Nordic Life Science 1
INTERVIEW // THE JALKANENS Sirpa and Markku Jalka
nen were finalists in the European Inventor Award 2024 in the SMEs category ful research and I am able to spot unmet needs. My medical training motivates me to do something useful for the patients.” D uring their three years at Stanford Markku and Sirpa Jalkanen learned about new areas and methods of research, and when they returned to Finland, they each focused on their areas of interest, collaborating from time to time. “We combined our strengths to find new cancer treatments,” says Sirpa. Her research team discovered a new target molecule that is important for controlling inflammation and the spread of cancer, and Markku was recruited to create a core facility for life scientists – a joint effort of the Finnish language University of Turku and the Swedish language Åbo Akademi University. Offices in separate rooms While their partnership is solid at home and in the lab, Sirpa jokes that it has been nice to have separate offices. “He is so tidy,” she says, while she herself tends to grow piles of papers. Their home is quite orderly however, she adds, mostly due to her husband’s influence. “But she is very tidy when it comes to keeping track of her research,” Markku notes. “And Sirpa always had twice the work during our careers, since she also took care of the children and managed the home.” “This is not entirely true, as Markku has always been a great help. Having originally grown up in a farmhouse, he has learned to fix almost anything,” adds Sirpa. Now retired after devoting more than 40 years to scientific inquiry, Markku is writing a book about his research and enjoys his new schedule. “I like not having so many meetings on the calendar,” he says. Sirpa and her team are still at work on biomedical and clinical medicine at the University of Turku, focusing on mediating cell trafficking in harmful inflammations and NORDICLIFESCIENCE.ORG | 37 PHOTO HENRI VOGT/©EUROPEAN PATENT OFFICE