Prof. Liam completed a PhD in Canada on RNA biology and yeast genetics and then postdoctoral training at the Department of Cell and Molecular Medicine at the Panum Institute in Copenhagen. Liam was next a Group Leader and Associate Professor at the Department of Cellular and Molecular Biology at the Karolinska Institute in Stockholm. Liam is now a Professor of Microbiology and Biotechnology at the Royal Veterinary College, London, with research commercialisation responsibilities as Associate Dean for Innovation. His interests include RNA biology, antimicrobials and cellular delivery technologies. Liam is a founding Director and CSO at Tecrea Ltd; a clinical-stage biotechnology company located in London.

On the 28th of March 2024, we had the opportunity to learn from Professor Veranja Liyanapathirana. She is a Microbiology expert at the University of Peradeniya, earned her medical degree in 2006, and later delved into research, obtaining an MPhil in 2011. Pursuing doctoral studies in pneumococcal diseases at the Chinese University of Hong Kong from 2011 to 2015, she expanded her focus to antibiotic resistance and molecular epidemiology. Now back in Sri Lanka, she is actively securing grants to establish molecular detection methods for antibiotic resistance. Her primary objective is to develop community-centric strategies to curb the spread of antibiotic resistance.

You can watch the lecture here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hWHGny6VSgk&ab_channel=OnehealthEstonia

The workshop, delivered on the 19th of March 2024 covered the following plan:

10:00-10:30 "Introduction to Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis", Dr Nilakshi Barua 

10:30-11:00 "Covidence: A tool for systematic review", Ms. Liuyue Yang, Bella 

11:00-12:00 "Strategic Approaches to Systematic Review Development, PROSPERO Registration, and Meta-Analysis Techniques", Mr. Nannur Rahman 

Speakers:

1. Dr Nilakshi Barua

Research associate, Department of Microbiology, Faculty of Medicine, The Chinese University of Hong Kong, Hong Kong. Nilakshi's research interests include studying antimicrobial resistance in both Gram-positive and Gram-negative bacteria, as well as researching the gut microbiome. Additionally, she is involved in 3D skin culture and utilizes Caenorhabditis elegans as an infection model.

2. Ms. Liuyue Yang, Bella

PhD candidate, Department of Microbiology, Faculty of Medicine, The Chinese University of Hong Kong, Hong Kong. Liuyue Yang, Bella, is currently a Ph.D. student with a research focus on the epidemiology of antimicrobial-resistant bacteria.

3. Mr. Nannur Rahman

PhD candidate, Department of Microbiology, Faculty of Medicine, The Chinese University of Hong Kong, Hong Kong.Nannur completed his B.S.c (Hons) and M.Sc. (Applied Nutrition and Food Technology, taught program) from Islamic University, Bangladesh. He pursued a Master's degree in science (research program) in Human Nutrition at Ghent University in Belgium with the support of the VLIRUOS scholarship. After that, he worked in the Department of Food Technology and Nutritional Science, at Mawlana Bhashani Science and Technology University, Bangladesh. Nannur then decided to advance his career by pursuing further studies under the Hong Kong Ph.D. Fellowship Scheme. His research project focuses on the modulation of gut microbiota under the influence of probiotics, antibiotics, and other functional food.

You can watch the lecture here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wStLnSAmTpo&ab_channel=OnehealthEstonia

Prof. Sourav Bhattacharjee, who visited us on 13-14 March 2024, joined the Medical College and Hospital, Kolkata (India) in 1997 and graduated with an MBBS (Bachelor of Medicine and Surgery) in 2004. After a brief period of Resident training in Orthopedic Surgery, he joined the MSc in Biomolecular Sciences/Cell Biology at the Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam (2006). In the meanwhile, he moved to Edinburgh (UK), where he worked for almost 14 months under the supervision of Prof. Vicki Stone at Napier University. Upon finishing his MSc, he began his PhD at the Wageningen University (Netherlands) in 2008. He successfully defended in 2012 with a very good thesis grade and several research papers. Following that, he worked for a year as a postdoc at the University of Twente (Netherlands). In March 2014 he joined Prof. David Brayden's group at UCD as a postdoc working on the EU FP7-funded TRANS-INT consortium trying to develop nanoparticulate drug delivery platforms for oral insulin delivery. From February 2016 Sourav joined the UCD School of Veterinary Medicine as an Assistant Professor in Veterinary Anatomy while also trying to develop his niche of research encompassing a broad range of nanobiotechnology and advanced microscopy tools for effective diagnostic and drug delivery platforms. 

