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About
The research actitivies are managed by the PIs of the research groups at PSL, supported by the complementing research activities of our affiliated group leaders. Besides the post-doctoral researchers, senior researchers, and PhD students, we also host a varying number of visiting researchers/professors and MSc students especially within our own programmes in Pharmacy (Provisor) and Drug Development and Medical Technology (FM) (ending 2024), as well as Drug Discovery & Development (UTU) and Biomedical Imaging (UTU & ÅAU) as well as ERASMUS and other interns.
Principal Investigators (Group Leaders)
Pharmaceutical Development
Head of Discipline (Pharmacy)
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Prof. Tapani Viitala
Novel Drug Formulations
50% University of Helsinki
Prof. Hongbo Zhang
Pharmaceutical Biomaterials
Dr. Outi Salo-Ahen
Senior Lecturer in Pharmacy Head of BSc (Pharm.) Education
Dr. Anne Filppula
Senior Lecturer in Pharmacy Head of MSc (Pharm.) Education
Dr. Xiaoju Wang
Academy of Finland Research Fellow
2020-2025 (20% affiliated with Natural Materials Technology)
Affiliated Group Leaders/PIs
Docent Niklas Sandler-Topelius, Founder & Chief Scientific Officer of CurifyLabs (Printed Pharmaceuticals)
Docent Tuomas Näreoja, Assistant Professor, Department of Laboratory Medicine, Karolinska Institute, Sweden / Senior Lecturer at University of Turku (Bone biology and biomarker development for implant complications)
Docent Björn Södergård, Professionsutvecklare, Sveriges Farmaceuter, Stockholm, Sweden (Social Pharmacy)
Docent Ignat Kulkov (Technological Innovations in Health Care)
Docent Frederick Ahen (Pharmaceutical value creation and Global Health Governance)
Senior researchers/Postdocs
Dr. Kuldeep Bansal
Dr. Feika Bian
Dr. Fadak Howaili
Dr. Jiaqi Yan
Dr. Parthiban Marimuthu
Dr. Yu Wang
Dr. Yunru Yu
Dr. Ezgi Özliseli
Business Champion Heidi Koivisto, Comitell project (Business Finland)
Associate Professor Hui Shi, Jiangsu University, China
Lecturers
Ulla-Mari Parkkisenniemi-Kinnunen, FaD, Provisor (Senior lecturer)
Anne Eriksson, farmaceut, FM (University teacher)
Johan Nyman, DI, FM (University teacher)
Mirja Palo, PhD (Pharm.Sci.), Provisor (University lecturer, annually for the autumn semester)
PhD Students
Ida Alanko, M.Sc. (Pharm.Sci.)
Masha Bahman, M.Sc. (Biotechnology)
Emel Bakay, M.Sc. (Biomed. Eng.)
Mehrdad Bayandori, M.Sc. (Biotechnology)
Ratul Bhowmik, M.Sc.(Pharm)
Yu Chen, M.Med. (Surgery)
Minjie Fan, M.Sc. (Clinical Medicine)
Fanny Frejborg, M.Sc.(Drug Discovery & Development)
Sachin Gautam, M.Pharm.(Pharmacology)
Xiwen Geng, M.Sc. (Pathogen Biology)
Rabia Gulshan, M.Sc. (Pharmaceutics)
Chaoping He, M.Med. (Chinese Materia Medica)
Anna Hämäläinen, M.Sc. (Cell Biology)
​Wali Inam, M.Sc. (Drug Discovery & Development)
Yuanyuan Jiang, M. Sc. (Pharm.)
Oliver Koivisto, M.Sc. (Genetics, Cell Biology)
Vishal Kumar, M.Pharm. (Pharmacology)
Chengcheng Li, M. Sc. (Pharm.)
Yuanqiang Li, M.Sc. (Biotechnology)
Shujun Liang, M.Sc.(Tech.)
Johan Nyman, M.Sc.(Chem. Eng. & Pharm. Sci.)
Alaa Mahran, M.Sc.(Pharm.)
Rathna Mathiyalagan M.Sc.(Chem.)
Xiang Lin, M.Sc. (Biotechnology)
Jinbo Li, M.Sc. (Biotechnology)
Chetan Pathak, M.Sc.(Pharm.)
Dhayakumar Rajan Prakash, M.Sc. (Nano. Med.)
Meixin Ran, M.Sc. (Pharm. Sci.)
Brandon Garate Reyes, M.Sc. (Biotechnology)
Leila Darzian Rostami, M.Sc. (Microbiology)
Jessica Salo, M.Sc. (Biomedical Imaging)
Dabao ​Shang, M.Sc. (Med.)
