Olli Raitakari profile picture
Olli
Raitakari
Professor, Cardiovascular Medicine (CAPC)
InFLAMES Flagship
MD/PhD

Contact

+358 29 450 2304
Kiinamyllynkatu 10
20520
Turku

Areas of expertise

cardiovascular and metabolic diseases
risk factors
vascular epidemiology
genetic epidemiology
epidemiology
dietary intervention
cohort studies
follow-up studies

Biography

EDUCATION AND DEGREES
 
2001   Docent in Clinical Physiology
1997-1999  Postdoc training, Royal Prince Alfred Hospital, Sydney, Australia
1997   Docent in Epidemiology
1996   Specialist in Clinical Physiology 
1995   Doctorate, PhD
1989   Licentiate in Medicine, MD

CURRENT POSITIONS

2017-                 Professor in Cardiovascular Medicine, Director of the Research Centre of Applied and 
                          Preventive Cardiovascular Medicine, University of Turku, Finland                         

 

PAST POSITIONS

2012-2016                          Academy Professor, University of Turku

2007-2016                          Professor in Cardiovascular Medicine (part time), University of Turku

2007-2008                          Senior Scientist Grant, Academy of Finland

2004-2016                          Chief Physician, Department of Clinical Physiology and Nuclear Medicine, Turku
                                           University Hospital (leave of absence 2012-2016)

2002-2004                          Consultant in Clinical Physiology and Nuclear Medicine, Turku University Hospital

2002 (1 mo)                        Head of Nuclear Medicine Department, Turku University Hospital

2000-2003 (3 mo)               Head of Clinical Physiology Department, Turku University Hospital

2000-2005                          Senior Fellow Post, Academy of Finland

1998-2000                          Postdoctoral Research Post, Academy of Finland

1996-1997                          Consultant in Clinical Physiology, Turku University Hospital

1991-1996                          Positions as Resident in Clinical Chemistry, Nuclear Medicine, and Clinical 
                                           Physiology, Turku University Hospital

1988-1990                          Positions as General Practioner and Resident in Internal Medicine or Surgery


Research

Evidence suggest that many non-communicable disease outcomes have roots in childhood and may even stem of adverse ancestral exposures. Improved knowledge how various ancestral and early-life exposures lead to adult disease outcomes is essential in developing better preventive practices and policies that lead to improved public health. My mission has been to contribute to this knowledge-base by working in epidemiologic cohort studies with follow-up from childhood to adulthood. I am the Principal Investigator of the Cardiovascular Risk in Young Finns Study (YFS), the largest study in Europe with a follow-up of cardiovascular risk factors from childhood to adulthood. I am also the Director of the STRIP Study, which is a leading long-term pediatric dietary intervention study testing the hypothesis that modifying the fat quality diet will have beneficial effects on cardiovascular risk early in life. During the past years, I have organized several field studies in these cohorts, and introduced novel technologies, such as imaging studies, genetic epidemiology methods and metabolomics approaches in these unique population resources. Our research has contributed to the understanding of pre-clinical development of atherosclerosis in children and young adults, including the effects of diet, life-style, metabolic risk factors, psychological traits and psychosocial factors, inflammation, hormones and genetic markers. For example, by applying non-invasive imaging methods in the Young Finns Study, we have demonstrated that exposure to adverse lipids, elevated blood pressure and obesity in childhood is related to atherosclerosis development in adulthood (JAMA 2003). Subsequent work stemmed from this initial observation has led to numerous original publications that have shown in detail how exposure to a large range of aetiogenic factors early in life contribute to the development of cardio-metabolic outcomes in adulthood. For example, by pooling international i3C Consortium data, we have demonstrated that overweight or obese children who became non-obese by adulthood had similar risks of many cardio-metabolic adult outcomes as individuals who were never obese (NEJM 2011). Thus, the results of our studies have clearly demonstrated that individual’s exposure to various stressors in early life is contributing to his/her adult phenotype and disease risk. The results have had significant impact on preventive practices. As a concrete demonstration of the international recognition and impact of my team’s work, many of our studies are widely cited in all updated paediatric guidelines on cardiovascular prevention both in Europe and in US.

