Training and Knowledge Exchange – Yellow4FLAVI Lab Visit

As part of Yellow4FLAVI's commitment to training and capacity building, Dr. Pinja Jalkanen, a postdoctoral researcher in Dr. Pieta Mattila’s team at the University of Turku (Turun yliopisto, Finland), recently undertook a 4-day lab exchange at Prof. Anne Krug’s lab at the Ludwig-Maximilians-Universität München (LMU Munich).

Hosted by Margarita Shnipova, a PhD student in the laboratory of Professor Anne Krug, Dr. Jalkanen received hands-on training in the purification of the YF17D yellow fever vaccine virus. This training not only enabled valuable knowledge transfer, but also directly contributed to the preparation of virus stocks for the Yellow4FLAVI project.

This exchange falls under the scope of Work Package 1, which explores how the structural characteristics of the yellow fever virus influence immune recognition and how the virus is processed inside cells.

Dr. Jalkanen brings complementary expertise in virology and immunology, particularly in B cell activation and antigen presentation to T helper cells, which further enriched the scientific collaboration between the two labs.

Such inter-lab visits are essential to fostering collaboration and advancing vaccine research and scientific capacity.

Inter-laboratory exchanges such as this play a vital role in strengthening scientific partnerships, building technical capacity, enhancing cooperation and thus accelerating progress in vaccine research which are core goals of Yellow4FLAVI.