Principal investigator Dr. Oksanen is an expert in archaeal virus biology. Her research group aims to understand the molecular mechanisms of virus-host interactions and her research has extended our understanding of viral diversity and relatedness. Her pioneering work on halophilic archaeal viruses more than doubled the number of known archaeal virus isolates and led to a collection of about 100 isolates, many of which are model systems. She works on several archaeal viruses including icosahedral internal membrane-containing viruses, pleomorphic viruses, and spindle-shaped viruses of the families Sphaerolipoviridae, Pleolipoviridae, and Halspiviridae, respectively, that has resulted in the description of these virus groups. This has led to an understanding of the functions of these viruses, which have their own specificities in recognising archaeal cells and harnessing them for viral replication. In addition, she has described archaeal tailed viruses of the class Caudoviricetes and their genomics to determine their evolutionary relationships. She is currently interested in identifying the mechanisms that lead to the host cell recognition and transfer of viral genetic material across the archaeal cell membrane.

International visibility, activities, prizes, scholarships etc. 

Oksanen is an elected Business Secretary of the Executive Committee of the International Committee on Taxonomy of Viruses (ICTV) and an Elected Member 2020-2023. In addition, she chairs several ICTV Study Groups of archaeal and bacterial viruses (Halopanivirales, Pleolipoviridae, Corticoviridae) and is a member of the Archaeal Viruses Subcommittee and Bacterial Viruses Subcommittee. She vice-heads the national and Instruct-ERIC Biomolecular Complex purification facility and coordinates the national research infrastructure for sample preparation and integrated structural biology FINStruct and Instruct-ERIC Centre Finland, which is the national node of Instruct-ERIC, a Landmark in the European Strategy Forum on Research Infrastructures (ESFRI) roadmap. She is a member of the Instruct-ERIC Access Committee.