Piia Karisola

Piia Karisola is a University Researcher and Human Microbiome Research Supervisor in the Doctoral Programme in Integrative Life Science at the University of Helsinki, Faculty of Medicine. She holds an active ORCID (0000-0003-0635-2704) and manages multiple research projects funded by the Sigrid Jusélius Foundation, European Commission, and Occupational Safety and Health Fund.

Her research spans immunology, microbiome, nanotoxicology, and transcriptomics, focusing on environmental impacts (nanoparticles, UV radiation, allergens) on skin and immune responses. Key areas include allergic diseases, contact hypersensitivity, and post-COVID-19 conditions, utilizing molecular biology, bioinformatics, and in vivo models to investigate host-microbe interactions and immune regulation.

Recent publications (2023-2025) emphasize nanomaterial safety assessment, skin immunology, and transcriptomic profiling of disease mechanisms. Her work reveals how engineered nanoparticles alter skin/lung immunity, identifies molecular signatures in long COVID and allergic disorders, and explores microbiome-immune crosstalk in health and disease through international collaborations.

She currently leads four major projects: Juselius 2024 (€700,000, 2024-2028) on human microbiome research, TSR TORJU (€107,760, 2023-2026) in occupational health, EU/Re-MEND (€249,208, 2023-2027) on nanomaterial safety, and HKU intern hosting. She previously contributed to the EU/INQUIRE project (2022-2027) as a team member.

As head of the Human Microbiome Research group, she collaborates with the University of Helsinki's Nanoscience Center and hosts international researchers like Chunying Chen (2016). Her team integrates immunology, toxicology, and bioinformatics expertise to address environmental health challenges through mechanistic and translational studies.