognostic factors in diffuse large B-cell lymphoma (2016). E-thesis
Minna Taskinen: Prognostic impact of tumor microenvironment in follicular lymphoma patients treated with immunochemotherapy (2011). E-thesis
Heidi Nyman: Prognostic molecular factors and algorithms in diffuse large B-cell lymphoma (2010). E-thesis
Risto Kajanne: EGF-R and AP-1 interplay: In vivo and in vitro studies (2009). E-thesis
Antti Sommarhem: Resistance mechanisms of non-Hodgkin lymphomas against rituximab treatment (2007). E-thesis
Minna Eriksson: AP-1 transcription factor in cell differentiation and survival (2005). E-thesis
Master's thesis:
Miia Huhtala: Luokan II ß-tubuliinin vaihtoehtoisen silmukoitumisen rooli diffuusissa suurisoluisessa B-solulymfoomassa (2012)
Maria Pöyhönen: Mikroympäristön merkitys non-Hodgkin-lymfoomissa (2010)
Satu Koivula (2009)
Minna Pietikäinen (2008)