Publications

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The power of genetic diversity in genome-wide association studies of lipids (2021)

Nature
Graham SE, Clarke SL, Wu KH, Kanoni S, Zajac GJM, Ramdas S, Surakka I, Ntalla I, Vedantam S, Winkler TW, Locke AE, Marouli E, Hwang MY, Han S, Narita A, Choudhury A, Bentley AR, Ekoru K, Verma A, Trivedi B, Martin HC, Hunt KA, Hui Q, Klarin D, Zhu X, Thorleifsson G, Helgadottir A, Gudbjartsson DF, Holm H, Olafsson I, Akiyama M, Sakaue S, Terao C, Kanai M, Zhou W, Brumpton BM, Rasheed H, Ruotsalainen SE, Havulinna AS, Veturi Y, Feng Q, Rosenthal EA, Lingren T, Pacheco JA, Pendergrass SA, Haessler J, Giulianini F, Bradford Y, Miller JE, Campbell A, Lin K, Millwood IY, Hindy G, Rasheed A, Faul JD, Zhao W, Weir DR, Turman C, Huang H, Graff M, Mahajan A, Brown MR, Zhang W, Yu K, Schmidt EM, Pandit A, Gustafsson S, Yin X, Luan J, Zhao JH, Matsuda F, Jang HM, Yoon K, Medina-Gomez C, Pitsillides A, Hottenga JJ, Willemsen G, Wood AR, Ji Y, Gao Z, Haworth S, Mitchell RE, Chai JF, Aadahl M, Yao J, Manichaikul A, Warren HR, Ramirez J, Bork-Jensen J, Kårhus LL, Goel A, Sabater-Lleal M, Noordam R, Sidore C, Fiorillo E, McDaid AF, Marques-Vidal P, Wielscher M, Trompet S, Sattar N, Møllehave LT, Thuesen BH, Munz M, Zeng L, Huang J, Yang B, Poveda A, Kurbasic A, Lamina C, Forer L, Scholz M, Galesloot TE, Bradfield JP, Daw EW, Zmuda JM, Mitchell JS, Fuchsberger C, Christensen H, Brody JA, Feitosa MF, Wojczynski MK, Preuss M, Mangino M, Christofidou P, Verweij N, Benjamins JW, Engmann J, Kember RL, Slieker RC, Lo KS, Zilhao NR, Le P, Kleber ME, Delgado GE, Huo S, Ikeda DD, Iha H, Yang J, Liu J, Leonard HL, Marten J, Schmidt B, Arendt M, Smyth LJ, Cañadas-Garre M, Wang C, Nakatochi M, Wong A, Hutri-Kähönen N, Sim X, Xia R, Huerta-Chagoya A, Fernandez-Lopez JC, Lyssenko V, Ahmed M, Jackson AU, Irvin MR, Oldmeadow C, Kim HN, Ryu S, Timmers PRHJ, Arbeeva L, Dorajoo R, Lange LA, Chai X, Prasad G, Lorés-Motta L, Pauper M, Long J, Li X, Theusch E, Takeuchi F, Spracklen CN, Loukola A, Bollepalli S, Warner SC, Wang YX, Wei WB, Nutile T, Ruggiero D, Sung YJ, Hung YJ, Chen S, Liu F, Yang J, Kentistou KA, Gorski M, Brumat M, Meidtner K, Bielak LF, Smith JA, Hebbar P, Farmaki AE, Hofer E, Lin M, Xue C, Zhang J, Concas MP, Vaccargiu S, van der Most PJ, Pitkänen N, Cade BE, Lee J, van der Laan SW, Chitrala KN, Weiss S, Zimmermann ME, Lee JY, Choi HS, Nethander M, Freitag-Wolf S, Southam L, Rayner NW, Wang CA, Lin SY, Wang JS, Couture C, Lyytikäinen LP, Nikus K, Cuellar-Partida G, Vestergaard H, Hildalgo B, Giannakopoulou O, Cai Q, Obura MO, van Setten J, Li X, Schwander K, Terzikhan N, Shin JH, Jackson RD, Reiner AP, Martin LW, Chen Z, Li L, Highland HM, Young KL, Kawaguchi T, Thiery J, Bis JC, Nadkarni GN, Launer LJ, Li H, Nalls MA, Raitakari OT, Ichihara S, Wild SH, Nelson CP, Campbell H, Jäger S, Nabika T, Al-Mulla F, Niinikoski H, Braund PS, Kolcic I, Kovacs P, Giardoglou T, Katsuya T, Bhatti KF, de Kleijn D, de Borst GJ, Kim EK, Adams HHH, Ikram MA, Zhu X, Asselbergs FW, Kraaijeveld AO, Beulens JWJ, Shu XO, Rallidis LS, Pedersen O, Hansen T, Mitchell P, Hewitt AW, Kähönen M, Pérusse L, Bouchard C, Tönjes