Professor Tomi Mäkelä appointed as Director of HiLIFE Helsinki Institute of Life Science

The new HiLIFE Helsinki Institute of Life Science at the University of Helsinki is ramping up its operations with the appointment of Professor Tomi Mäkelä as Director for a five-year term starting 1 August 2017.

”We are very happy that Tomi Mäkelä has been chosen to lead HiLIFE through its early stages. Based on the rigorous international call, we are confident that Mäkelä has the excellent leadership qualities required for this job”, says Vice-Rector Keijo Hämäläinen, the chairman of the HiLIFE board.

Alongside taking responsibility of HiLIFE’s overall operations, Mäkelä will place emphases on supporting outstanding research and training, and on maximizing synergies between the University’s life science units and research infrastructures, as well as on further enhancing the visibility and utilisation of new knowledge together with the University’s national and international partners.

“I am really excited for this opportunity to lead HiLIFE and its current and future staff in forming part of a leading Nordic life science hub in Helsinki. Recent international and local developments provide a unique opportunity to recruit top talent and provide solutions to grand challenges in the areas of health, food, and the environment”, says Mäkelä.

The aim of HiLIFE will be to work together with leaders and top researchers across the life sciences at the University of Helsinki as well as with local and international partners.

“HiLIFE is a major strategic investment for the University of Helsinki and its first profiling action. Therefore, a director capable of fostering high-profile basic research, as well as boosting impact and innovations within life sciences is a must. It is with great pleasure that I appoint Tomi Mäkelä as HiLIFE Director”, says Rector Jukka Kola.