Research Groups

bacterial virome, bacteriome, cultivation technologies, food, food composition, food technologies, gut microbiota, nutrition, phageome (bacterial virome)

Microfluidics enables conducting of biological and chemical experiments in very small volumes of fluids. In basic and applied research, the volumes used in experiments usually range from 1 litre to 1 microlitre.

Microfluidic devices allow automating, controlling, and performing tests using even smaller volumes.

Manufacturing of microfluidic devices is multidisciplinary, including the fields of mechanics, IT, engineering, material science, chemistry, and many others.

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antibiotic resistance, digital microfluidics, droplet microfluidics, image analysis​, microbiology, microfluidics

Our studies focus on the molecular mechanisms of gene expression, including transcription, mRNA and protein subcellular localization, translation, posttranslational modifications, and signaling, in the nervous system and in different diseases.

The main emphasis of the research is on neurotrophins, their receptors and activity-regulated gene expression.

Specifically, we study

1. Molecular mechanisms controlling neural activity-regulated transcription and translation of the neurotrophin BDNF;
2. The functions of the basic helix-loop-helix transcription factor TCF4 in the nervous system of mammals and Drosophila and its deregulation in Pitt-Hopkins syndrome and schizophrenia;
3. Molecular markers in blood for early diagnostics of different diseases.

The aim of our research group is to characterize the molecular basis of expression of genes regulated by neural activity in the nervous system and its pathologies.

BDNF, bHLH transcription factors, cardiovascular diseases, covid-19, heart diseases, melanoma, neuronal activity-regulated transcription, ​neurotrophins, Pitt-Hopkins syndrome, schizophrenia, TCF4/E2-2

The laboratory of neuroepigenetics studies how epigenetic mechanisms control neuronal development and function throughout life. Neurons are born and mature early in development and are typically not replaced during the organism's lifetime. Therefore, once neurons have matured and become fully functional, they must remain so for a long time - in humans, for up to a hundred years or more. This means that the transcriptional programs that become established during neuronal maturation must remain stable - yet responsive to external stimuli - over the entire lifespan of an organism.

We are interested in how the epigenetic landscape is set up and controls transcriptional programs in during neuronal maturation and how epigenetic and transcriptional stability are maintained in neurons throughout life.

Our key projects are:

• Histone bivalency and methyltransferase EZH1 in neuronal development and function
• The role of H3K27me3 in adult and ageing neurons

ageing, brain development, epigenetics, gene regulation, histone modifications, neurons

The central nervous system tissues are made of a number of different cell types, among which astrocytes are one of the most abundant type. In the CNS tissue cells are highly intermixed, posing a challenge when trying to analyze their transcriptomes and proteomes separately. Owing to the difficulties separating these cells, bulk tissue analysis has been used previously to profile mRNA and protein in tissue, giving averaged readouts across the tissue. In the past decade, cell type specific RNA analysis has seen enormous progress with the advent of single cell RNA sequencing and genetic tools for cell-type specific RNA isolation (TRAP, Ribotag). However, cell type specific proteome analysis is lagging behind and widely used, straightforward methods are not available.

Our research aim is to develop a cell type-specific proteome analysis method that is based on puromycin labeling, and to apply the method to studying neuron-astrocyte interactions in an in vitro co-culture system. In addition, we shall use the Ribotag method for cell type-specific mRNA analysis.
A key strategy we are planning to use for studying intercellular communication is activation of either neurons of astrocytes by triggering intracellular Ca2+ release by using the DREADD chemogenetic system – followed by proteomic and transcriptomic analysis of the other cell type in culture.
Our additional research interest is regulation of neurotrophin BDNF in astrocytes and cardiomyocytes.

Key competences: cell cultures of neurons, astrocytes and cardiomyocytes; cell type-specific RNA and protein analysis; adeno-Associate virus (AAV) vector production and use.

cell type-specific RNA and protein profiling, cell types of the nervous system, neurotrophin BDNF in non-neuronal cells​

The research group is active in a number of research fields related to organisation and management, using different theoretical lenses and research methods. The primary research interests can be grouped under leadership, future of work, well-being and responsible, ethical organizational development and sustainable management.

The group collaborates with a number of internationally renowned researchers working within the confines of organization and management, future of work, occupational safety and related research areas.

The purpose of the group is to extend the scientific body of knowledge concerning the related fields of organization and management and to contribute to practice, by presenting opportunities and challenges confronting Estonian organizations and beyond. The overall interest of the group is to investigate how organizations transform their knowledge and access to new digital solutions into innovative outputs to achieve and maintain sustainable business development. The group members have a broad portfolio of expertise gained from working with a variety of national and international private and public organizations. The aim is to take advantage of it and use this expertise to develop it further for the greater good.

change management, future of work and digital transformation, human resource management, knowledge and innovation management, leader-follower relationship, leadership, occupational health, occupational safety and risks, organizational psychology, responsible and ethical organizational development, risk management, strategic management, well-being

We study genetic, molecular and cellular aspects of plant-microbe interactions. We use predominantly different cereals as well as the model plant Arabidopsis thaliana and various tobacco species as experimental host plant species. We identify and characterize, using next-generation sequencing techniques, viruses infecting cereal crops in Estonia and neighbouring countries. We study especially sobemoviruses. In plant molecular biology, our object of research is ABCE genes.