Farnaz Shokraneh, M.Sc.(Pharm.)
Jyoti Verma, M.Pharm.
Li Wang, M.Sc.(Pharm.)
Shengyi Wang, M.Sc. (Microbiol.)
Chen Wang, M.Sc. (Biotechnology)
Longxi Wu, M. Sc. (Pharm.)
Yuhehui Xiao, M.Sc. (Pharm.Sci.)
Jing Yang, M.Sc. (Pharm.Sci.)
Wu Yang, M.Med. (Clinical Medicine)
Xin Yang, M.Sc.(Pharm.Eng.)
Chengcheng Zhang, M.Sc. (Clinical Medicine)
Yu Zhang, M.Sc. (Med.)
​Deependra Yadav, M. Sc. (Pharm.)
Pengzhen Zhuang, M.Sc. (Mater. Sci. & Eng.)
Chenyu Zong, M.Sc. (Biotechnology)
Docents
Mia Bengtström (Pharma Industry Finland) - Docent in Industrial Pharmaceutical Research and Pharmacovigilance
Pirjo Tajarobi (AstraZeneca) - Docent in Industrial Pharmaceutical Technology
Mervi Vasänge (OrionPharma) - Docent in Industrial Preclinical Drug Development
Adyary Fallarero (ThermoFischer) - Docent in Bioassays and Biomolecular Screening
Outi Salo-Ahen (ÅAU) - Docent in Pharmaceutical Chemistry and Drug Design
Petri Ihalainen (MetGen) - Docent in Printing Technologies in Fabrication of Drug Delivery Systems
Malena Skogman (UniHelsinki) - Docent in Pharmaceutical Microbiology
Tapani Viitala (UniHelsinki/ÅAU) - Docent in Pharmaceutical Surface Chemistry and Biophysics
Björn Södergård (Sveriges läkarförbund) - Docent in Social Pharmacy and Pharmacoeconomics
Carina Stenfors (Orion Pharma) - Docent in Drug Research
Niklas Sandler (Curify) - Docent in Advanced Pharmaceutical Technologies
Kuldeep Bansal (ÅAU) - Docent in Polymer-based Drug Delivery Technologies
Ignat Kulkov - Docent in Technological Innovations in Health Care
Frederick Ahen - Docent in Pharmaceutical value creation and Global Health Governance
ÅAU Honorary Doctor & Adjunct Professor (Drug Development and Diagnostics) 2016 - 2018
Thomas Rades, University of Copenhagen
M.Sc. students
Various MSc students especially from our own Master's programme in Drug Development & Medical Technology (from 2021 MSc in Pharmacy) as well as from the joint MSc programme in Biomedical Imaging between University of Turku (UTU) and Åbo Akademi University as well as Drug Discovery and Development (UTU) and other MSc programmes take part in our activities.
Alumni & Visiting researchers
Current:​​
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Maruf Uz Zaman, summer intern, MSc in Chemistry of Drug Development student, UTU (2025)
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Sadman Sakib Nebir, summer intern, University of Turku (2025)
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Izzah Hashmi, summer intern, University of Oulu (2025)
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Ronja Manninen, summer intern, MSc in Pharmacy student, ÅAU (2025)
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Fatemeh Safari, summer intern, MSc student in Materials Engineering - Health Technology, UTU (2025)
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Wuzhong He, Nordic POP mobility researcher, University of Copenhagen (2025)
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Arslan Hanifi, ERASMUS+ intern, Inonu University, Türkiye 2024 -
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Yuchen Su, University of Helsinki, 2025-
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Rida Rehman, MSc thesis worker, University of Turku, 2025-
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​Yuanyuan Liu, MSc thesis worker, University of Turku, 2024-
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Sinina Sattayakul, MSc thesis worker, University of Uppsala, 2024-
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Wenhui Liu, Jiangsu University, China, 2024-25
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Tengyu Wang, Jilin University's First Hospital, China, 2024-
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Kang Li, Jilin University's First Hospital, China, 2024-
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​Sunanda Dey Brishty, MSc thesis worker, Abo Akademi University, 2024-25
