Hey! I’m Okko. I enjoy to learn and study new things, such as neurology, computers, and graphic design. I strive for new challenges and projects. I also have an extensive background in various non-profit organizations, aiding my organizational and teamwork skills.
If you have any questions or work offers, please contact me! I’m always open to new opportunities and projects.
Working at Laboratory of Neurotherapeutics (Dr. Rantamäki), researching the biochemical mechanisms of novel rapid-acting antidepressants.
Key skills and responsibilities:
• Wet lab protocols
• Use of translational mouse models of depression
• Functional imaging
• Animal handling
Project-based research work related to schizophrenia and Parkinson’s disease rodent models. Behavioral & cognitive testing of the animals. Searching for a suitable subject for a PhD thesis.
Key skills learned during the internship:
For my Masters thesis, titled “Autoradiography in Preclinical Schizophrenia Research”, I worked at Charles River Laboratories in the research group specialized in neuroimaging.
During my time at the company I was tasked for designing, organizing and reporting of the study. My work was part of a poster presented at Neuroscience 2015 seminar 20.10.2015 in Chicago.
Key skills learned during the internship:
Poster: Alitalo O, Rytkönen J, Parkkari T, Nurmi A, Huhtala T: Quantitative Metabolic Changes and G Protein-Coupled Receptor Activation Using Autoradiography.
As an employee of Farenta I have performed customer service and sales in highly competitive and varying work environment spanning over 30 community pharmacies.
Key skills learned during my employment in Farenta:
In Koivu Apteekki I completed my second pharmacy internship, and after graduation I continued my work there as a pharmacist. During my time in Koivu Apteekki I received extensive education in customer service, marketing, and cosmetics by the incredibly talented and friendly employees. In addition, I created advertising graphics, updated and created new standard operating protocols, and educated the pharmacy employees in the use of surveillance camera system.
During my internship in A. I. Virtanen Institute I worked in the research group of Heikki Tanila, specialized in the neurobiology of memory. I assisted the group with the building of the components required for assessment of brain evoked potentials, mouse stereotactic surgery, and the electrophysiological monitoring of brain. The resulting bachelors thesis was titled “In Vivo Electrophysiology of Mouse Visual System In Preclinical Drug Research.”
I was also tasked perform basic principles of histological sample processing, including cryostat usage, sample labeling, and imaging.
Pharmacy internship in Oulu. Work was mainly focused on OTC medication sales and customer service.
Graphic design for various companies and organizations, including:
Department of Pharmacology. Masters thesis titled “Autoradiography in Preclinical Schizophrenia Research”.
I used the Apteekkari magazine 100-year grant to study a vocational degree in marketing communications. The program focused on the pharmacy-related public relations and advertisement. As the diploma work I planned and implemented new visual brand for the Pharmacy student association Fortis ry. The brand overhaul included new vector iteration of the logo, color planning, and tendering and order of new Fortis-related brand materials. I also standardized both internal and external communication materials of the organization.
Department of Pharmacology
As the board member responsible for communications, I was responsible for the administration of the internet presence of student association Fortis ry. The administration required the management of Joomla-based website, mailing lists, and social media accounts. I pursued to enhance the quality of the communications by following regular metrics, such as online surveys, for analyzing the quality of the communications.
In 2015 I started as the secretary of the student organization, performing various administrative duties and paperwork. The duties involved advanced use of Microsoft Office suite and often required steady organizational skills. As a secretary I redesigned all the used templates for invoices, application forms, and board meeting minutes. I also developed Excel macros and worksheets to automate vote counting workflow.
In the FO-Kuopio (now known as FLOp ry) my primary duties were administration of the local membership registry and communications with the national union of pharmacists.
For the time I stayed in University of Eastern Finland, I worked in the editorial board of Fortis ry’s magazine Dilutus. In the late 2011 I redesigned the magazine page layout and graphics. I continued my work on the magazine until 2017. During the year 2016 I taught a junior layout editor to use Adobe Creative suite using video and picture based tutorials.
Accomplishments and key skills learned as a layout designer:
During my studies I took part to many additional committees and work groups, such as:
