Academy of Finland Research Fellow grant
Maxim Bespalov, RPU, Faculty of Medicine, UoH
Maxim Bespalov’s CV
1. Name
Surname: Bespalov
Given names: Maxim Mikhailovich
Date of CV writing: 28.09.2015
2. Personal details
Date and place of birth: July 27, 1976. Moscow, Russia
Citizenship: Russia
Residence: Helsinki, Finland
Marital status: Married, two kids
Email: maxim.bespalov@helsinki.fi
Phone: +358 50 526 9884
3. Degrees
● PhD in Genetics, defense on December 18, 2009
● M.Sc. in Microbial biochemistry, June 10, 1998
4. Current position
08.2014-present, postdoctoral fellow, Prof. Timo Otonkoski’s Biomedicum Stem Cell Center,
University of Helsinki, Finland. Somatic cells reprogramming towards neuronal fate and human
stem cells differentiation into neuronal cells to screen for novel drugs against stroke and
neurodegeneration, a TEKES 3iRegeneration project
5. Previous professional experience (in reversed chronological order):
● 0.4.2012-04.2014, Sigrid Jusélius postdoctoral fellow, Prof. Vania Broccoli’s Stem Cells
and Neurogenesis Unit, Department of Neuroscience, San Raffaele Scientific Institute, Milan,
Italy. Aims: direct reprogramming of cells into induced neurons in vivo and in vitro
● 06.2011-02.2012, coordinator, drug discovery and assay development (part-time),
University of Helsinki, Institute of Biotechnology. Responsibilities: assays development and
optimization for small molecules and drug repositioning screening
● 06.2009-05.2011, high-throughput screening coordinator, core-facility leader, Institute of
Molecular Medicine Finland FIMM, University of Helsinki. Responsibilities: design of the
drug discovery and drug repositioning high-throughput screening projects, supervision of assay
development and automation, screening technology development (e.g. cell printing; primary
neurons for HTS), advising on hit-to-lead development
● 2007-2008, project leader, drug discovery and assay development, Prof. Mart Saarma lab,
Institute of Biotechnology, University of Helsinki. EU FP6 “Grid-aided computer system for
rapid anti-cancer drug discovery - CancerGRID” work-package coordinator.
Responsibilities: cell-based high-throughput screening, in silico screening of candidate
libraries
● 2001-2006, graduate student at Prof. Mart Saarma’s lab, Institute of Biotechnology,
University of Helsinki, Finland. Neurotrophic factors and their receptors. PhD in 2009
● 1993-1995, lab technician (part-time) with Dr Martynkina, Electron Microscopy Unit,
Engelhart’s Institute for Molecular Biology, RAS, Moscow, Russia
6. Other education and training, qualifications and skills
● 2006-2007, trainee, EU-“NANOQUANT” training program in molecular modelling,
University of Tartu, Estonia with Prof. Mati Karelson (part-time)
CV
Page 1 of 3
Academy of Finland Research Fellow grant
Maxim Bespalov, RPU, Faculty of Medicine, UoH
● 1999-2001, trainee, Dr Belyavsky’s lab, Engelhart’s Institute of Molecular Biology, RAS,
Moscow, Russia
● 1996-1998, master student at Prof. El'-Registan’s lab, Institute of Microbiology, RAS,
Moscow, Russia
● 1995-1996, undergraduate student with Dr Martynkina, Electron microscopy unit,
Engelhart’s Institute for Molecular Biology, RAS, Moscow, Russia
● 1993-1998, student, Moscow State University, Soil Science faculty, Specialization:
Microbiology department; graduated M.Sc. in 1998 with cum laude
● Skills: cell-based and biochemical assays development, laboratory automation and highthroughput screening, cell culturing (including primary and neural stem cells), molecular
cloning, lentiviral vectors construction and viral particles production, work with animals
(including intracranial operations on living animals), microscopy (light and electron),
immunological methods for molecules detection (IC, IHC, WB), protein expression and
purification, protein chemistry, bacterial work, radiological methods of molecules detection
(including proteins iodination), gene expression analysis (RNA-seq data analysis, RNA
analysis, RT-PCR, whole mount in situ hybridization), molecular simulations, docking and
modeling, computational chemistry, R-language, cell reprogramming in vitro and in vivo,
human and mouse iPS cells generation and maintenance, neural stem cells and differentiation,
CRISPR/dCas9 genes induction.
