Jaakko Kurkela

Jaakko Kurkela is an accomplished R&D Director at Hologic, Inc. since November 2020, with extensive experience in the field of molecular biology and qPCR technology. Kurkela has held various positions, including R&D Manager for qPCR Products at Mobidiag and Technology Manager for Molecular Biology Workflow at Thermo Fisher Scientific. At Thermo Fisher Scientific, Kurkela contributed to the development of the PikoReal qPCR instrument and software, as well as high-resolution DNA melting analysis reagents. Prior to this, Kurkela served as Senior Scientist and Group Manager at Finnzymes, leading the qPCR development team and managing projects that resulted in multiple product innovations and patent applications. Kurkela holds a Master of Science degree in Biochemistry from the University of Helsinki, completed in 2000.