Sigrid Jusélius Senior researcher, Associate Professor (Docent) of biochemistry

PI at Faculty of Medicine, University of Helsinki, Finland 

Author of 139 peer reviewed articles (cited 4095 times), h-index 39 (web of Science)

Chair of the Biobio Society and Finnish National Committee for Biosciences

Orcid ID: orcid.org/0000-0003-0926-3109

I have a title of docent (associate professor) of biochemistry and since 2009 have been a PI in the Faculty of Medicine, Univ. of Helsinki. After receiving my D.Sc. degree in 2000, I worked for two years as a Marie Curie Industrial Host fellow at GlaxoSmithKline, UK. From 2004 I have worked at the Dept of Clinical Chemistry and Haematology, Univ. of Helsinki, which includes a five-year period as an Academy Research Fellow. Currently I work as a Sigrid Jusélius senior researcher, allowing me to concentrate on research projects.

In my doctoral thesis I identified diverse tissue specific glycoforms of glycodelin. Our findings demonstrated that the glycodelin represents one of the foremost examples of how glycosylation dictates the function of a glycoprotein. More recently my group went on to show that glycodelin is differentially glycosylated in endometrial cancer cells and it differentiates these cells towards a less aggressive phenotype, resulting in reduced tumor growth in a preclinical animal model.

For the last 20 years my main focus has been on the functions and diagnostic potential of proteases in cancer, especially prostate cancer. These studies involve development of novel patient-derived cell/tissue models to better recapitulate prostate cancer. In an international collaborative effort, which I coordinated, we developed PSA stimulators and KLK2 inhibitors, aiming to slow down prostate cancer growth. Currently my group and collaborators are developing trypsin-3 inhibitors for targeting cancer metastasis.

My work has been published in journals like Nature Chemical Biology, Endocrine Reviews, Journal of Clinical Investigation, Blood, Cancer Research and Environmental Health Perspectives.

In addition to basic research experience, I have research experience in pharmaceutical industry from my postdoctoral period at GlaxoSmithKline, UK. This exposure to the drug discovery process will be helpful when research innovations are translated to the benefit of patients.

Education of postgraduate students including supervision of PhD projects and organization of student seminars and international symposia have been an integral part of my academic life.  I feel that scientists have the responsibility to communicate science to a wider audience. For that purpose, I have taken on the role of Chairman of the Biobio-society. I am also the Chairman of the Finnish National Committee for Biosciences, which presents Finnish biosciences internationally.