Immunology Seminar
6th May at 14-15
Virtual event
in Zoom
Flyer
Kirsi Rautajoki, Faculty of Medicine and Health Technology, Tampere University
Mapping the immune landscape of diffuse astrocytoma brain tumors
Register for the Immunology Seminar Series email list to get calendar invitation to the online seminar: https://link.webropolsurveys.com/S/D29C32AA6E8A2F7A
Host: Riitta Lahesmaa (rilahes@utu.fi)
Immunology seminar series is jointly organised by the Finnish Society for Immunology, InFLAMES Flagship and Turku Bioscience. For further information contact Anne Lahdenperä (ankahy@utu.fi) or Riitta Lahesmaa (rilahes@utu.fi), University of Turku.
Adjunct Professor Kirsi Rautajoki leads the Cancer Regulation and Immunology research group, which investigates how immunosuppression is established and sustained in the brain tumor microenvironment. The group also explores how altered epigenetic and gene regulation drive malignancy and cell plasticity by hijacking normal stem cell regulatory mechanisms. Additionally, they develop novel DNA methylation-based methods for brain tumor diagnostics and treatment.
Their research focuses on brain tumors, particularly glioblastoma, diffuse gliomas, and atypical teratoid rhabdoid tumors (AT/RTs). The team comprises both computational and experimental researchers with expertise in epigenetics, gene expression, single-cell, and spatial analysis methods. They collaborate closely with clinical experts and primarily utilize patient samples and in-house patient-derived cell and tissue models.
Adj. Prof. Kirsi Rautajoki has a background in immunology, specializing in T-cell signaling and differentiation. Following her Ph.D., she transitioned into cancer genomics and brain tumor research. Currently, she is a university lecturer and the principal investigator (PI) of the Cancer Regulation and Immunology research group. She is also the co-founder and chair of Finnish Brain Tumor Research Association (FiBTRA), an initiative fostering collaboration between researchers and clinical experts in central nervous system tumor research. Additionally, she is an active member of Prostate Cancer Research Center (PCRC), FICAN-MID Tays cancer centre, and Tampere Brain & Mind.
Selected publications
Hermelo, I., …, Haapasalo, H., Rauhala, M., Kesseli, J., Nykter, M., Haapasalo, J., Rautajoki, K.J. (2025) Unsupervised clustering reveals noncanonical myeloid cell subsets in the brain tumor microenvironment. Cancer Immunol. Immunother. 74:63.
Governa, V., de Oliveira, K.G., …., Jakobsson, J., de Neergaard, T., Sundgren, P.C., Tiihonen, A.M., Haapasalo, H., Rautajoki, K.J., Nordenfelt, P., Darabi, A., Forsberg-Nilsson, K., Pietras, A., Talbot, H., Bengzon, J., Belting, M. (2024) Protumoral lipid droplet-loaded macrophages are enriched in human glioblastoma and can be therapeutically targeted. Sci. Transl. Med. 16:eadk1168.
Rautajoki, K.J., …, Ruusuvuori, P., Haapasalo, J., Zhang, W., Haapasalo, H., Nykter, M. (2023) Genomic characterization of IDH-mutant astrocytoma progression to grade 4 in the treatment setting. Acta Neuropathol. Commun. 11:176.
