Postdoctoral Researcher Usevalad Ustsinau is working at the Turku PET Centre to explore the interplay between ageing, obesity, and type 2 diabetes, and how they affect metabolism in the liver, heart, and adipose tissues. His findings could lead to a better understanding of metabolic health and how it can be maintained in different circumstances.
Read more on the University of Turku website.
Senior Researcher Jiawei Yang is working on an exercise-aware wearable that uses AI to detect worsening heart failure. He wants to create a device that could save lives and money by detecting worsening heart failure at an early stage, making it possible for the wearer to seek medical help early. Read more on the University of Turku website.
SYS-LIFE Postdoctoral Researcher Julian Brandmeier wants to improve Alzheimer’s and Parkinson’s diagnostics and facilitate earlier detection of these diseases. The goal of his research is to enable wide screening for these diseases by creating ultrasensitive immunoassays, which make it possible to detect neurodegenerative biomarkers in blood samples. Read more on the University of Turku website.
The Marie Curie Alumni Association Finland Chapter held its first in-person meeting on March 14 in Turku co-organized by SYS-LIFE at the University of Turku and the alumni association. The inaugural event aimed to strengthen the MCAA community in Finland, encourage collaboration between Finnish institutions and highlight the research, experiences and career journeys of the Marie Curie fellows and alumni.
The event was opened by Chair of the Marie Curie Alumni Association Finland Chapter Cristina Florea from the University of Eastern Finland. SYS-LIFE’s project manager, Eeva Rainio spoke briefly about University of Turku and presented the SYS-LIFE programme.
Later during the day, the alumni had lightning talks and presentations about their own projects. The event concluded with networking and future MCAA Finland chapter activities planning.
More about the alumni association at: ABOUT.
SYS-LIFE researchers practised media interview skills and discussed equality and multicultural workplaces during a training session on Monday, 23 February. Read more on the University of Turku website.
More than 60 MSCA COFUND fellows, programme staff and network partners gathered on 23 October 2025 for the Turku City Welcome Event for MSCA COFUND Fellows. The celebration took place at Restaurant Brunndeli at Aboa Vetus Ars Nova and highlighted the growing international research community in Turku.
Celebration of Talent and Collaboration
The evening began with a toast of sparkling wine, followed by a welcome address from Sinikka Valtonen, Director of Human Resources at the City of Turku.
She emphasised the City’s strong commitment to supporting international researchers and fostering a truly global research environment in Turku.
The University of Turku’s Vice Rector Piia Seppänen then introduced the University’s MSCA COFUND programmes and highlighted how many professionals across the University contribute to their administration and success.
Presentation of COFUND Programmes
Programme Directors from all six MSCA COFUND programmes introduced their initiatives and shared highlights from their activities:
Reflections from SYS-LIFE
In his remarks, Vice Director Georges Kazan summarised key achievements from the SYS-LIFE programme. He highlighted that SYS-LIFE had completed its second and final selection round, welcoming eleven new fellows and forming a vibrant international research community in medicine, biomedicine and behavioural sciences.
He noted that the University of Turku now hosts six active MSCA COFUND programmes, which together have recruited approximately 120 outstanding researchers worldwide through rigorous international peer review. These programmes advance the shared goal of the University and the City of Turku to attract and nurture top-level global talent.
Kazan also underlined the University’s Research Collegia model—based on the tradition of the Princeton Institute for Advanced Study—as a foundation for excellence, interdisciplinary exchange and societal impact.
He thanked the University, the City of Turku, Business Turku and the Turku University Foundation for their support, and acknowledged the dedicated work of the project teams behind the COFUND programmes.
Networking and Community Building
The evening concluded with networking over drinks and light snacks, giving fellows the opportunity to connect across disciplines, share experiences and strengthen collaboration within the growing Turku research community.
This article was prepared with the assistance of Microsoft Copilot.
After a busy autumn, SYS-LIFE would like to wish everyone happy holidays! We want to kindly thank our community for the inspiring collaboration throughout the year and wish everybody a joyful and restful season, as well as, a bright start to the year 2026.
SYS-LIFE Training, 26 September 2025
SYS-LIFE fellows, together with researchers from the TCSMT Collegium, gathered for a full-day training session focused on the intersections of science policy and research impact. The event welcomed doctoral and postdoctoral researchers and featured contributions from leading experts to inspire dialogue on science policy and impact.
