Description of research and teaching

Research: Anxiety disorders are the most common mental disorders within the EU and cause considerable disability due to high prevalence (14 %), early onset and chronic nature. The major questions in anxiety disorders are which molecular events lead to and maintain pathological anxiety, and how this pathology can be normalized. We employ a multidisciplinary approach to understand the genetic and neurobiological basis of normal and pathological anxiety. Understanding of the molecular mechanisms that regulate anxiety are likely to lead to the development of better targeted therapies for anxiety disorders.

Teaching: I am involved in teaching genetics, genomics, and behavioral neuroscience. I organize a B.Sc./M.Sc. level course Behavioral Genetics yearly during period 3, a Ph.D. level seminar series Big Questions in Neuroscience and Current Limits of Knowledge, and I co-organize the  Finnish Symposium on Biological Psychiatry.