You can watch the lectures here:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aOCASDcSEWs&ab_channel=OnehealthEstonia

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GbCuMNeawmE&ab_channel=OnehealthEstonia

Our guests from Germany provided us with insightful lectures about lab automation topics. They also visited the Food hygiene laboratory at EMU as well as lab at the University of Tartu.

Nicole Rupp is a Ph.D. student in the field of laboratory automation at Albstadt-Sigmaringen University, Germany. With her background in pharmaceutical engineering and biomedical science, she joined Prof. Züchners research group in 2019, where she specializes in low-cost automation, particularly in robotic systems and automated software procedures for laboratory automation in bioanalytics. Nicole's ongoing PhD project focuses on the development of a flexible, innovative and cost-effective automation system for a wide range of life science processes. 

Michael Köppl is the Founder of 8-BOT robotics, a venture dedicated to developing and distributing devices for vendor-independent lab automation. Holding a master's degree in physics, Michael has been a part of the pharmaceutical industry since 2006, specializing in high throughput screening, compound management, and data analytics. He currently serves as the Chief Technology Officer at stemick-lab, a Customer Research Organization offering services for pharmacological and toxicological research.

The knowledge, insights, and expertise of our speaker truly made the event a success!

About Speaker:
Dr. Laura Albi works in the Accounting Consultancy and Management Office for Research Projects, part of the Research Services Division at University of Milan. She provides advice and technical support to the University structures for all research project management and reporting aspects. She deals especially with European projects funded under Horizon programmes, and also projects funded by various international bodies. 

The event was the element of the Best Practice Transfer from the University of Milan.

You can watch the lecture here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XSf4yD12tB4&ab_channel=OnehealthEstonia

The topic of "Algae - Potential in Food, Agriculture and Biomedical Applications" was presented to us on 15th of February by Dr Renu Geetha Bai from EMU!

Renu Geetha Bai is a PhD graduate in Chemical & Environmental Engineering from The University of Nottingham. Currently, she works as a Postdoctoral Research Scientist in the Estonian University of Life Sciences, Tartu and also teaches at Tallinn University, Tallinn, Estonia. Her current research focuses on the development of high-value bio-materials from algal resources.

Dr. Renu's research interests are biotechnology, nanotechnology, marine algal biomolecules, nanomedicine, anticancer drug delivery, nanotheranostics, metal/carbon- nanomaterials, liposomes, microbiology, molecular biology, tissue engineering, in vitro cell culture (plant, animal, algae), mammalian (cancer & normal) cell culture techniques, environmental engineering, green chemistry, and electrochemical biosensing.

You can watch the lecture here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nB1lE_R3Hys&ab_channel=OnehealthEstonia

On the 5th of February, we had the pleasure to dig into the topic of "Do microplastics cause lifestyle diseases?" presented by Dr Karol Mierzejewski from the University of Warmia and Mazury in Poland!

Karol Mierzejewski currently works as an assistant professor at the University of Warmia and Mazury in Olsztyn in the Department of Animal Anatomy and Physiology. He received his PhD in biological sciences in September 2023. The topic of his dissertation concerned the influence of PPAR-gamma ligands on the regulation of the immune response in the endometrium of pigs with LPS-induced inflammation.

He is currently PI of the research project entitled "Extracellular vesicles as mediators of intercellular communication in an organism exposed to PET microplastics – multi-omic studies in domestic pig model". This research aims to determine the effects of polyethylene terephthalate (PET) microplastics (one of the most commonly used plastics) on the content of EVs isolated from selected body fluids (blood, bile, and urine), as well as the transcriptomic, proteomic, and metabolomic profile of tissues (liver and kidney) that are the main source of EVs in bile and urine. Research will be conducted using high throughput methods such as RNA-Seq/Small RNA-Seq for transcriptome analysis and liquid chromatography/tandem mass spectrometry (LC-MS/MS) for proteome and metabolome analysis.

On the 22nd of January, we attended the online guest lecture on the topic of "Lipid mediators in acute inflammation and its resolution – what, when and where?" presented by Dr Minna Holopainen from the University of Helsinki!

Minna Holopainen received her doctoral degree in Physiology and Neuroscience from the University of Helsinki in 2020. Her research topic was related to the immunomodulation of mesenchymal stromal cells, their extracellular vesicles and their (Metabo)lipidomics. She conducted the research at the Finnish Red Cross Blood Service and also started working at the Helsinki University Lipidomics Unit (HiLIPID) in 2018. Currently, she is a postdoctoral researcher at HiLIPID and runs the lipidomics core facility services and method development.

