Pekka Hänninen
Dean, Faculty of Medicine; Professor, Medical Physics and Engineering
Diagnostics and Bioimaging pekka.e.hanninen@utu.fi +358 29 450 2242 +358 40 765 1547 Kiinamyllynkatu 10 Turku Office: 7th floor For official inquiries use med-dekaani@utu.fi ORCID identifier: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-5481-3275 |
Areas of expertise
medical physics and engineering; bioimaging;
medical physics and engineering; bioimaging;
Biography
After MSc in Electrical Engineering and Computer Sciences, Pekka Hänninen moved in 1988 to European Molecular Biology Laboratory in Heidelberg. In Heidelberg P.H. was a part of a team building confocal microscopes. In 1992 P.H. moved to Turku and to the team of Prof. Erkki Soini. Pekka's colleague Stefan Hell from Heidelberg followed early 1993 and the three gentlemen formed a team with distinct roles. Prof. Erkki Soini told Stefan and Pekka: "You guys take care of the science and I will get you funding".
The work of the team with resolution enhancement lead into several innovations in two-photon microscopy and super-resolution - work for which Stefan Hell was awarded the Nobel Prize in Chemistry in 2014. While Stefan went on with super-resolution and returned to Germany in 1997, PH together with prof. Erkki Soini concentrated on development of new in-vitro diagnostics system based on two-photon excitation.
In 2002 Pekka Hänninen took over the laboratory of Biophysics as Erkki Soini retired - and since 2005 he has been appointed as full professor of Medical Physics and Engineering. Currently Pekka Hänninen is also the vice-dean of the faculty and as of 1.8. 2019 the Dean.
After MSc in Electrical Engineering and Computer Sciences, Pekka Hänninen moved in 1988 to European Molecular Biology Laboratory in Heidelberg. In Heidelberg P.H. was a part of a team building confocal microscopes. In 1992 P.H. moved to Turku and to the team of Prof. Erkki Soini. Pekka's colleague Stefan Hell from Heidelberg followed early 1993 and the three gentlemen formed a team with distinct roles. Prof. Erkki Soini told Stefan and Pekka: "You guys take care of the science and I will get you funding".
The work of the team with resolution enhancement lead into several innovations in two-photon microscopy and super-resolution - work for which Stefan Hell was awarded the Nobel Prize in Chemistry in 2014. While Stefan went on with super-resolution and returned to Germany in 1997, PH together with prof. Erkki Soini concentrated on development of new in-vitro diagnostics system based on two-photon excitation.
In 2002 Pekka Hänninen took over the laboratory of Biophysics as Erkki Soini retired - and since 2005 he has been appointed as full professor of Medical Physics and Engineering. Currently Pekka Hänninen is also the vice-dean of the faculty and as of 1.8. 2019 the Dean.
Research
Prof. Pekka Hänninen has a long experience in applied research that has also lead into industrial exploitation. The previous work related application of microscopy based detection methods to specific detection of microbes has lead into the birth of Arctic Diagnostics and their product MariPOC. The invention of fingerprinting technology has lead into commercialization of the ideas within industrial processes at a startup Aqsens Oy – and later on with Aqsens Health Oy and preventive health care in India. His background is in signal processing, electronic engineering and instrumentation and he has worked within instrumentally solving biological problems since his engagement to EMBL in 1988. Prof Hänninen has more than 20 patents majority of which have lead into industrial exploitation and products.
Prof. Pekka Hänninen has a long experience in applied research that has also lead into industrial exploitation. The previous work related application of microscopy based detection methods to specific detection of microbes has lead into the birth of Arctic Diagnostics and their product MariPOC. The invention of fingerprinting technology has lead into commercialization of the ideas within industrial processes at a startup Aqsens Oy – and later on with Aqsens Health Oy and preventive health care in India. His background is in signal processing, electronic engineering and instrumentation and he has worked within instrumentally solving biological problems since his engagement to EMBL in 1988. Prof Hänninen has more than 20 patents majority of which have lead into industrial exploitation and products.
Teaching
Prof. Pekka Hänninen is the responsible professor for International Masters Program in Biomedical Imaging. The program attracts science fascinated students from around the globe - more information can be found in http://www.bioimaging.fi
Prof. Pekka Hänninen is the responsible professor for International Masters Program in Biomedical Imaging. The program attracts science fascinated students from around the globe - more information can be found in http://www.bioimaging.fi
As PhD trainer, prof. Hänninen has guided more than 10 students with different backgrounds from engineering to chemistry through their PhD studies and scientific work.
Publications 
4 of 12
- Nanometric features of myosin filaments extracted from a single muscle fiber to uncover the mechanisms underlying organized motilityTime-resolved fluorescence-based assay for rapid detection of Escherichia coli. (2015)
- Archives of Biochemistry and Biophysics
(A1 Refereed original research article in a scientific journal) - Optinen korkearesoluutio-mikroskopia – ja innovaatiot sen ympärilläTomographic STED microscopy to study bone resorption (2015)
- Solubiologi
(D1 Article in a professional journal) - 2015
- Analytical Biochemistry
(A1 Refereed original research article in a scientific journal) - (2015)
- Proceedings of SPIE : the International Society for Optical Engineering
(A4 Refereed article in a conference publication ) - A homogeneous quenching resonance energy transfer assay for H-Ras activation cycle monitoring and inhibitor screening (2014)
- New BiotechnologyAnalytical and Bioanalytical Chemistry
(Other publication) - A homogeneous quenching resonance energy transfer assay for the kinetic analysis of the GTPase nucleotide exchange reaction. (2014)
Stefan Veltel, Arjan J. van Adrichem, Pekka Hänninen, Daniel Abankwa, Harri Härmä
(A1 Refereed original research article in a scientific journal) - Axial super-resolution by mirror-reflected stimulated emission depletion microscopy (2014)
- Optical Review
(A1 Refereed original research article in a scientific journal) - Kinetics of bioconjugate nanoparticle label binding in a sandwich-type immunoassay (2014)
- Analytical and Bioanalytical Chemistry
(A1 Refereed original research article in a scientific journal) - (2014)
- Analyst
(A1 Refereed original research article in a scientific journal) - Novel Method for Real-Time Monitoring of Scale Control Products at the Site of Use. (2014) J. Johnstone, S. Toivonen, R. Griffin, A. O'Brien, P. Mundill, J. Siivonen, P. Väisänen, S. Tiittanen, M. Lehmusto, H. Härmä, P. Hänninen, T. Teimonen
(A4 Refereed article in a conference publication )
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