Julia Karjalainen, a Kennedy Trust Prize Studentship (KTPS) DPhil student in Dr Fränze Progatzky’s research group at the Kennedy Institute of Rheumatology, investigates the role of glial cells in skin inflammation. Julia was successfully awarded a Boehringer Ingelheim Fonds (BIF) PhD Fellowship in Summer 2025.
Glial cells were long thought to merely act as passive support for neurons but have gained recent recognition as active players in health and disease. This consensus shift is attributed to new findings, like those of Fränze Progatzky, which showed that glial cells regulate immune responses in the gut during inflammation. Julia builds on these findings by investigating the role of glial cells in atopic dermatitis, a common inflammatory condition which results in itchy, dry, and inflamed skin. Neuro-immune interactions are known to drive skin inflammation, but the role of glial cells remains largely unexplored.
Julia will leverage skin single-cell and spatial transcriptomic datasets alongside models established in her lab. Together, these approaches aim to uncover how these overlooked cells contribute to skin inflammation, with the goal of revealing new mechanisms that underlie these skin diseases.
The BIF awards PhD Fellowships to outstanding junior scientists who wish to pursue an ambitious project in basic biomedical research in an internationally leading laboratory. The process is highly competitive, with less than 10% of applicants receiving a Fellowship.
Julia Karjalainen said ‘I am honored and proud to receive the prestigious Boehringer Ingelheim Fonds PhD fellowship in basic biomedical research. This fellowship will allow me to represent the Kennedy Institute at events and within the global network of the BIF fellows and alumni.’
Dr Fränze Progatzky said ‘Congratulations to Julia on being awarded this highly competitive fellowship. This is a tremendous achievement and a testament to both the creativity and novelty of the project, as well as her impressive career trajectory to date. Together, the KTPS Studentship and BIF Fellowship will serve as a powerful springboard for her future career in scientific research.’