Jenni Lehtimäki

Jenni Lehtimäki is Principal researcher at Finnish Environment Institute that is governmental research institution focusing on advancing sustainability transformation of society. Dr. Lehtimäki’s role is to study associations between natural environments and non-communicable diseases. Her key interest is how biodiversity in daily living environments may be related to immune system development and immune-mediated diseases. That is also focus of her recent ERC starting grant project Residents (2025-2030). During her career, she has utilized her education in ecology to understand human microbiomes and their health-impacts. She has been especially studied what are the origins of microbes found in human bodies, focusing on the impacts of rural and urban environments. Lehtimäki holds PhD in ecology and evolutionary biology.