Research Groups and R&D Platforms: Basic research

Picture of Mark S. Johnson

Research Group:
Structural bioinformatics for drug discovery and development

Mark S. Johnson
finmark54 at icloud dot com

Biochemistry,
Åbo Akademi University

Mark S. Johnson

Structural Bioinformatics Laboratory

Ageing-related diseases, Autoimmune diseases, Basic research, Biochemistry, Bioinformatics, Biomolecular chemistry, Biopharmaceuticals, Biotechnology, Cancer, Chemical Physics, Computer Science, Diabetes, Drug target, Hit to lead, Inflammation, Inherited diseases, Lead optimization, Lung cancer, Medicinal chemistry, Metabolic diseases, Molecular modelling, Musculoskeletal disorders, Nucleic acids, Organic compounds, Pattern recognition, Personalized medicine, Physico-chemical properties, Preclinical development, Receptor, Signaling, Structural Biology, Surface area, Target discovery, X-ray crystallography

Research Group:
Bio-Organic Chemistry

Tuomas Lönnberg
tuanlo[at]utu.fi

Department of Chemistry,
University of Turku

Tuomas Lönnberg

Bioorganic Group

Basic research, Biomolecular chemistry, Diagnostics, Fluorescence spectroscopy, Hit to lead, In Vitro Diagnostics, Lead optimization, NMR, Nucleic acids, Organic Chemistry, Organic compounds, Synthetic chemistry

Research Group:
Molecular mechanisms of diseases

Ulla Pentikäinen
ulla.pentikainen[at]utu.fi

Institute of Biomedicine,
University of Turku

Ulla Pentikäinen

Basic research, Bioinformatics, Biomedicine, Biomolecular chemistry, Cancer, Cardiovascular diseases, Developmental disorders, Medicinal chemistry, Molecular modelling, NMR, Structural Biology, Target discovery, X-ray crystallography

R&D Platform:
Turku BioImaging

Turku BioImaging, TBI (www.bioimaging.fi), is an umbrella organization for “all things imaging” in Turku, jointly operated by Åbo Akademi University and the University of Turku. TBI was initiated in 2007 as a broad-based, interdisciplinary imaging consortium that aims at bringing together all biological and medical imaging expertise in Turku and elsewhere in Finland. In 2017, Turku BioImaging is celebrating its journey of 10 years, from a small 2-person unit to a large, fully functioning organization.

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Atomic-force microscopy, Basic research, Clinical development, Diagnostics, Electron microscopy, FTIR or RAMAN microscopy, High throughput imaging, Imaging, Imaging software, In Vivo Diagnostics, PET, Preclinical development, R&D Platforms, Super-resolution imaging, Ultrasound imaging

R&D Platform:
Turku Metabolomics Centre

The Turku Metabolomics Centre (TMC) was established in the Fall of 2017, and currently comprises four analytical laboratories on the University of Turku and Åbo Academy campuses, with the primary focus on biomedical and clinical applications. TMC covers a broad range of analytical methods, useful for discovery studies, hypothesis-driven targeted studies as well as clinical applications in Good Laboratory Practice (GLP) setting. The methods include:

1. Targeted quantitative analyses by mass spectrometry (MS) of specific groups of metabolites, e.g. bile acids, endocannabinoids, amino acids, eicosanoids.

2. Global profiling of molecular lipids (lipidomics) and polar metabolites.

3. Diagnostic, drug metabolism and pharmacokinetic applications in Good Laboratory Practice (GLP) setting.

4. Tissue metabolomics by Nuclear Magnetic Resonance (NMR).

5. How dietary intake affects blood metabolism.

TMC infrastructure currently includes 7 MS instruments (2 x UHPLC-QTRAP/QqQ-MS, 2 x UHPLC-QqQ-MS, 1 x GC-QqQ-MS, 2 x GC-QMS) and 2 NMR instruments (1 x 600 MHz and 1 x 400 MHz). The 400 MHz spectrometer is equipped with a high resolution magic angle spinning probe for the detection of metabolites in tissue and cell samples without the need for extensive sample preparation. The 600MHz instrument is equipped with a cooled sample handling robot with space for 300 samples allowing high throughput liquid NMR studies. Two new MS instruments also being purchased this year.

Metabolomics

Basic research, Bioinformatics, Diagnostics, In Vitro Diagnostics, Machine learning, Metabolomics, NMR, Pattern recognition, R&D Platforms, Systems Biology, Target discovery

Picture of John Eriksson

Research Group:
Cytoskeletal and survival signaling

John Eriksson
john.eriksson[at]abo.fi

Turku Bioscience Centre &
Cell Biology, Faculty of Science and Engineering,
Åbo Akademi University

John Eriksson

Cytoskeletal and survival signaling

Atomic-force microscopy, Basic research, Biochemistry, Cancer, Diabetes, Diagnostics, Electron microscopy, High throughput imaging, Imaging, In Vitro Diagnostics, Metabolic diseases, Molecular Biology, Molecular Cell Biology, Nanoparticles, Natural Compounds, Natural products, Physiology, Proteomics, Receptor, Signaling, Super-resolution imaging, Target discovery