Katja Pahkala profile picture
Katja
Pahkala
Professor, Cardiovascular Medicine (CAPC)
Professor, Head of Paavo Nurmi Centre

Contact

+358 40 578 6122
Kiinamyllynkatu 10
20520
Turku

Areas of expertise

Cardiovascular health
prevention
childhood
physical activity
diet
epidemiology
longitudinal studies

Biography

I have devoted my research career to examining early life determinants of cardiometabolic health with the ultimate aim to improve primordial prevention of cardiometabolic diseases.

Teaching

I have supervised 15 undergraduate studies and six doctoral studies. Currently I supervise six doctoral students and one undergraduate student.

Research

I am a long-standing senior researcher and the vice director of the Research Centre of Applied and Preventive Cardiovascular Medicine (CAPC), and a member of the executive committee of the Centre for Population Health Research. I am also the vice principal investigator of the globally unique atherosclerosis prevention trial, the STRIP study (Special Turku Coronary Risk Factor Intervention Project), which commenced in 1989 and has extensively studied the 1062 participants since age 7 months to 26 years with repeated assessment of diet, lifestyle and versatile cardiometabolic health markers. I am also an active member of the Cardiovascular Risk in Young Finns Study, started in the late 1970´s. The study involves originally 3596 participants from different parts of Finland. As highlights of my career, in 2014 I received the Academy of Finland’s Postdoctoral Researcher grant, and in 2019 I was invited to receive A/Professorship in Preventive Medicine (tenure track), and I was also awarded the Academy of Finland’s Research Fellowship. In 2023, I achieved full-Professorship in Preventive Medicine. In 2024, I began as a Head of the Paavo Nurmi Centre, a centre of expertise in sports & exercise medicine.

Publications

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Association of Body Mass Index in Youth With Adult Cardiometabolic Risk (2020)

Journal of the American Heart Association
Wu FT, Juonala M, Sabin MA, Buscot MJ, Pahkala K, Smith KJ, Hutri-Kahonen N, Kahonen M, Laitinen TP, Viikari JSA, Raitakari OT, Magnussen CG
(Vertaisarvioitu alkuperäisartikkeli tai data-artikkeli tieteellisessä aikakauslehdessä (A1))

Attainment of Targets of the 20-Year Infancy-Onset Dietary Intervention and Blood Pressure Across Childhood and Young Adulthood The Special Turku Coronary Risk Factor Intervention Project (STRIP) (2020)

Hypertension
Laitinen Tomi T., Nuotio Joel, Niinikoski Harri, Juonala Markus, Rovio Suvi P., Viikari Jorma S.A., Rönnemaa Tapani, Magnussen Costan G., Sabin Matthew, Burgner David, Jokinen Eero, Lagström Hanna, Jula Antti, Simell Olli, Raitakari Olli T., Pahkala Katja
(Vertaisarvioitu alkuperäisartikkeli tai data-artikkeli tieteellisessä aikakauslehdessä (A1))

Childhood exposure to parental smoking and life-course overweight and central obesity (2020)

Annals of Medicine
Jaakkola Johanna M, Rovio Suvi P, Pahkala Katja, Viikari Jorma, Rönnemaa Tapani, Jula Antti, Niinikoski Harri, Mykkänen Juha, Juonala Markus, Hutri-Kähönen Nina, Kähönen Mika, Lehtimäki Terho, Raitakari Olli T
(Vertaisarvioitu alkuperäisartikkeli tai data-artikkeli tieteellisessä aikakauslehdessä (A1))

Mendelian randomization analysis does not support causal associations of birth weight with hypertension risk and blood pressure in adulthood (2020)

European Journal of Epidemiology
Zheng Y., Huang T., Wang T., Mei Z., Sun Z., Zhang T., Ellervik C., Chai J.-F., Sim X., van Dam R.M., Tai E.-S., Koh W.-P., Dorajoo R., Saw S.-M., Sabanayagam C., Wong T.Y., Gupta P., Rossing P., Ahluwalia T.S., Vinding R.K., Bisgaard H., Bønnelykke K., Wang Y., Graff M., Voortman T., van Rooij F.J.A., Hofman A., van Heemst D., Noordam R., Estampador A.C., Varga T.V., Enzenbach C., Scholz M., Thiery J., Burkhardt R., Orho-Melander M., Schulz C.-A., Ericson U., Sonestedt E., Kubo M., Akiyama M., Zhou A., Kilpeläinen T.O., Hansen T., Kleber M.E., Delgado G., McCarthy M., Lemaitre R.N., Felix J.F., Jaddoe V.W.V., Wu Y., Mohlke K.L., Lehtimäki T., Wang C.A., Pennell C.E., Schunkert H., Kessler T., Zeng L., Willenborg C., Peters A., Lieb W., Grote V., Rzehak P., Koletzko B., Erdmann J., Munz M., Wu T., He M., Yu C., Lecoeur C., Froguel P., Corella D., Moreno L.A., Lai C.-Q., Pitkänen N., Boreham C.A., Ridker P.M., Rosendaal F.R., de Mutsert R., Power C., Paternoster L., Sørensen T.I.A., Tjønneland A., Overvad K., Djousse L., Rivadeneira F., Lee N.R., Raitakari O.T., Kähönen M., Viikari J., Langhendries J.-P., Escribano J., Verduci E., Dedoussis G., König I., Balkau B., Coltell O., Dallongeville J., Meirhaeghe A., Amouyel P., Gottrand F., Pahkala K., Niinikoski H., Hyppönen E., März W., Mackey D.A., Gruszfeld D., Tucker K.L., Fumeron F., Estruch R., Ordovas J.M., Arnett D.K., Mook-Kanamori D.O., Mozaffarian D., Psaty B.M., North K.E., Chasman D.I., Qi L.
(Vertaisarvioitu alkuperäisartikkeli tai data-artikkeli tieteellisessä aikakauslehdessä (A1))

Dietary Fats and Atherosclerosis From Childhood to Adulthood (2020)

Pediatrics
Tomi T. Laitinen, Joel Nuotio, Suvi P. Rovio, Harri Niinikoski, Markus Juonala, Costan G. Magnussen, Eero Jokinen, Hanna Lagström, Antti Jula, Jorma S.A. Viikari, Tapani Rönnemaa, Olli Simell, Olli T. Raitakari, Katja Pahkala
(Vertaisarvioitu alkuperäisartikkeli tai data-artikkeli tieteellisessä aikakauslehdessä (A1))