Riikka Lund profile picture
Riikka
Lund
Docent, Institute of Biomedicine
Research Director, Turku Bioscience Centre

Areas of expertise

Epigenomics
genomics
transcriptomics
pluripotent stem cells
biomedicine
development
aging
molecular mechanisms of diseases
next-generation sequencing
genome-wide methods

Biography

Riikka Lund is a Reseach Director (10 %) at the Turku Bioscience Centre and works also as a Senior Scientist, Bioinformatics, at Orion. She completed her M.Sc. degree in 2001 with a major in genetics at the Department of Biology, Faculty of Mathematics and Natural Sciences, University of Turku, Finland. She carried out part of her studies at the Royal Melbourne institute of Technology, Australia. She gained her PhD in 2004 in Molecular Immunology and Medical Genetics at the Faculty of Medicine, University of Turku. She did her postdoc at the Centre for Stem Cell Biology, University of Sheffield in 2007-2008 with the focus on understanding genomic stability of pluripotent stem cells. In addition, to develop her expertise and update her skills in the latest technologies and research methods, she has carried out several short visits to national and international units (e.g. 2018 University of Southern Denmark; 2013 Broad Institute, USA; 2011 Diagenode, Belgium; 2009, 2006 University of Sheffied, UK; 2005 University of California, USA; 2002 Affymetrix, USA; 2001 Deutches Rheuma-Forschungszentrum, Germany). In 2013 she was awarded with the Millenium Distinct Technology Award for her contributions in stem cell research. In 2014 she become Adjunct Professor in Molecular Biology in the faculty of Medicine, University of Turku. In 2013-2022 she worked as the head of Finnish Functional Genomics Centre, a functional genomics core facility operating in Turku, Finland. In addition, she lead the Biomedical Epigenomics research group and was engaged in teaching. She has also been co-PI in the Biocenter Finland Genome-wide methods platform (https://www.biocenter.fi/index.php/technology-platform-services/genome-wide-methods), in 2016-2022 was a co-director of the Computational and Molecular Methodologies for Life Sciences (CompLifeSci) Biocity Turku Research Programme and has served in many other international expertise task, such as editorial board member of Scientific Reports journal.

Teaching

Epigenomics; genomics; transcriptomics; next-generation sequencing; stem cells and regenerative medicine. 

Research

Biomedical Epigenomics group run by Lund exploits the latest technologies and cutting-edge methods to study genome function during early human development, aging and in diseases. The aim of the research is to understand how genetic and environmental factors influence development and health status of an individual and to reveal the molecular mechanisms of disease development. Furthermore, the goal is to find novel type of disease marker candidates and targets for drug development. By providing novel innovative approaches enabling prediction, early diagnosis and efficient precision treatment of diseases the ultimate goal of this research is to promote lifelong health.

Publications

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Early DNA methylation changes in children developing beta cell autoimmunity at a young age (2022)

Diabetologia
Starskaia Inna, Laajala Essi, Grönroos Toni, Härkönen Taina, Junttila Sini, Kattelus Roosa, Kallionpää Henna, Laiho Asta, Suni Veronika, Tillmann Vallo, Lund Riikka, Elo Laura L. Lähdesmäki Harri, Knip Mikael, Kalim Ubaid Ullah, Lahesmaa Riitta
(Vertaisarvioitu alkuperäisartikkeli tai data-artikkeli tieteellisessä aikakauslehdessä (A1))

Permutation-based significance analysis reduces the type 1 error rate in bisulfite sequencing data analysis of human umbilical cord blood samples (2022)

Epigenetics
Laajala Essi, Halla-Aho Viivi, Grönroos Toni, Kalim Ubaid Ullah, Vähä-Mäkilä Mari, Nurmio Mirja, Kallionpää Henna, Lietzén Niina, Mykkänen Juha, Rasool Omid, Toppari Jorma, Oresic Matej, Knip Mikael, Lund Riikka, Lahesmaa Riitta, Lähdesmäki Harri
(Vertaisarvioitu alkuperäisartikkeli tai data-artikkeli tieteellisessä aikakauslehdessä (A1))

Umbilical cord blood DNA methylation in children who later develop type 1 diabetes (2022)

Diabetologia
Laajala Essi, Kalim Ubaid U, Grönroos Toni, Rasool Omid, Halla-aho Viivi, Konki Mikko, Kattelus Roosa, Mykkänen Juha, Nurmio Mirja, Vähä-Mäkilä Mari, Kallionpää Henna, Lietzen Niina, Ghimire Bishwa R, Laiho Asta, Hyöty Heikki, Elo Laura L, Ilonen Jorma, Knip Mikael, Lund Riikka J, Orešič Matej, Veijola Riitta, Lähdesmäki Harri, Toppari Jorma, Lahesmaa Riitta
(Vertaisarvioitu alkuperäisartikkeli tai data-artikkeli tieteellisessä aikakauslehdessä (A1))

Single cell characterization of B-lymphoid differentiation and leukemic cell states during chemotherapy in ETV6-RUNX1-positive pediatric leukemia identifies drug-targetable transcription factor activities (2020)

Genome Medicine
Juha Mehtonen, Susanna Teppo, Mari Lahnalampi, Aleksi Kokko, Riina Kaukonen, Laura Oksa, Maria Bouvy-Liivrand, Alena Malyukova, Artturi Mäkinen, Saara Laukkanen, Petri I. Mäkinen, Samuli Rounioja, Pekka Ruusuvuori, Olle Sangfelt, Riikka Lund, Tapio Lönnberg, Olli Lohi, Merja Heinäniemi
(Vertaisarvioitu alkuperäisartikkeli tai data-artikkeli tieteellisessä aikakauslehdessä (A1))