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Kanwal Mazhar, MSc thesis worker, MSc in Biomedical Imaging, 2024-25
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Elisa Léonard, ERASMUS intern, Institut National Polytechnique of Toulouse, France, 2024
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Mohammad Faisal, summer intern, MSc in Drug Discovery and Development (UTU), 2024
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Mahdieh Mozaffari-Majd, summer intern, MSc in Chemistry of Drug Development (UTU), 2024
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Zahra Batool, summer intern, MSc in Materials Engineering (Health Technology) (UTU), 2024
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Tomi Termonen, summer intern & MSc thesis worker, Drug Discovery and Development (UTU), 2023-
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Tanjina Yousuf, summer intern & MSc thesis worker, Human Neuroscience (UTU), 2023-
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Joni Eklund, research associate, University of Turku (2022-)
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Alaa Ahmed Abd El-rhman, Teaching and research assistant, Pharmaceutics Department, Faculty of Pharmacy, Assiut University, Egypt (2021-)
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Oskar Backman, MSc thesis worker at Natural Materials Technology (2021-)
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Akmal Nipu, MSc thesis worker (ÅA/Bioimaging)
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Anand Kalgudi, MSc thesis worker, UTU / Bioinformatics
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Lilly Holm, MSc thesis worker (2019-)
PhD Graduates (and their LinkedIn pages):
Olli Salin (2011)
Malena Skogman (2012)
Daniela Karlsson (2013)
Mohit Narwal (2014)
Didem Sen Karaman (2016)
Diti Desai (2016)
​Eva von Haartman (2017)
Mirja Palo (2017)
Suvi Manner (2017)
Hossein Vakili (2018)
Neeraj Prabhakar (2018)
Emrah Yildir (2018)
Tina Gulin-Sarfraz (2019)​
Henrika Wickström (2020)
Heidi Öblom (2021)
Chang Liu (2022)
Erica Monaco, née Sjöholm (2023)
Xiaodong Ma (2023)
Jiaqi Yan (2024)
Rawand Mustafa (2024)
Wenhui Zhou (2024)
Atefeh Saadabadi, M.Sc. (2024)
Ezgi Özliseli (2024)
Yonghui Wang (2025)
Sara Rosenberg (2025)
Alumni:
Misbah Saleem, MSc thesis worker, University of Turku (2024)
Sergey Filippov, Visiting Scholar, University of Reading (2021-2024)
Sofia Lisina, Guest Researcher, SPCPU (2019-24)
Mahsa Atefeh Atefi, work experience intern (2024)
Sonja Troberg, MSc thesis worker, Åbo Akademi University ​(2023-2024)
Cagla Celik, Visiting Scholar, Erciyes University (2023-2024)
Seyma Dadi, Visiting Scholar, Erciyes University (2023-2024)
Wenhui Zhou, PhD, Åbo Akademi University (2019-2024)
Chang Liu, Post-doctor, Fudan University (2023-2024)
Xiaoyu Xu, Post-doctor, Fudan University (2023-2024)
Rewand, PhD, Åbo Akademi University (2019-2024)
Rui Liu, PhD, Åbo Akademi University (2019-2024)
Cheng Huang,​​ Visiting Scholar, China-Japan Friendship Hospital (2024-2025)
Capucine Leboucher, Internship student from ESITech, University of Rouen Normandy, France 2024
Business Champion André-Gilles Le Gal, Jasmine PRO project (Business Finland) 2024
Jouni Vuorinen, MSc thesis worker in Pharmacy (2023-24)
Dr. Özge Karadas, postdoc, Izmir Institute of Technology, Türkiye (2021-23)
Dr. Aryane Vigato, postdoc, Federal University of ABC, Human and Natural Sciences Centre, São Paulo, Brazil (2022-23)
Dr. Usama Jamshaid, postdoc, Unison Chemical Works, Pakistan (2023)
Saule Naury, visiting PhD student, L.N. Gumilyov Eurasian National University (2023)
​Svetlana Kovtareva, visiting PhD student, L.N. Gumilyov Eurasian National University (2023)
Micaela Andersin, MSc thesis worker, Biosciences, ÅAU (2022-2023)
Aliaa Ali, intern, University of Turku (2022)