Programme Highlights
Photograph courtesy of Maiju Kannisto
On 1 September, Research Executive Agency Representative Marc Patuzzo visited Turku for the Mid Term Review Meeting of the SYS-LIFE Programme, part of the EU-funded COFUND scheme. The visit included presentations by the management team and Fellows, covering the programme’s scientific rationale, training, communication, and ethics. Fellows also had the opportunity for individual discussions with the PO.
The review meeting acknowledged the University of Turku’s commendable management of the SYS-LIFE Programme. Researchers reported a positive experience, with the training programme exceeding expectations and showing strong potential to positively impact their careers. The coordination team was described as approachable, friendly, and helpful, with ongoing development efforts well appreciated.
Photograph courtesy of Minna Säkkinen
25 Aug (Turku): Ethics first. The week opened in Lecture Hall Dent2 with a deep dive into research integrity: Prof. Veikko Launis unpacked “therapeutic misconception,” followed by Sanni Helander on the University of Turku’s Citizen Research Panel. After lunch, Prof. Sanna Salanterä outlined UTU’s health-science ethics review, Sunna Rannikko introduced the regional Ethics Committee and a hands-on workshop touching on Finland’s Act on the Secondary Use of Health and Social Data (led by Prof. Teemu Niiranen). Fellows revisited the ethics self-assessment, and the day ended with a short orientation that set the stage for the days ahead.
26 Aug (Turku to Stockholm): The SYS-LIFE cohort met at the Viking Line terminal and turned the Viking Glory crossing from Turku to Stockholm into a floating seminar that featured rapid 10-minute practice talks, EU reporting, data management planning in Tuuli, career-development plans, and dissemination via Webropol punctuated by a buffet lunch and some free time before docking in Stockholm and checking in at the Elite Palace Hotel.
27 Aug (Stockholm to Linköping): Karolinska Institutet & University of Turku joint Cardiometabolic symposium. At Karolinska Institutet’s BioClinicum, the SYS-LIFE and KIRCNET networks joined for a lively session with presentations by Assoc. Prof. Zhichao Zhou from KI who presented on ‘Overview of cardiovascular research and KIRCNET network at Karolinska’ and Prof. Carolina Hagberg who presented on ‘metabolic and diabetes research and the SRP Diabetes strategic research program at Karolinska’ before the director of SYS-LIFE Prof. Markus Juonala presented on ‘cardiometabolic research at University of Turku with focus on long-term follow-up studies’, and Vice Director Docent Georges Kazan gave a wonderful presentation on the ‘SYS-LIFE postdoc program’. The technical sessions included presentations by KI colleagues and SYS-LIFErs Oluwafemi Ojo, Suman Vimal, Yaxing Meng, Mika Ogawa (remote), Li-Fang Yeo and Nitin Bayal. The participants exchanged ideas and methods that cut across fields and sectors. After the presentations, there was a light refreshment and informal interactions. The agenda echoed the programme’s wider view before going on a tour of KI, where we all visited sites where Nobel lectures are delivered and then bused to Linköping for the night at Quality Hotel Ekoxen.
28 Aug (Linköping Day): Introduction to the Swedish Cardiopulmonary Bioimage Study (SCAPIS). At Linköping, Carl Johan Östgren gave an overview of SCAPIS, Joel Hedlund introduced AIDA, and SYS-LIFE Director Prof. Markus Juonala gave a wonderful presentation on UTU’s long-term cardiometabolic cohort research. The vice-director of SYS-LIFE Docent Georges Kazan presented the SYS-LIFE postdoc programme, and an afternoon joint session featured talks from SYS-LIFErs Jarkko Johansson, David Molnar, Dattatray Mongad and Jiawei Yang alongside SCAPIS/AIDA colleagues. After a campus walk and onsite lunch, the group headed back to the terminal for the night crossing to Turku.
29 Aug (Turku): Tying it together. Docking at 07:35, fellows closed with a breakfast seminar where we discussed the summer-school highlights, “Nick’s Food Design” reflections, photo sharing, and next programmes, including PO visit orientation, were discussed.
Oluwafemi Ojo is SYS-LIFE Researcher. His work has been co-funded by the European Union´s Horizon Europe Framework programme for research and innovation 2021-2027 under the Marie Skłodowska-Curie grant agreement No 101126611. Views and opinions expressed are however those of the author only and do not necessarily reflect those of the European Union or REA. Neither the European Union nor the granting authority can be held responsible for them.
Images used in this article courtesy of:
Karolinska Institutet (first image)
Markus Juonala (second and third image)
Oluwafemi Ojo (forth image)
