Laura Koivusalo

Dr Laura Koivusalo is an expert in biomaterials and tissue engineering. She conducted her PhD in Tampere University under Professor Heli Skottman, where she developed hydrogel-based biomaterials for delivering human stem cells to the corneal surface. While finalizing her PhD, she started to lead a commercialization project from Skottman Lab, which led to the establishment of a spin-off company StemSight in April 2021. StemSight’s mission is to use human induced pluripotent stem (iPS) cells to manufacture off-the-shelf therapies to cure corneal blindness. In leading the company as a CEO, Laura has won several pitching competitions and been awarded as the Outstanding Young Person of the Year 2021 in medical innovation by JCI Finland.