Alexandra Andrisinova, intern, University of Vienna (2022)
Olga Bulgyna, intern (2022-2023)
Elie Shar, MSc thesis worker, University of Umeå (2022-2023)
Yue Ma, Visiting Professor, Jiangsu University (2022-2023)
Ä°layda Özliseli, lab intern, Hacettepe University, Turkey (2022)
Ceren Celik, ERASMUS intern, Ä°zmir Institute of Technology, Turkey (2021-22)
Marcela Rivera, MSc. Internship, University of Turku (Biomedical imaging) (2021-22)
Dr. Rajendra Bhadane, Postdoctoral researcher, 2019 - 2022
Cengizhan Susuz, ERASMUS+ intern, Anadolu University, Turkey (2022)
Silva Hazer, summer intern, ÅAU (2022)
Entrepeneur in Residence (Commercial Lead) Sebastian Soidinsalo, Jasmine PRO (2021-2022)
Dr. Xue Zhang, postdoctoral researcher (2020-2021)
Yonghai Feng, ​Visiting professor, Jiangsu University, China (2021-2022)
Minjia Meng, Visiting professor, Jiangsu University, China (2021-2022)
Nie Qi, MSc thesis worker, Åbo Akademi University (2022)
​​Behice Süren, ERASMUS+ intern, Ä°zmir Katip Celebi University, Turkey (2021-22)
Dr. Mijanur Rahman, postdoctoral researcher jointly with Laboratory of Molecular Science and Engineering (2021-2022)
​Akash James, intern & MSc thesis worker (UTU / Biomedical Science, Medicinal and Radiopharmaceutical Chemistry) (2021-2023)
Jovana Degenek, HPC-Europa3 guest researcher, Serbia (2022)
Aliaa Ali, summer intern & MSc thesis worker, MSc programme in Drug Discovery and Development (UTU) (2021-2022)
Salim Baali, visiting PhD student, Algeria (2022)
​Jasmin Pyrhönen, MSc thesis worker (2020-21)
​Ronja Hellman, MSc thesis worker (2019-21)
Linda Wilkman, MSc (Pharm.Sci) thesis worker (2017-21)
​Kia Peura, MSc (Pharm.Sci.) thesis worker (2020-21)​
Lisa Lindfors, MSc (Pharm.Sci.) thesis worker (2020-21)
Anna-Mari Haapanen-Saaristo, laboratory intern, Biomedical Imaging MSc programme (2020-2021)
Visiting Prof. Sergey Filippov, Harvard University, USA (2019-2021)
Paulina Frolovaité, MSc thesis worker, UTU/ Bioinformatics MSc programme (2020-2021)
Åžerife Beyza Türe, MSc. Internship, Bülent Ecevit University, Erasmus, Turkey (2021)
Fadak Howaili, visiting PhD student (Nanobiotechnology), Tarbiat Modares University, Tehran, Iran (2019-2020)
Cassandre Rouanet, thesis worker, Institut Universitaire Technologique Génie Biologique of Laval/Erasmus, France (2021)​
Brajesh Shrestha, MSc thesis worker, ÅAU (2020-2021)
Nazia Hassan, MSc thesis worker, UTU/Drug Disovery & Development (2019-2021)
Tzu-Chen Rautio, MSc thesis worker, UTU (2019-2021)
Doroteja Bednjanec, MSc thesis worker, ÅAU (2019-2021)
Deependra Yadav, MSc thesis worker, UTU (2019-2021)
Visiting Assoc. Prof. Junnian Zhou, Beijing Institute of Radiation Medicine, Beijing, China (2019-2021)
Visiting Assoc. Prof. Yong Guo, National Research Institute for Family Planning, Beijing, China (2019-2021)
Sajana Manandhar, MSc thesis worker (Analytical Chemistry) (2020)
Akash James (UTU), summer intern (2020)
Niklas Salo (ÅAU Biosciences), summer student (2020)
Orhan Koçak, visiting PhD student, Akdeniz University, Turkey (2020)
Wanping He, MSc thesis worker, Guangdong Pharmaceutical University, China (2019-2020)
Rebecca Sandberg (Cell Biology), MSc thesis worker (2019-2020)
Ville Järvinen (Physics), MSc thesis worker (2019-2020)
​Alaa Benkherouf, laboratory intern, UTU/Biomedical Imaging (2020)
​Dado Tokic,MSc thesis worker, UTU/Drug Disovery & Development (2019-2020)
Dr. Berrin Küçüktürkmen, Ankara University Faculty of Pharmacy, Turkey (2019-2020)
Oksana Terenteva, visiting PhD student, St Petersburg Chemical Pharmaceutical University, Russia (2019)
Oliver Koivisto, MSc thesis worker, UTU/Genetics (2019)
Zala Kobentar, Erasmus student, Slovenia (2019)
Nina Hrvatic, Erasmus student, Slovenia (2019)
Nina Ravbar, Erasmus student, Slovenia (2019)
Maciej Izyk, Erasmus student, Poland (2019)
Dagmara Szynkiewicz, Medical University of Gdansk, Poland (2019)
