An exciting update from our team this Autumn: We are delighted to welcome Anni Pakarinen to the SPARK Finland management team! With her experience in research, higher education, and Design Thinking, Anni brings valuable expertise to the development of our Pre-SPARK Health Concept Discovery Program and other educational initiatives. Her background in bringing together people from different fields will help us create engaging learning experiences that equip researchers, students, and healthcare professionals with the skills and knowledge to explore health innovation and turn promising ideas into practical solutions.

Anni is an innovation and research development professional with a PhD in Health Sciences and a Docentship in Nursing Science from the University of Turku. She brings over a decade of experience in academic research, higher education, multidisciplinary collaboration, innovation projects, stakeholder engagement and competitive funding.

Throughout her career, Anni has worked closely with universities, healthcare organizations, public sector stakeholders and industry partners. Her expertise includes project leadership, international network building, research and innovation development and facilitating collaboration across sectors to advance impactful health solutions. Since 2020, she has designed and taught Design Thinking education for healthcare and multidisciplinary student groups, supporting the development of user-centered and innovative approaches to complex challenges.

At SPARK, Anni’s main responsibilities are to lead, develop and expand the National Pre-SPARK Health Concept Discovery Program, while contributing to the development and growth of the SPARK Finland and SPARK Global communities and supporting a broad range of SPARK initiatives. At HEVi project (Breaking the Silos for Unified Health Innovations), she leads Work Package 2 by advancing the identification and development of early-stage health innovations, supporting their journey towards funding, commercialization and international impact.

A warm welcome to the team, Anni! We look forward to working together to support researchers, scientists and clinicians to help turn promising ideas into solutions that make a difference.