We take part in the EEA project “EditGrass4Food” that aims to utilize transcriptomics and functional genomics to increase sustainability in agriculture through improvement of perennial ryegrass with better adaptation to frost and drought for current and future climates. The project is developed in cooperation with the University of Latvia (as promoter), Norwegian University of Life Sciences and Lithuanian Agriculture and Forestry Sciences Center.

Thanks to the Estonian-French Parrot programme, we are studying the emergence and divergence of plant viruses on cereals, based on sobemoviruses, together with the Institut de Recherche pour le Développement (Montpellier).
We coordinate the EUPHRESCO project “Diagnosis and epidemiology of viruses infecting cereal crops” and have formed an international research network of scientists interested in mapping the virus spread and improvement of the diagnostics. Currently, there are 24 international partners from different countries.

​In have been the coordinators for the EMP project “An innovative platform for Estonia-Norway research-based teaching in bioinformatics and gene editing”.

adaptation to climate change, ​​agricultural crop diseases, biotic and biotic stresses, CRISPR/Cas9, genotyping​, plant viruses, RNA silencing suppressors, wheat pre-breeding

Our research group is committed to producing ambitious cutting-edge work in the field of private law, having a special focus on private legal relationships in digital environments. Primarily designed to iteratively develop expertise on these matters, members of the research group aim to share and disseminate their work to complement legal and social discourses and, where identifiable and necessary, actualize societal change therein. We aim to contribute to international, national and regional debates on these matters, address traditional and novel legal problems with a varied toolbox of methods, and, where appropriate, based on developed expertise, propose nuanced policy-recommendations and context-specific legal advice.

Big data, IoT, AI and the respective legal interferences of their implementation and use in society form the core subject of our research, but we have also focused on legal implications of the Gig-economy, competition law and data governance issues in Smart Cities, digital evidence, online dispute resolution and LegalTech. Also research on HCI and HCI research methods, mixed research methodology, international business transactions international mediation forms an essential part of our competencies.

The research group incorporates elements of the Value-Sensitive Design framework into discussions on societally acceptable, inclusive, human-centric and thus innovative governance mechanisms in private legal relationships.

Algorithm-based decision-making, Alternative dispute resolution methods, blockchain, civil liability, Consumer Law, cyber security, healthcare sector, labor law, legal frameworks for industry 4.0/IoT, legal tech, mediated transaction design, mixed methodologies (human-computer interaction), smart contracts, tervishoid

The main research object of the group is asymmetric organic synthesis.

The research includes a total synthesis of bioactive compounds and investigations of cascade, including cascade reactions. Studies of asymmetric organocatalytic reactions are of importance. Aminocatalysis based on covalent bound, hydrogen-bond and halogen-bond catalysis based on noncovalent interactions, enzymatic and co-operative catalysis are the main topics. Cascade reactions providing several new chemical bonds in one step are also studied. It increases atom-efficiency, decreases the number of steps needed and makes the whole process environmentally more benign. Practical value to studies is added by the synthesis of human milk oligosaccharides (HMO-s). The synthesis is supported by spectroscopic and crystallographic experiments, chromatography and quantum chemical calculations.The characteristic feature of the research is the application of the principles of sustainable and green chemistry in asymmetric synthesis.

The most important research result is a new method of the synthesis of a specific HMO (6’-galactosyllactose). This new method is based on the application of the immobilised enzyme (CAL-B). It decreases considerably the number of steps needed for obtaining of the glycosylation donors and acceptors.

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asymmetric synthesis, cascade reactions, catalysis​, halogen-bond catalysis, organocatalysis, synthesis, synthesis of oligosaccharides

The objectives of the research group are to develop and promote healthy foods and healthy diets through basic and applied research and teaching. We combine methods of chemistry, physics, sensorics, biotechnology, nutrition and food safety. Biochemical, physical and microbiological processes are followed during the whole food chain, from production of raw materials to food consumption. The wide range of competences enable to solve different problems and developments of food and biotechnology companies.
One of the most important areas is the development of science-based food technologies to produce higher value-added products. We develop processes improving product quality, process yields and cost-effective production. We are also studying the use of alternative raw materials for novel foods.

MAIN RESEARCH ITEMS:

• Bio-food systems (Toomas Paalme)
• Food sensory and instrumental analysis (Kristel Vene)
• Peptides as a source of amino acids in fermentation (Ildar Nisamedtinov)
• Food quality and structure (Katrin Laos)
• Food microbiomes: food quality, safety and innovation (Inga Sarand)
• Solid state fermentations (SSF) (Allan Olspert)

cultivation technologies, food, food analysis, food and drink, food chemistry, food fermentations, food microbiology, food physics, food processing technologies, food safety and quality, food technologies, gut microbiota, nutrition