7. Linguistic skills
● Mother tongue: Russian
● Other languages: English (excellent), Finish (basic, level 1), Polish (fluent), Italian (basic)
8. Research funding as well as leadership and supervision
● Sigrid Jusélius Postdoctoral Fellowship for research on direct reprogramming of somatic cells
into dopaminergic neurons (2012-2014) at Prof. Broccoli lab, San Raffaeli Institute, Milan,
Italy
● Biocenter Finland - Drug Discovery and Chemical Biology network, joint infrastructure grant
for core-facilities (2010-2012). PI – Prof. Olli Kallioniemi. My role in the network application
was in writing, planning and executing screening campaigns for customers and collaborators
● Industrial contract with Baltic Technology Development Ltd. for searching small molecules
receptors agonists (2007-2008). PI – Prof. Mart Saarma. My role was in writing and execution
of the plan
● Graduate school grant (GSBM) for studying neurotropic factors and their receptors. PI – Prof.
Mart Saarma (2002-2005).
●
Center for International Mobility grant (CIMO) (2001-2002) for relocation to Finland
●
CV
Leadership: In the past I was overseeing the activities of ultra-HTS facility at FIMM and of
a self-service HTS Center at Biomedicum, University of Helsinki (2009-2011). I supervised
work of a technician, an automation specialist and a stuff scientist, developed new
biochemical and cell-based screening campaigns, attracted academy and industrial clients to
the facility and performed an outreach. Earlier, I was a contact point for EU FP6
“CancerGRID” project and a leader of one of its work-packages, screening for inhibitors of
receptor tyrosine kinase RET. I have also participated in several scientific expeditions and
lead one, sponsored by University of Helsinki, aiming to collect the thermophile
bacteriophages of Kamchatka, Russia’s Far East, in 2005. I have also been responsible for
many research equipment units starting from a deep-freezer, centrifuges and a
chromatography machine and ending with the entire robotic system for HTS. And it was my
duty to instruct researchers on how to use the instruments of the high-throughput center.
Page 2 of 3
Academy of Finland Research Fellow grant
Maxim Bespalov, RPU, Faculty of Medicine, UoH
● Supervision: Technicians: M.Sc. Elisa Piranen and Ms Anna-Kaisa Arko (Institute of
Biotechnology, University of Helsinki), stuff scientist M.Sc. Evgeny Kulesskiy, automation
specialist M.Sc. Laura Turunen and technician Ms Anna Lehto (FIMM, University of
Helsinki). I have also supervised a work of a postdoc (Dr Yulia Sidorova), which resulted in a
publication (Sidorova et al., 2010) with Maxim Bespalov being a lead author.
9. Merits in teaching and pedagogical competence
● Laboratory training of M.Sc. Maria Cherepkova, a visiting graduate student from St.
Petersburg University (2015)
● Laboratory training of a German undergraduate summer student Sasha Gromnitza, Vocational
College Hilden (2007, 2008)
● Training on using instruments of self-service high-throughput laboratory (Biomedicum,
University of Helsinki)(2009-2011)
10. Awards
● Soros Student Award winner 1996 (Moscow State University, Russia)
● Best young scientist award 2000 (Institute of Higher Nervous Activity, RAS, Moscow,
Russia)
11. Other academic merits
● Invited speaker at an international conference (Bio-Forum 2011, Shanghai), invited seminars
at Institute of Gene Technology (Estonia, 2004), Moscow State University (Russia, 2005) and
at “IBC Generium” (Russia, 2013)
● Associate Editor at Journal of Proteolysis (ISSN 2331-6977)
12. Scientific and societal impact of research
● Contributed to 16 papers published in peer-reviewed journals. Total citations 293 (Web of
Science).
● Co-inventor in 3 patent applications, one of which was sold to a third party
● An additional invention disclosure was submitted with Dr Tero Ahola in 2012
13. Other merits
● Project and personnel management, strong organizational skills
● Excellent writing and presentation skills
● Excellent communication skills
● Participation in international collaborative scientific projects, courses, conferences and events
CV
Page 3 of 3