Researcher of the Month

June 2026

From Molecular Neuroscience to Prostate Cancer Research

With a solid foundation in biomedicine, K. Albin Johansson Cancer Research Fellow Mikael Marttinen began his scientific journey with a PhD in neuroscience, where he focused on uncovering the molecular mechanisms underlying Alzheimer’s disease. Mikael’s doctoral research combined the analysis of multiomic patient data with functional genomics experiments, allowing him to explore the biological complexity of neurodegeneration from both computational and experimental perspectives.

Following his PhD, Mikael joined the European Molecular Biology Laboratory (EMBL) in Heidelberg as a postdoctoral fellow. There, he broadened his expertise into regulatory genomics, developing scalable methods for single-cell multiomic analysis. He also worked on computational frameworks that integrate diverse datasets to reveal how gene regulatory networks evolve during cellular processes. This work laid the foundation for understanding how cells change states and respond to different biological signals at high resolution.

From Heidelberg Mikael transitioned to Tampere University, where he now applies this expertise to cancer research—specifically prostate cancer.

Uncovering Treatment Resistance Through Advanced Multiomic Approaches

Mikael’s current work focuses on understanding the regulatory mechanisms that drive treatment resistance and investigating the role of lineage plasticity, a process where cancer cells change their identity to survive therapy.

Tampere University provides an exceptional environment for prostate cancer research, with access to extensive patient cohorts, high-quality clinical samples, and strong collaborations with clinicians. Mikael’s background in regulatory genomics and in combining experimental and computational approaches complements these resources, enabling the team to explore non-genetic mechanisms that play a critical role in cancer progression.

A key focus of Mikael’s research is to understand how cancer cells respond to treatment at the regulatory level. His team asks for example: Which gene regulatory networks become activated or suppressed after therapy? Are there epigenomic features that identify cells already primed to survive treatment? Addressing these questions may help explain why certain cancer cells persist despite aggressive therapies.

Mikael’s research activities integrate advanced single-cell and spatial multiomic technologies with clinical data from prostate cancer patients. These approaches allow him to study tumors at unprecedented resolution, capturing both molecular changes and their spatial context within tissues. By combining cutting-edge technologies with unique clinical resources, Mikael’s goal is to uncover the mechanisms that underlie treatment resistance and tumor progression.

Uncovering Treatment Resistance Through Advanced Multiomic Approaches

One of Mikael’s recent studies highlighted a previously underappreciated population of “club-like” cells that persist even after androgen deprivation therapy, the standard treatment for advanced prostate cancer. Using spatial analysis of patient tissue samples, the researchers showed that these cells may also play a role in shaping the tumor immune environment. This discovery raises important questions about whether such cells contribute to cancer initiation, progression, and resistance to treatment. If confirmed, they could represent novel targets for future therapies.

To further investigate these processes, Mikael and his team have developed a new method that significantly increases the scale and throughput of multimodal single-cell analyses. This technological advancement allows them to analyze patient samples in much greater detail, providing new opportunities to identify the cellular mechanisms that enable cancers to survive and adapt to treatment.

Life Outside Research

Beyond research, I value spending time with my family and engaging in outdoor activities. Like many in Finland, I feel a deep connection to nature. It offers both a space for reflection and a way to step back from the fast pace of academic life, helping to maintain balance and perspective.