Harri Heikkinen, MSc course Intership, UTU/Molecular system biology (2019)
Sami Sanlidag, BIMA intern & MSc thesis worker (2017-2019)​
Jiaqi Yan, Guangdong Pharmaceutical University, China (2018-2019)
Laura Leenesonne, MSc thesis worker, Ghent University/Erasmus, Belgium (2019)​
Maren Preis, postdoc, Germany (2016-2019)
Jenny Henriksson, laboratory intern (cell biology) 2019
Annika Alander, laboratory intern (pharmacy) 2019
Zeynep Pamukcu, Erasmus+ trainee, Turkey (2019)
Tamara Somborac, MSc thesis worker, UTU/Drug Disovery & Development MSc programme (2018-2019)
Salim Baali, visiting PhD student, Algeria (2019)
Klara Kuret, MSc thesis worker (Erasmus student) (2019)
Julia Krebs, Master intership, Germany (2019)
​Ahmed Hassan Ibrahim, Department of Pharmaceutics and Industrial Pharmacy, Al-Azhar University, Egypt (2018-2019)
​​Abrar Taiseer, MSc thesis worker, UTU/Drug Disovery & Development MSc programme (2018-2019)
Mariam Gouda, MSc thesis worker, UTU/Drug Disovery & Development MSc programme (2018-2019)
​Alexandra Manea, MSc thesis worker, UTU/Drug Disovery & Development MSc programme (2018-2019)
Dr. Ajay Verma, Health and Family Welfare Department, Government of M.P./Smriti College of Pharmaceutical Education, India (2018-19)
Associate Professor Yuezhou Zhang, Northwestern Polytechnical University, China (2017-2019)
Xiaodong Ma, Huaihai Technology University, China (2018-2019)
Johanna Wik, MSc thesis worker (2018-2019)
​Assoc. Prof. Ming Ma, China Academy of Science (2018)​
Marco Lago, MSc thesis worker, University of Padua, Italy (2018)
Tanzeela Bashir, Intership, Oulu University (2018)
Rukiye Nur Akpolat, Intership, Turkey (2018)
Minghua Yao, Tongji University Affiliated Hospital, China (2018)
Korbinian Weisensee, MSc thesis worker, Germany (2017-2018)
Severien Standaert, MSc thesis worker, Ghent University (2018)
Asst. prof. Yasuharu Kashiwagura, University of Shizuoka, Japan (2018)
Peiru Yang, Visiting MSc student, Jiangsu University Hospital, China (2017-2018)
Zahra Gounani, EDUFI fellowship, Iran (2017-2018)
Shahadat Hossain, Research Assistant (2017-2018)
Jing Tu, postdoc, the Netherlands/China (2017-2018)
Lisa Hanauer, Internship, Germany (2017)
Aleksandra Orłowska, ERASMUS student, Poland (2017)
Ibrahim Mamudu, ERASMUS student, Turkey (2017)
Azam Rashidian, MSc thesis worker, UTU (2017)
Jaakko Suominen, project researcher (2016-2017)
Kalaimathy Singaravelu, project assistant (2016-2017)
Jenny Holländer, University of Helsinki (2016-2017)
Helene Kettiger, postdoc, Switzerland (Jan 2016 - June 2017)
Darya Demidenok, Visiting PhD student, Russia (2016-2017)
Bram Bogaert, MSc thesis worker, Ghent, Belgium (2017)
Aino Oisalo, Metropolia University of Applied Sciences (2016-2017)
Jhinuk Rahman, Germany (2016-2017)
Meltem Guzelgulen, Ege university, Turkey (2017)
Arpita Paul, Erasmus trainee, Germany/India (2017)
Giorgia Patrignani, Erasmus trainee, Italy (2017)
Eudald Casals Mercadal, postdoc, Spain (Jan 2015 - Dec 2016)
Lingeshwar Reddy Kumbam, CIMO fellowship, India (2015-2016)
Victor Diaz, Erasmus trainee, Spain (2016)
Ines Pollmann, Graduate Research Intern, Germany (2016)
Anouk Broos, MSc student, Belgium (2016)
Paulina Przychodzeń, MSc student, Poland (2016)
Kübra Olagan, Erasmus trainee, Turkey (2016)
Sami Sanlidag, Turkey (Apr-May 2016)
Melahat Seda Aydin, Erasmus trainee, Turkey (2016)
Cecilia Antman, MSc, Project researcher (2016)
Yasmin Thabet, Germany (2016)
Koji Nakano, visiting PhD student, Japan (2015-2016)
Lingeshwar Reddy Kumbam, CIMO PhD student, India (2015-2016)
Anna Slita, Erasmus trainee, Russia (2015)
Magdalena Bigaj, Erasmus trainee, Poland (2015)
Ellen Hilgert, MSc student, Belgium (2015)
Josefa Ortiz, Erasmus trainee, Spain (2015)
Kemal Cen Arat, Turkey (Aug-Sep 2015)
Natalja Genina, PhD, Project researcher (2011-2014)
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