Satu Koskela

Satu Koskela, PhD, Associate Professor of Immunogenetics, is a Senior Scientist at the Finnish Red Cross Blood Service Biobank. She earned her doctorate in platelet molecular genetics and later specialized in clinical HLA laboratory work. Over the past decade in R&D, she has designed and coordinated research projects while building the necessary infrastructure. Her expertise lies in immunogenetics, with a particular focus on the MHC genomic region. In recent years, she has expanded her knowledge beyond classical HLA to include KIR genetics, as well as non-classical HLA and MIC genetics. Her deep understanding of HLA has been instrumental in developing a population-specific HLA imputation tool for the Blood Service Biobank and the FinnGen initiative. She is also a national representative of EU-COST Action network HAPLO-iPS and a national QM lead of BBMRI.ERIC. Today, as both a biobanker and researcher, she is committed to advancing innovative ways to utilize biobank samples and computational HLA data to benefit research, patients, and blood donation.