You can watch the lecture here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lC_MPEM0UJM&ab_channel=OnehealthEstonia

"Education and research for One Health-based policies and strategies for risk management", delivered by prof. Alessandra Scagliarni from University of Bologna!

Alessandra Scagliarini graduated in veterinary medicine and has a doctorate in Epidemiology and control of zoonoses. A few years ago, she moved to a Department of Medicine to carry out educational, research and third mission projects on Single Health.

Health is a pre-condition and indicator of achieving the 2030 Sustainable Development Goals. Humans and animals live in the same ecosystems and share natural resources, environment, food, air and water. Many of the most important health challenges arise from the complex interactions between humans, animals and the ecosystems in which they live.

For this reason, her scientific interests focus on the inter- and transdisciplinary approach of One Health to delve deeper into the interactions between humans, animals and ecosystems underlying the onset of health emergencies and to more effectively manage endemic diseases at high socioeconomic impact.

You can watch the lecture here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3Za7ibW6_18&ab_channel=OnehealthEstonia

Tarja Sironen, PhD, is associate professor of emerging infectious diseases at the University of Helsinki, faculties of Medicine and Veterinary Medicine. She is also the director of Helsinki One Health network, and she leads the project “Resilient and Just Systems” combining life and social sciences across 8 faculties of University of Helsinki to search for sustainable and just solutions to global challenges, including pandemics.

Tarja Sironen is a virologist leading a research group studying zoonotic microbes, focusing on rodent- and bat-borne microbes, and the drivers of their emergence. These drivers range from climate change to land use changes, and from changes in virus genomes and virus transmission modes to changes in virus prevalence in different host populations. The research includes wildlife and domestic animal surveillance, virus discovery and genomic analysis, virus isolations and work on in vitro and in vivo model systems, as well as development of diagnostic tools and vaccines. Her research aims at finding solutions to mitigate the impact of outbreaks, and her research is focused on infectious diseases in Europe and in Africa. An essential component is communicating the scientific findings to stakeholders and general public, and Sironen has been awarded for excellence in science communication during the COVID-19 pandemic. Currently, her team is involved in the avian influenza response as the virus is emerging in new species and in new areas of the world.

You can watch the lecture here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UHuTJ_ls7E8&ab_channel=OnehealthEstonia

On the 17th of November, we attended lectures on bovine and equine reproduction!

Lectures were given by:

• Dr. Andres Gambini (School of Agriculture and Food Sustainability & School of Veterinary Sciences, University of Queensland, Australia) „Updates on ICSI in Equids“

• Dr. Claudia Klein (Friedrich-Loeffler-Institut, Federal Research Institute for Animal Health in Mariensee, Germany) „Single Cell Sequencing of Bovine Embryos“

• Dr. Daniel Angel-Velez (Department of Reproduction, Obstetrics and Herd Health, Faculty of Veterinary Medicine, Ghent) "Introduction to oocyte cryopreservation"

• Johanna Piibor (Estonian University of Life Sciences) „Unveiling the Landscape of Uterine Fluid Extracellular Vesicles in Bovine Endometritis“

The event was supported by the Baltic-German University Liaison Office (http://www.hochschulkontor.lv/en/), OH-boost, and Combivet (https://www.combivet.ee/).

Professor Chamindie Punyadeera, PhD, GCLead, GAICD, Head, Saliva and Liquid Biopsy Translational Laboratory, Griffith Institute for Drug Discovery (GRIDD) and Menzies Health Institute, Gold Coast, Griffith University, Australia. 

Professor Chamindie Punyadeera is an inventor and an ambassador to women in STEMM. She has had a hybrid research career working in industry as well as in academia. She heads the saliva and liquid biopsy translational laboratory at Griffith University in Brisbane. Chamindie’ s laboratory develops biomarkers from concept through to commercialisation. She has made groundbreaking discoveries that has led to the world-first detection of an occult HPV driven oropharyngeal cancer in a healthy person, laying the foundation for a screening trial. Her research into saliva-based test to early diagnose and predict head and neck cancer, received FDA approval under breakthrough device designation (CancerDetectTM) for her industry partner in 2021. In addition, her laboratory develops and applies liquid biopsy-based technologies to early detect and predict outcomes in head and neck cancer, lung cancer and glioblastoma. She has authored >140 research papers (H-index 46) including Nature Materials, Clin Chem, 8 book chapters, 21 PCT, including one granted patent. She currently receives research grant funding from ARC, NHMRC, Garnett Passe and Rodney Williams Foundation, NIH and Cancer Australia and industry. She is a grant reviewer for both national and international funding agencies and currently serves on the Editorial Board of the Journal of Oral Oncology, associate editor BMC Genomics and a guest editor to BMC Medical Genomics, Diagnostics and Biomolecules.

