Associate Professor Tarja Sironen
Post-doctoral Researcher Ruut Uusitalo
University of Helsinki
June 6th, 2024
10:00 - 12:00 EEST
Zoom link will be sent to registered participants
"In this workshop, we will discuss the challenges of building research projects that encompass multiple disciplines, diverse methods, and varying expectations. One Health research integrates both life and social sciences, using quantitative and qualitative methods. It includes humans, non-humans, and different environments across the globe, requiring consideration of many ethical perspectives.
We will showcase two different projects: one in Kenya and one in Finland, discussing lessons learned during their implementation. The Kenyan project aims to understand infectious disease emergence and the various drivers impacting this process, involving ecology, geography, medicine, veterinary medicine, and social sciences. In Finland, we will discuss the utilization of various data types in tick and mosquito projects and vector-borne disease studies. Predictive modeling studies combine data on vectors, pathogens, hosts, patients, anthropogenic factors, climate, and the environment from different sources. These diverse perspectives create both challenges and advantages for data usage. There will also be time reserved for discussing the One Health projects of the participants."
Time: 6th of June 2024, 10:00-12:00 EEST
Place: Zoom Platform
Registration link open by the 5th of June 2024: Click Here
Associate Professor of Emerging Infectious Diseases at the University of Helsinki, Faculties of Medicine and Veterinary Medicine, and Director of the Helsinki One Health network. She leads the project “Resilient and Just Systems,” which combines life and social sciences across eight faculties of the University of Helsinki to search for sustainable and just solutions to global challenges, including pandemics. Dr. Sironen is a virologist leading a research group studying zoonotic microbes, focusing on rodent- and bat-borne microbes and the drivers of their emergence. Her research includes wildlife and domestic animal surveillance, virus discovery and genomic analysis, virus isolations, work on in vitro and in vivo model systems, and the development of diagnostic tools and vaccines. Her goal is to find solutions to mitigate the impact of outbreaks, with research focused on infectious diseases in Europe and Africa. An essential component of her work is communicating scientific findings to stakeholders and the general public, for which she has been awarded excellence in science communication during the COVID-19 pandemic. Her team is currently involved in the avian influenza response as the virus emerges in new species and areas globally.
Post-doctoral researcher conducting multidisciplinary research that combines GIScience, virology, and public health. Dr. Uusitalo’s research interests include investigating the distribution patterns and transmission routes of zoonotic diseases, and how factors such as climate, ecological conditions, socioeconomic factors, and human activity affect the risk of vector-borne diseases. While her current research focuses primarily on Africa, she is also interested in the distribution and dynamics of vector-borne diseases in Northern Europe. Her research activities include designing sampling strategies, conducting fieldwork for sample collections, performing laboratory analyses to screen pathogens, and utilizing GIS analyses and disease risk modeling methods with satellite-based environmental data. By collaborating with local and international partners, as well as colleagues within the EID research group, her goal is to generate novel insights aimed at preventing future zoonotic diseases and improving public health outcomes. For more information on her previous studies, visit Ruut Uusitalo's ORCID account.
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