Sara A. Wickström

Professor Sara A. Wickström is Director at the Max Planck Institute for Molecular Biomedicine (Münster, Germany), a position held since late 2021. She previously served as Professor and head of the Cell and Developmental Biology Laboratory at the University of Helsinki's Faculty of Medicine and Helsinki Institute of Life Science. Her career includes a decade as Max Planck Research Group Leader at the Institute for Biology of Ageing (Cologne) and postdoctoral training at the Max Planck Institute of Biochemistry (Martinsried).

Wickström earned her MD (2001) and PhD (2004) through an MD/PhD program at the University of Helsinki, where she began as a medical student.

Her research investigates fundamental mechanisms of tissue formation and maintenance, focusing on:

• Stem cell communication networks within microenvironments
• Coordination of cell proliferation, migration, and differentiation during tissue morphogenesis
• Molecular pathways sustaining tissue health across lifespans
• Dysregulation mechanisms leading to cancer development

This interdisciplinary work bridges developmental biology and oncology to identify novel therapeutic targets.

She established and led the Cell and Developmental Biology Laboratory in Helsinki and currently directs a research team at the Max Planck Institute exploring stem cell dynamics in tissue architecture and disease.