You can watch the lecture here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JFGA6XX-yuU&ab_channel=OnehealthEstonia

Dr. Hager Kowash is a post-doctoral research associate at the University of Manchester with research interests that include fetal programming, placental biology and the developmental origins of disease. After completing her undergraduate BSc degree in Medical Sciences from the University of Leeds and Masters in Reproductive and Developmental Biology from Imperial College London, she completed her PhD project at Manchester investigating how stress during pregnancy, eliciting a maternal immune activation response, can lead to the propensity of offspring to develop neurodevelopmental disorders (NDDs) such as schizophrenia in later life. The project focussed on in utero responses, aiming to determine and understand the placenta’s response to maternal immune activation and its subsequent role and interaction with the developing fetal brain. Since 2019, she has been a member of the Maternal and Fetal Health Research Centre at St. Mary’s Hospital, University of Manchester. As a post-doctoral researcher, she is interested in developing potential dietary therapeutic interventions to treat pregnancy complications such as fetal growth restriction in a mouse model, working initially in the lab of Dr. Elizabeth Cottrell with a focus on nitrate and beetroot juice and currently, within the Westwood lab, characterising and developing potential therapies for pregnancy complications using extracellular vesicles derived from fruit and vegetables, in particular watermelon. In addition to her lab work, Hager continues to teach and supervise undergraduate and postgraduate students from across the Faculty of Biology, Medicine and Health in the lab and contributes to the MSc Reproduction and Pregnancy course within the department. 

You can watch the lecture here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lAaUOJ_jcUs&ab_channel=OnehealthEstonia

COMBIVET/OH-BOOST Researcher Johanna Piibor's popular science article on assisted reproduction /embryo culture was featured on the cover page of the October issue of the popular science magazine "Horizont".

Have you ever wondered how you could grow your own cow in a test tube? Even though it may seem like a futuristic idea at first, with the help of today's science and technology, it is actually completely doable. The workshop participants found out about this and became part of the future of agriculture - laboratory-bred cows!

The event was supported by the Baltic-German University Liaison Office (http://www.hochschulkontor.lv/en/), OH-boost, and Combivet (https://www.combivet.ee/).

We are pleased to announce that Johanna Piibor, a Ph.D. student from the OH-Boost Team, has been awarded the "Eesti Suurpõllumeeste Klubi Stipendium" scholarship. We congratulate Johanna on this achievement and wish her continued success! 

More information here: https://www.emu.ee/et/ylikoolist/uudised/pressiteated/uudis/2023/10/06/eesti-maaulikool-tunnustas-aastapaeva-aktusel-ulikooli-liikmeid-ja-audoktorit/#undefined

photo: EMU

The "Converging Extracellular Vesicle Research in All Domains of Life Towards Understanding Their Potential Functional Applications" annual conference has concluded! 

We gained a wealth of inspiration, knowledge, thoughts, and ideas from this valuable time spent with great people from all over the world. We extend our gratitude to all participants for their contributions, discussions, sharing of work and discoveries, and for the opportunity to learn from one another. We would also like to express our appreciation to all guests, partners, and sponsors who made this event possible. 

We offer a big round of applause to the organizing team for their amazing job, particularly Subhashini, the main coordinator of the entire process. 

You can watch the recording from the conference:

Day 1 

Day 2

The Abstract Book is available here: link

See you all next year!

The "Basics to Work with Extracellular Vesicles" research school has come to an end! 

It's now time to reflect on this fantastic and inspiring experience and start putting the results into practice. 

A big thank you to all the wonderful participants, guests, instructors, and partners involved! We also give a huge round of applause to the team of organizers for the fantastic job they did! 

We are all very happy and grateful for this valuable time.

