Principal Investigator/Group Leader

ping.chen@ki.se OR ping.chen@helsinki.fi

As a computational biologist, I am dedicated to bridging the gap between data science and medical research. I earned my Ph.D. in Medical Systems Biology from the University of Helsinki in 2016, where my doctoral dissertation focused on the ‘Quantitative Study of Transcriptome Dynamics during Evolution and Treatment Resistance in Cancer’.

Following my Phd, I pursued received postdoctoral research training on Smart-seq2/3 single cell methodology in Rickard Sandberg’s group, and on immunometabolism in Myriam Aouadi’s group at Karolinska Institutet, Sweden.

Since 2022, I have been leading my independent research group at the Division of Clinical Chemistry in KI LABMED. Our team is deeply engaged in data-driven research on human cardiometabolic diseases, encompassing both computational method development and in-depth mechanistic studies. Additionally, since September 2023, I have started a second lab at the University of Helsinki in Finland. This lab is dedicated to investigating the regulation of alternative splicing in human metabolic diseases.

Postdoc Researcher

jingyang.niu@ki.se

I obtained my PhD from the School of Biomedical Engineering, Shanghai JiaoTong University, China. My interests are on bioinformatics and machine learning. I am currently doing my postdoc research in Chen’s research group focusing on computational analysis and method development for single-nucleotide variant calling, including genomic variants and RNA editing. Our goal is to construct powerful SNV tools specific tailored for human metabolic disease.

Postdoc Researcher

congcong.li@ki.se

I am a molecular and cell biologist with roots in China, scientific training in France, and a research career spanning France and Sweden. I hold a PhD in Molecular and Cellular Biology from the French National Museum of Natural History, where I focused on telomere-related biology in cancer cells and developed new methods to detect biomarkers specific to Alternative Lengthening of Telomeres (ALT), a mechanism used by 10–15% of cancer cell types to maintain immortality. I joined Chen’s research group in June 2026, where my work sits at the intersection of RNA biology and metabolic disease. Using wet-lab approaches, I investigate how RNA regulation connects to functional disease mechanisms, with a translational vision toward improved diagnostics and therapeutic strategies.

PhD student (iCANDOC)

depin.wang@helsinki.fi

I am a passionate bioinformatician with shared experience between academia and the biotech industry. I am working in the fields of bioinformatics and data science to reveal the mechanisms of diseases. Currently, I am carrying out a PhD study in Chen’s research group. My research focuses on developing computational methods and analyzing data to investigate the impact of alternative splicing on metabolic disorders associated with obesity.

PhD student (iCANDOC)

simge.sengul@helsinki.fi

I hold an MSc degree from the Bioinformatics and Systems Biology program at Gebze Technical University, Türkiye, where I specialized in analyzing multi-omic datasets and constructing mathematical models to explore tumor microenvironments. I joined Chen’s research group in November 2024 and I am currently pursuing my doctoral research, focusing on gene regulation traits and networks in metabolic disorders and cancer. My work bridges bioinformatics and systems biology to address critical questions in cancer progression and Immunometabolism research.

Research Assistant (Life Science Informatics)

xiyuan.zhang@helsinki.fi

I am a bioinformatics master student from the Master’s Programme in Life Science Informatics (LSI) at University of Helsinki in Finland. I received my Bachelor of engineering in bioengineering from the Chinese University of Hong Kong (CUHK) in 2022. Currently, my work involves implementing bioinformatics pipelines and tools to identify alternative splicing at a single cell level.

Research Assistant (Life Science Informatics)

suhas.kodakandla@helsinki.fi

I am a Master’s student in Life Science Informatics at the University of Helsinki. I joined Chen Lab as a Research Assistant in February 2026. My work here involves implementing and building bioinformatics pipelines to analyse spatial multiomics data. Outside of the lab, I enjoy reading and taking walks.

Research Assistant (Life Science Informatics)

marian.kuddus@helsinki.fi

   

  

I am a Master’s student pursuing a Life Science Informatics (LSI) degree at the University of Helsinki, focusing on bioinformatics and systems medicine. I previously completed my Bachelor’s in Computer Science and Engineering from United International University in Bangladesh, specializing in machine learning and bioinformatics. My current work and interests involve using computational methods to identify transcription factors and their effects on gene regulation.

Research Assistant

artur.khaziev@helsinki.fi

My name is Artur. I am studying medicine at the University of Helsinki. In June 2025, I joined Chen’s research group as a research assistant, where I am learning new computational methods and helping other lab members with their projects.

Cheng Yang (KI Research Assistant 2025-2026)

Jun Jin (KI Research Assistant 2025-2026)

Julia Balewska (KI Nutrition Science 2023-2025)

Shenwei Shi (KI Biomedicine 2024-2025)

Amos Bonsdorff (UH summer student 2024)

Qianqian Xia (UH Research Assistant 2024)

Sebastian Nock (KI Postdoc)