Back to School soon...

It is about time, when almost all of us have our summer holidays behind, and hopefully everyone has had a relaxing and enjoyable vacation. At least I had, and one of the greatest moments was Andy's wedding in Paris. It was again a good reminder of how science can also unite cultures, and it was really a privilege to be part of Congolese-French-Finnish wedding traditions. So thank you Andy, for inviting some of us and all the best in the future!

 

The trip to France also gave an opportunity to extend the holiday a bit, and see all the major attractions and thanks to Janne and Sohvi for their travelling company, we actually travelled all the major train lines to their final tops; North, South, West, and East! 😎 At the end, I also realized and I need to remember this for the upcoming semester; that not everything is as they seem to be. Unfortunately, we tend to judge things and people without better knowledge. For me, I thought that I knew what macarons are, and I must to admit that I have always wondered what all the fuss is about them, but having eaten ones in Paris, I realized that this was really the first time I had had macarons, all the dozens before that have been just cheap copies... 

Have a Great Summer Break!

Soon it starts to be the time for most of us to have the summer holidays, unless already started. Before that, we received some great news, since Janne, Ville, Hamed, and Mikko received UEF-travel grants, and Janne also Saastamoinen Foundation grant for the research visit abroad (unfortunately, no press release from made of that, which is pretty unusual behaviour from UEF...). Anyway, congratulations! 

We also had a nice gathering and outdoor activities at Puijo, before we all spread around the world for the holidays! Anyway, have a relaxing and enjoyable summer break, and let's get back with fresh ideas and enthusiasm! 

Kuopio Neuroscience 50 Years

This week has been active for many of us. Half of the group was participating in the 50th Anniversary Symposium of Neuroscience (link) in Kuopio Music Centre 15–17 June 2026, focusing on Pathogenesis, Early Diagnosis and Modern Care of Neurodegenerative Diseases, Epilepsy and Stroke. It was nice to meet all the colleagues from the other side of the campus, but also meet new ones and hear the science that we are also involved in, from another perspective. And since such a big event and great speakers were around the corner, it was a great opportunity for us to let "the other corner know" what we are all about. Unfortunately, even these days, it is relatively common that we, "the drug developers" don't really speak the same language with the clinicians and basic researchers or neuroscientists. Therefore, these events are highly important to mix and match!

This week, Hamed also participated at the same time in Gordon Research Conference, Membrane Transporters and the Gateway to Health & Disease (link), in Lucca (Italy) and had a speech in the satellite Gordon Research Seminar, Decoding the Basis of Transmembrane Transport in Health and Disease Across the Kingdoms of Life (link). So job well done, congratulations, Hamed! I look forward to hearing what all you learned and can bring to us!