Pirjo Åström

I am a research group leader in the Research Unit of Biomedicine and Internal Medicine, Faculty of Medicine, University of Oulu, and Emerging project leader in Biocenter Oulu.

I have versatile experience from varying fields of biomedical research including immunology, cell biology and proteases. My current research focuses on examining factors affecting disease susceptibility and the cellular and molecular mechanisms of inflammation and viral defense as well as defects of immune system.

More specifically, my research interests include:

• novel susceptibility genes / mutations causing varying defects in immune system and leading to rare but serious conditions, for example autoinflammatory symptoms, unusual presentations of encephalitis and defects in bones
• prenatal factors that affect the developing immune system and novel mechanisms by which such factors may affect the health of an infant and susceptibility to diseases
• inflammasomes in various diseases, including autoinflammation, cancer and arthritis
• proteases in regulating inflammation