Guillaume Jacquemet – Associate Professor (Tenure-Track, InFLAMES & Solutions for Health) at the Faculty of Science and Engineering.
Dr. Jacquemet specialized in Cell Biology, Cancer Biology, and microscopy techniques, including super-resolution imaging, live cell imaging, and image analysis. The primary aim of his research group is to study how cancer cells disseminate through the body to find new solutions to treat metastatic cancers. In addition, Jacquemet’s lab continuously develops image analysis tools and imaging technologies to push the boundaries of what is possible to study in cells and in vivo. Dr. Jacquemet earned his Ph.D. in Biochemistry in 2013 from the University of Manchester. From January 2014 to August 2019, Jacquemet worked as a postdoctoral fellow in the laboratory of Prof. Ivaska (University of Turku) to study the role of filopodia during cancer cell migration. During that time, he was funded by an EMBO long-term fellowship and an Academy of Finland Postdoctoral Fellowship. Jacquemet started his laboratory at ÅAU in 2019 and became an Academy of Finland Research Fellow in 2021. In 2021, Jacquemet won the Turku Cancer Research Society Young Investigator Prize. Jaquemet started his joint associate professorship (tenure-track) between Solutions for Health and the Flagship InFLAMES in September 2022.
Tapani Viitala – Professor in Novel Drug Formulations (FinPharma) joint between the Faculty of Science and Engineering, Åbo Akademi University and Faculty of Pharmacy, University of Helsinki.
Dr. Viitala received his PhD in 1999 from the Department of Physical Chemistry at Åbo Akademi University. After this, he worked 10 years at KSV Instruments Ltd/Biolin Scientific Oy, a company providing high-tech, precision analytical instruments for nanoscale study of interfaces. He returned to academia in January 2010 as a senior researcher at University of Helsinki and held an Academy Research Fellow position between August 2010 – July 2015. Viitala has an extensive background in experimental studies and physico-chemical characterization of surfaces, interfaces, nanoscale layers and particle materials in close connection to material science, biophysics and nanotechnology. His research group focuses on utilizing model surfaces, living cells, nanoscience and –technology, and various physico-chemical real-time and/or label-free characterization techniques (e.g., surface plasmon resonance, quartz crystal microbalance and time-resolved Raman spectroscopy) in combination with well-established tools in life sciences to improve the mechanistic understanding of drug and nanoparticle action and delivery. He has published approx. 100 internationally peer-reviewed articles and 3 patents. Viitala started his position as a full professor in New Drug Formulations (position shared between Åbo Akademi University and University of Helsinki) within the FinPharma network in September 2021.
Hongbo Zhang – Professor in Functional Biomaterials in Pharmacy (Drug Development and Diagnostics) at the Faculty of Science and Engineering.
Dr. Zhang has a multidisciplinary background that is clearly reflected in his research activities. He did his Bachelor’s in Biology (Fudan University, China), Master’s in Biotechnology (University of Helsinki), PhD in Pharmaceutical Chemistry (University of Helsinki) and Postdoc (Harvard University, USA) on functional materials and bioengineering. In 2016, he was recruited to ÅAU as a tenure-track Assistant Professor within the strategic profiling area preceding Solutions for Health, i.e. Drug Development and Diagnostics, and established his own research group at ÅAU. Already in 2018, he advanced to Associate Professor and is also Guest Professor at Ruijin Hospital (the biggest hospital in Shanghai, China. He was an Academy of Finland Postdoctoral Researcher between 2016-2019 and is currently an AoF Research Fellow (2019-2024). His multidisciplinary research group consists of four visiting scholars, a business champion, four postdocs and 21 registered PhD students; aiming to design functional materials for biomedical and clinical applications. By September 2022, he had published more than 150 papers in e.g., Nature Communications, Science Advances, PNAS, Cell Reports, and Advanced Materials, with an h-index of 49, and 6600 citations (September 2022). Further, he holds 4 patents in China, and have filed 2 Finnish patents in August 2021 and 2 international patents in August 2022. Zhang is currently leading both Academy of Finland and Business Finland funded projects and is a PI within the Flagship InFLAMES.