Benita Westerlund-Wikström

Benita Westerlund-Wikström is a Senior University Lecturer at the Faculty of Biological and Environmental Sciences, University of Helsinki, and Principal Investigator in the Molecular and Integrative Biosciences Research Programme. Her research focuses on molecular mechanisms of bacterial pathogenesis and host interactions.

• Education: MSc (1986), PhD (1991), Adjunct Professor in Molecular Microbiology (1993)

Research Interests:

• Bacterial surface proteins and appendages
• Pathogenic mechanisms in Escherichia coli and Staphylococcus aureus
• Probiotic applications of lactic acid bacteria
• Biotechnological utilization of bacterial proteins
• Urinary tract infections and neonatal meningitis
• Protein secretion and display systems

Publication Trends (2000–2024): 68 research outputs spanning bacterial adhesion, flagellar biology, pathogenesis, and food biotechnology. Key work includes characterization of Escherichia coli fimbriae, Staphylococcus aureus virulence factors, and plant polyphenol bioactivities.

Mentorship & Collaborations:

• Supervised 11+ Master’s theses (2012–2020)
• Project leadership in grants from Svenska kulturfonden (2025), Tekes/Salwe (2014–2018)
• Peer review for journals like PLoS One, Current Topics in Biotechnology
• Postdoctoral mentorship (2014–2017)

Laboratory: Maintains research group at University of Helsinki’s Biocenter 2, with homepage at Molecular Bacteriology Lab.