You can download the Lab Handbook here: link

Dr. Rienk Nieuwland, biologist (PhD), chairs the “Amsterdam Vesicle Center” of the Amsterdam University Medical Center (www.vesiclecenter.com). He focuses on isolation, detection, functional characterization, and standardization of measurements on extracellular vesicles (EVs) for biomarker exploration. He coordinated EURAMET projects METVES and METVES II aimed to standardize concentration measurements of EVs, chaired the Scientific Standardization Committee on Vascular Biology of the International Society on Thrombosis and Haemostasis (ISTH), co-chairs the Rigor and Standardization Committee of International Society on Extracellular Vesicles (ISEV), is executive board member and chairs the Educational Committee (ISEV), chairs the Blood EV task force (ISEV), is co-founder and member of the Extracellular Vesicle Flow Cytometry Working Group (www.evflowcytometry.org), is vice-president of the Netherlands Society for Extracellular Vesicles (www.nlsev.nl), and co-organizes a recently founded working group of ISEV and the European Liquid Biopsy Society (ELBS).  

You can watch the lecture here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WBPdtRjLXPc&ab_channel=OnehealthEstonia

Dr. Mansoor Amiji is currently the University Distinguished Professor, Professor of Pharmaceutical Sciences, and Professor of Chemical Engineering at Northeastern University in Boston, MA.  Dr. Amiji received his BS degree in pharmacy from Northeastern University in 1988 and a PhD in pharmaceutical sciences from Purdue University in 1992.   

Dr. Amiji’s teaches both undergraduate and graduate students at Northeastern University. His research is focused on development of biocompatible materials from natural and synthetic polymers, target-specific drug and gene delivery systems for cancer and infectious diseases, and nanotechnology applications for medical diagnosis, imaging, and therapy. 

You can watch the lecture here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oZY7ni1JgWM&ab_channel=OnehealthEstonia

Dr. Tina S. Dalgaard has worked with veterinary immunology especially the avian immune system for over 20 years at the Department of Animal and Veterinary Sciences at Aarhus University, Denmark. Her research focuses on experimental models of infectious chicken diseases for evaluation of natural immunity as well as vaccine induced protection with a special interest in cell-mediated adaptive immune responses. Moreover, her work comprises studies of immunomodulatory interventions to improve disease control but also includes research to support understanding of the genetic background for natural disease resistance and optimal immunocompetence as well as biomarkers for general robustness/resilience.  

You can watch the lecture here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ieQR9jsuU6M&ab_channel=OnehealthEstonia

Indika Liyanahewage is a professional and an academic with a wealth of experience and knowledge in many Business areas and Human behavior. 

He was trained in Neuro-Linguistic Programming (NLP) by Dr. Tad James himself, at Tad James Co. Australia, and was qualified as a Certified Practitioner in Neuro Linguistic Programming, Certified NLP Coach, Time Line Therapy® Practitioner, and a Hypnotist. 

Indika is highly sought after by many corporates for training due to his proven track record and excellent feedback. 

Training and lecturing are his passions, and he believes in sharing knowledge as much as possible. He says, “The life is so impermanent and therefore we should give our knowledge to others as soon as possible without any reservation”. 

You can watch the lecture here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=v5kQygkar8I&ab_channel=OnehealthEstonia

The OH-Boost Steering Committee gathered in Tartu on September 8th for an informative meeting led by Prof. Alireza Fazeli. The partners collaborated on upcoming research projects, activities, and meetings, ensuring that all important issues were discussed. The team then set a date for the next meeting, moving forward with a shared sense of purpose and enthusiasm. 

Thank you for attending our first September guest lecture “Science is Wicked: communicating science to public “ by Dr. John Parrington and for sharing your valuable insights and feedback. 

We Fazeli Lab appreciate your contributions and hope that you found the event to be a valuable learning experience. 

Your support means a lot to us!

The recording from the lecture is available here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-H9MOzTHE0I

We are thrilled to announce the successful conclusion of our recent guest lecture by Dr. John Parrington about “The TPCs: Endolysosomal Calcium Channels That Play Key Roles in Health and Disease”. The lecture has been, filled with inspiring discussions, valuable insights, and meaningful connections.

Faceli Lab wants to express our heartfelt gratitude to each and every one of you who attended and contributed to making this seminar a resounding success. Your enthusiasm, engagement, and passion for learning truly made this event special.

The video from the lecture is available here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kyilxX7bc7o&ab_channel=OnehealthEstonia

On the 10th of May 2023 took place Tartu Tamme Middle School biology workshop for their 8th-grade students. The workshop was conducted by COMBIVET and OH-Boost project members working with the Estonian University of Life Sciences and the University of Tartu. 

​Pipetting is the basis of scientific experiments. Many experiments require precise pipetting of different solutions, where any small change can alter the experimental results. Therefore, we let the students try pipetting different types of solutions (liquid, foamy, viscous, easily evaporating), taught them how to use different pipetting techniques, and showed the differences between manual and automatic pipettes.