Since its inception in 1994, the Sistonen Lab aims at revealing the fundamental mechanisms that regulate gene expression and chromatin structure in response to intracellular and environmental signals. We have demonstrated that heat shock transcription factors (HSFs) act as integrators in cell stress, reproduction, and cancer.

Research

The research being made in our lab:

Group Members

Principal Investigator Senior Researchers and Postdoctoral Fellows PhD Students Previous Lab Members Anna AaltoJohanna AhlskogTero-Pekka AlastaloJulius AnckarSusanna AiraksinenJudith BeerHeidi BergmanJohanna BjörkMalin BlomHenri BlomsterMarek BudzyńskiIdalis CardonaZhanna ChitikovaAlejandro Da SilvaAlexandra ElsingCaroline Haldin-BreitensteinVille HietakangasSamu HimanenCarina HolmbergMaria JensenJenny Joutsen Lila Kallio (neé Pirkkala)Sara KangaspeskaIngrid KarppiEmine LundstenJens LuotoHeidi LustigTerhi Maula (neé Kuru)Annika MeinanderSatu OrasniemiBeata PaziewskaMarkus PenttinenSandra PihlströmMikael PuustinenJulia RantaHelena SaarentoAnton…

Congratulations Dr. Jenny Pessa-Eronen!

Jenny successfully defended her doctoral thesis in Cell Biology, From Tissue Integrity to Tumor Plasticity: HSF2 in Human Physiology and Breast Cancer Progression, on 26 June 2026 in Auditorium Argentum at Aurum. Professor Jos Jonkers (Netherlands Cancer Institute and Leiden University) served as the Opponent, and Professor Annika Meinander served as the Custos. Jenny’s defence…