The HUMAN-Bio project consists of 3 thematic sections lead by our team leaders:
HUMAN-Build
Assistant Prof. Heidi Haikala
Faculty of Medicine
FIMM/HiLIFE
Cancer biology & in-vitro modeling
Associate Prof.
Visa A. J. Kurki
Faculty of Law
Animal Law
Biomaterials chemistry
Prof. Robert Luxenhofer
Faculty of Science
Bioethics
PhD Candidate Tero Ijäs
Faculty of Social Sciences
Dr. Anna Leopold
Medicum, Faculty of Medicine
Synthetic biology and optogenetics
Non-animal models & 3R principles
Dr. Johanna Englund
Institute of Biotechnology /HiLIFE
HUMAN-Law
HUMAN-Ethos
Learn more about our teams
Englundlab
Institute of Biotechnology, HiLIFE, University of Helsinki
We are focused on investigating how extracellular matrix (ECM) composition, organization, and dynamics regulate epithelial tissue architecture and tumor microenvironment during breast cancer initiation and progression. To the HUMAN-Bio project our team brings expertise on 3D organotypic tissue models and novel, animal-free culture systems as well as advanced imaging and image analysis.
Members of the lab involved in the HUMAN-Bio project:
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Johanna Englund, PhD, Principal investigator
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Amy Nyberg, MSc, PhD researcher
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Mahsa Vousghifar, BSc, undergraduate student
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Ali Hashmi, PhD, bioinformatician
Learn more about us and our work
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Pally, D.* ; Englund JI*.; Naba, A.Understanding and targeting the tumour matrisome, Nat. Rev. Clin. Oncol., in press, (2026)
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Vuorenpää H. & Englund JI.,“Eläinkokeettomien menetelmien rooli lääketieteen tutkimuksessa ja lääkekehityksessä” (”Non-animal methods in biomedical research and drug development”) Duodecim 11/2026 https://www.duodecimlehti.fi/duo19421 (2026) review article, in Finnish
HaikaLab
FIMM & TRIMM, Faculty of Medicine, University of Helsinki & MET Faculty, Tampere University
Our research is dedicated to advancing novel targeted and immunotherapeutic combination strategies to improve clinical outcomes for patients with lung cancer. The central focus of our work is to elucidate the complex spatial organization and intercellular interactions within the tumor microenvironment, with particular emphasis on the dynamic interplay between tumor and stroma to uncover the cellular mechanisms that shape tumor progression and therapeutic response. We further translate these patient-derived insights into physiologically relevant, fully human experimental models in the laboratory. Within the HUMAN-Bio project, we contribute expertise in spatial transcriptomics and intercellular communication, the development of innovative functional assays, and the establishment of fully human models for high-throughput therapeutic screening.
Members of the involved in HUMAN-Bio Project:
• Heidi Haikala, PhD/MBA, Principal Investigator
• Elena Kremneva, PhD, Research Coordinator
• Sameer Kumar Panda, PhD, PostDoc Researcher
• Bassel Alsaed, MSc, PhD Researcher
• Lilja Lahtinen, MSc, Research Technician
• Iiris Sipari, MSc, Research Technician & HUMAN-Bio Project Coordinator
Learn more about us at our website.