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We gathered together for some grub, games, and minigolf to ease us off to Juhannus (Midsummer’s Day) time. The day was hot, but the occasional gust of wind and cold drinks kept us going nicely.

During the 7^th of June Erasmus+ 2023 meetup at the University of Eastern Finland, many talented educators and physicians gave talks on how best to engage students and maximize learning outcomes. One of them was our Prof. Kai, who spoke about how bringing in a clinical perspective at an early stage of education can be beneficial in understanding and being able to work with ocular micro- and macroanatomy. He highlighted that thanks to modern diagnostic methods, there is an increasing need of a deep understanding of anatomy to ensure precise and safe ophthalmological diagnosis and treatment. The best way to teach modern anatomy is by combining multiple pedagogical and clinical educator resources to complement one another, as students appear to learn more effectively when multimodal and system-based approaches are integrated.

A big Thank You to every presenter: Teemu Valtonen, David Morton, Erkko Sointu, Tiina Jääskeläinen, Suvi Viranta, Helen Dodson, Kai Kaarniranta, Teresa Chan, Murat Mutluay, Eric Gantwerker, Jonathan Wisco, Gideon Helegbe, and Emmanuel Osabutey! Thank you to the attendees as well.

Let it never be said that our group doesn’t have a great variety of talent in its ranks, with a plethora of skills, interests, and viewpoints to bring in the game. As a recent example, two of our group members took part in getting a fascinating article about the use of background music in dental education published!

“The greatest scientists are always artists as well”, a quote by Albert Einstein.

Art and science both involve the creative flow of ideas. Creativity involves imagination, and imagination requires visualization. Our teammate Szabolcs “Szabi” Felszeghy has a unique ability to visualize and imagine certain processes, which is important to tastefully present our scientific achievements. He is also a keen photographer and designer of illustrations. Recently, he won the 50-year anniversary logo contest of the Institute of Biomedicine, UEF, with his design. Congratulations!

The Institute of Biochemistry, now part of the Institute of Biomedicine, celebrated their 50th anniversary. Excellent speeches were given by the alumni and associates of the University of Eastern Finland Kuopio campus, back then the Kuopio University, depicting their lives and experiences. The hours flew by with much laughter and sighs of wonder from the impressive recountings.

One of the presentations was given by our leader, Kai Kaarniranta. The inspiring story of his life left nobody cold: the humble beginnings at rural Savonlinna, the importance of family, how he obtained his multidisciplinary educational background, him becoming the youngest-ever ophthalmology professor at the University of Eastern Finland, and eventually the first Finn to become the chief editor of Acta Ophthalmologica.

The entirety of our team congratulates the Institute of Biochemistry, now Biomedicine, for its impressive history and achievements, and we hope that the next 50 years will see many new success stories as well!

Pikkujoulu time, that is! Together with the merry folk from the histology side, we once again gathered to spend a nice afternoon/evening together. Hot glögi (glogg/mulled wine), snacks and sweets, plus plenty of pizza helped keep us charged throughout the intermingling. Pikkujoulu time also means that we get to enjoy the time of the year when the wintry scenes get decorated in various lights and people are feeling the holiday spirit!

As we posted in May, our leader Kai Kaarniranta was granted the Friend of the University of Lodz award. As Kai has now physically received the award, it is only right to share a couple photos as well as the rector’s speech for the occasion! We would again like to extend our utmost gratitude for this honour. Thank you very much, and here’s to many more years of cooperation!