iCANDOC national get-together 2025

Cancer data science

Olavi Goussev, University of Helsinki: Pan-cancer modeling of distal regulatory network rewiring. Primary Supervisor, Mariike Kuijjer.

Anni Heinolainen, University of Helsinki: Deep learning methods on 100,000 cancer patients to identify subpopulations with different outcomes. Primary Supervisor, Risto Renkonen.

Panos Sarantidis, University of Helsinki: Precision Network Medicine for Cancer Patient Stratification. Primary Supervisor, Mariike Kuijjer.

Henri Sundquist, University of Helsinki: Computational Cytomorphology Analysis in Hematological Malignancies. Primary Supervisor, Oscar Brück.

Depin Wang, University of Helsinki: Characterizing the role of alternative splicing in human diseases through an integrative computational pipeline. Primary Supervisor, Ping Chen.

Immuno-oncology and Tumor microenvironment

Md Nasir Uddin Badal, University of Turku: The impact of physical exercise on extracellular vesicle dynamics in B cell lymphoma patients and healthy individuals. Primary Supervisor, Saara Hämälistö.

Yvonne Giannoula, University of Helsinki: Exploiting Cellular Senescence to Enhance Precision Oncolytic Immunotherapy. Primary Supervisor, Vincenzo Cerullo.

Georgia Vasiliki Gkountana, University of Helsinki: Uncovering the immunosuppressive roles of IDO1 and oral microbiome in HNSCC. Primary Supervisor, Ahmed Al-Samadi.

Priyal Dhawan, University of Helsinki: Functional Role of Tumor-derived Extracellular Matrix in Breast Cancer Initiation and Treatment. Primary Supervisor, Johanna Englund.

Jenni Keränen, University of Tampere: 3D hydrogel system for studying cancer invasion. Primary Supervisor, Vesa Hytönen.

Translational cancer biology, Novel research methods, other

Karina Šapovalovaitė, University of Helsinki: Identification of novel MYC synthetic lethal mitochondrial pathways to overcome treatment resistance of breast cancer. Primary Supervisor, Juha Klefström.

Srividhya Sundaresan, University of Helsinki: Leveraging Endogenous DNA Damage in Therapy resistant ovarian cancer. Primary Supervisor, Liisa Kauppi.

Kavya Kalpana Ganesh, University of Helsinki: From Neurons to Neoplasms: Bridging Neurodevelopmental Mechanisms and Cancer Pathology through Advanced Cellular Imaging. Primary Supervisor, Helena Kilpinen.

Julia Rosenqvist, University of Helsinki: Model-based precision dosing of fluoropyrimidine anticancer drugs. Primary Supervisor, Mikko Niemi.

Egemen Sahin, University of Helsinki: Targeting MID1 against solid tumors. Primary Supervisor, Erik Wallen.

Translational cancer biology

#4 Uladzislau Vadadokhau, University of Helsinki: Identification of promising drug combinations and their protein targets in acute lymphoblastic leukemia. Primary Supervisor, Mohieddin Jafari.

#5 Elsi Pöllänen, University of Helsinki: Precision oncology targets in ovarian cancer using multimodal data. Primary Supervisor, Sampsa Hautaniemi.

#6 Iris Purma, University of Turku: Single-Cell Multi-Omics Identifies Growth Signaling and Survival Mechanisms in BRAF-Mutant Melanoma Resistance. Primary Supervisor, Otto Kauko.

Cancer genomics

#13 Samuel Leppiniemi, University of Helsinki: Discovery of chemotherapy resistance driving in ovarian cancer using pan-QTL approach and AI. Primary Supervisor, Sampsa Hautaniemi.

Immuno-oncology

#16 Akshatha Gowri Kalavathi Shivakumar, University of Eastern Finland: Role of NRF2 in tumor immunity in NSCLC. Primary Supervisor, Anna-Liisa Levonen-Harju.

#17 Paolo Bottega, University of Helsinki: Pepti-Phage: A Bacterial Approach to Personalized Cancer Treatment via Tumor Peptide-Decorated Phage Treatment. Primary Supervisor, Vincenzo Cerullo.

Cancer biomarkers

#18 Outi Hasu, University of Helsinki: Tumor microenvironment and tumor cell plasticity in prostate cancer: Uncovering Novel Biomarkers for Enhanced Patient Stratification. Primary Supervisor, Teijo Pellinen.

#19 Caroline Högel-Starck, University of Helsinki; Epigenetic biomarkers for classification, diagnosis, and
treatment of pediatric solid tumors. Primary Supervisor, Vilja Pietiäinen.

Novel treatments and trials

#26 Anni Lantta: University of Helsinki: The impact of birch-derived dietary fiber and polyphenols on intestinal tumorigenesis in the colorectal cancer (Apcfl/fl) mouse model. Primary Supervisor, Anne-Maria Pajari.

#27 Arina Värä, University of Helsinki: Boron neutron capture therapy induced immune responses and novel opportunities for combination therapy in head and neck squamous cell carcinoma of head and neck. Primary Supervisor, Outi Monni.

Other

#31 Diana Barakhtii, University of Helsinki: Development of novel boron delivery agents for Boron Neutron Capture Therapy (BNCT). Primary Supervisor, Filip Ekholm.

#32 Sara Peltola, University of Turku: The NRG1/ERBB axis as a potential target to prevent targeted cancer therapy resistance. Primary Supervisor, Klaus Elenius.

#33 Jenni Rapakko, University of Tampere: SRSF3 shapes the structure and processing of miR-17-92 cluster in colorectal cancer. Primary Supervisor, Minna-Liisa Änkö.