Laura Kakkola
Adjunct Professor, Bioturvapäällikkö/Biosafety Officer
laura.kakkola@utu.fi Kiinamyllynkatu 10 Turku ORCID identifier: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-9271-4059 |
virology; immunology; infection; zoonoses; biosafety
I am a researcher with the cell biologist's background interested in intra-cellular events on infection, immunological responses (innate and adaptive), effect of host genetics in infectious diseases, and viruses' counteractions on these - including emerging pathogens, virus surveillance and diagnostics. I act as a Biosafety Officer at the Institute of Biomedicine and my responsibilities are to coordinate, supervise and educate laboratory work with infectious pathogens (viruses and bacteria). I am a Laboratory Manager in the Research Center Infections and Immunity, I teach on university courses, supervise MSc and PhD students, and conduct independent research.
My research interests are on virus-host interactions, how viruses interfere with immune responses, and could these events be utilized in vaccine, antiviral drug or diagnostic test development. At the moment I am working with coronaviruses, influenza viruses, filoviruses and flaviviruses.
I have taken the course on Medical pedagogics. I am co-supervising MSc and PhD students, and am a member of thesis committees for PhD students. I have given lectures and taught on laboratory courses at the university level.
- Antiviral properties of chemical inhibitors of cellular anti-apoptotic Bcl-2 proteins (2017)
- Viruses
(A1 Refereed original research article in a scientific journal) - Ebolavirus protein VP24 interferes with innate immune responses by inhibiting interferon-lambda 1 gene expression (2017)
- Virology
(A1 Refereed original research article in a scientific journal) - Ebolavirus protein VP24 interferes with innate immune responses by inhibiting interferon-λ1 gene expression (2017)
- Virology
(A1 Refereed original research article in a scientific journal) - Production, purification and immunogenicity of recombinant Ebola virus proteins - A comparison of Freund's adjuvant and adjuvant system 03 (2017)
- Journal of Virological Methods
(A1 Refereed original research article in a scientific journal) - Prospective clinical and serological follow-up in early childhood reveals a high rate of subclinical RSV infection and a relatively high reinfection rate within the first 3 years of life (2016)
- Epidemiology and Infection
(A1 Refereed original research article in a scientific journal) - Protein profiling of nasopharyngeal aspirates of hospitalized and outpatients revealed cytokines associated with severe influenza A(H1N1)pdm09 virus infections: A pilot study (2016)
- Cytokine
(A1 Refereed original research article in a scientific journal) - Comparative Analysis of Whole-Genome Sequences of Influenza A(H1N1)pdm09 Viruses Isolated from Hospitalized and Nonhospitalized Patients Identifies Missense Mutations That Might Be Associated with Patient Hospital Admissions in Finland during 2009 to 2014. (2015)
- Genome Announcements
(A1 Refereed original research article in a scientific journal) - Complete Genome Sequences of Influenza A/H1N1 Strains Isolated from Patients during the 2013-2014 Epidemic Season in Finland. (2015)
- Genome Announcements
(A1 Refereed original research article in a scientific journal) - Complete Genome Sequences of Influenza A/H1N1 Strains Isolated from Patients during the 2013-2014 Epidemic Season in Finland (2015) Jalovaara P, Mishel P, Kallio-Kokko H, Valkonen M, Kantele A, Ikonen N, Julkunen I, Kakkola L, Kutsaya A, Vuorinen T, Mattila P, Almusa H, Kainov D
(A1 Refereed original research article in a scientific journal) - Full-Genome Sequences of Influenza A(H1N1)pdm09 Viruses Isolated from Finnish Patients from 2009 to 2013 (2014)
- Genome Announcements
(B1 Non-refereed article in a scientific journal)
- Immunologinen leimautuminen01.01.2026 - 31.12.2026
- Institute of Biomedicine
- TYS_Zikaviruksen tutkimus01.01.2026 - 31.12.2026
- Institute of Biomedicine
- CrossBar_Kakkola01.09.2021 - 31.08.2025
- Institute of Biomedicine



