University of Helsinki
Dr Karmen Kapp is a university lecturer and researcher from the Tammela Laboratory at the Faculty of Pharmacy.
She received her MSc (Pharm) in 2011 from the University of Tartu, Estonia, and thereafter began her doctoral studies at the Faculty of Pharmacy, University of Helsinki where she received her PhD (Pharm) in 2016.
Her research work focuses on natural product isolation and analytics. More specifically, she focuses on bioactivity screening of natural product extracts or isolated pure compounds. Her teaching responsibilities centre around courses in natural product drug discovery, chromatography, and microbiology.
She views the Art Meets Science project as a great opportunity to make science and research work more accessible to the public. Karmen also states “It is a great way to become better acquainted with the research work of other research groups and make new contacts. This, combined with the possibility to meet artists and participate in the creation of a piece of art, makes the project unique.”
Karmen has enjoyed the meetings and discussions with the artists collaborating with their research group – Polina Ilina and Marianne Valonlehto. Although she has not yet seen the completed piece of art, Karmen believes that both artists have made “great work and the art pieces will be gorgeous”. The project has also broadened her understanding of what is needed to produce and create artwork.
Karmen is a member of Professor Päivi Tammela’s bioactivity screening group. You can learn more about her research from the group’s website and Instagram.