A, Chen YI, Pennell CE, Mori TA, Lieb W, Franke A, Ohlsson C, Mellström D, Cho YS, Lee H, Yuan JM, Koh WP, Rhee SY, Woo JT, Heid IM, Stark KJ, Völzke H, Homuth G, Evans MK, Zonderman AB, Polasek O, Pasterkamp G, Hoefer IE, Redline S, Pahkala K, Oldehinkel AJ, Snieder H, Biino G, Schmidt R, Schmidt H, Chen YE, Bandinelli S, Dedoussis G, Thanaraj TA, Kardia SLR, Kato N, Schulze MB, Girotto G, Jung B, Böger CA, Joshi PK, Bennett DA, De Jager PL, Lu X, Mamakou V, Brown M, Caulfield MJ, Munroe PB, Guo X, Ciullo M, Jonas JB, Samani NJ, Kaprio J, Pajukanta P, Adair LS, Bechayda SA, de Silva HJ, Wickremasinghe AR, Krauss RM, Wu JY, Zheng W, den Hollander AI, Bharadwaj D, Correa A, Wilson JG, Lind L, Heng CK, Nelson AE, Golightly YM, Wilson JF, Penninx B, Kim HL, Attia J, Scott RJ, Rao DC, Arnett DK, Walker M, Koistinen HA, Chandak GR, Yajnik CS, Mercader JM, Tusié-Luna T, Aguilar-Salinas CA, Villalpando CG, Orozco L, Fornage M, Tai ES, van Dam RM, Lehtimäki T, Chaturvedi N, Yokota M, Liu J, Reilly DF, McKnight AJ, Kee F, Jöckel KH, McCarthy MI, Palmer CNA, Vitart V, Hayward C, Simonsick E, van Duijn CM, Lu F, Qu J, Hishigaki H, Lin X, März W, Parra EJ, Cruz M, Gudnason V, Tardif JC, Lettre G, 't Hart LM, Elders PJM, Damrauer SM, Kumari M, Kivimaki M, van der Harst P, Spector TD, Loos RJF, Province MA, Psaty BM, Brandslund I, Pramstaller PP, Christensen K, Ripatti S, Widén E, Hakonarson H, Grant SFA, Kiemeney LALM, de Graaf J, Loeffler M, Kronenberg F, Gu D, Erdmann J, Schunkert H, Franks PW, Linneberg A, Jukema JW, Khera AV, Männikkö M, Jarvelin MR, Kutalik Z, Cucca F, Mook-Kanamori DO, van Dijk KW, Watkins H, Strachan DP, Grarup N, Sever P, Poulter N, Rotter JI, Dantoft TM, Karpe F, Neville MJ, Timpson NJ, Cheng CY, Wong TY, Khor CC, Sabanayagam C, Peters A, Gieger C, Hattersley AT, Pedersen NL, Magnusson PKE, Boomsma DI, de Geus EJC, Cupples LA, van Meurs JBJ, Ghanbari M, Gordon-Larsen P, Huang W, Kim YJ, Tabara Y, Wareham NJ, Langenberg C, Zeggini E, Kuusisto J, Laakso M, Ingelsson E, Abecasis G, Chambers JC, Kooner JS, de Vries PS, Morrison AC, North KE, Daviglus M, Kraft P, Martin NG, Whitfield JB, Abbas S, Saleheen D, Walters RG, Holmes MV, Black C, Smith BH, Justice AE, Baras A, Buring JE, Ridker PM, Chasman DI, Kooperberg C, Wei WQ, Jarvik GP, Namjou B, Hayes MG, Ritchie MD, Jousilahti P, Salomaa V, Hveem K, Åsvold BO, Kubo M, Kamatani Y, Okada Y, Murakami Y, Thorsteinsdottir U, Stefansson K, Ho YL, Lynch JA, Rader DJ, Tsao PS, Chang KM, Cho K, O'Donnell CJ, Gaziano JM, Wilson P, Rotimi CN, Hazelhurst S, Ramsay M, Trembath RC, van Heel DA, Tamiya G, Yamamoto M, Kim BJ, Mohlke KL, Frayling TM, Hirschhorn JN, Kathiresan S; VA Million Veteran Program; Global Lipids Genetics Consortium, Boehnke M, Natarajan P, Peloso GM, Brown CD, Morris AP, Assimes TL, Deloukas P, Sun YV, Willer CJ
(Vertaisarvioitu alkuperäisartikkeli tai data-artikkeli tieteellisessä aikakauslehdessä (A1))

DNA methylation signatures of aggression and closely related constructs: A meta-analysis of epigenome-wide studies across the lifespan (2021)

Molecular Psychiatry
van Dongen Jenny, Hagenbeek Fiona A., Suderman Matthew, Roetman Peter J., Sugden Karen, Chiocchetti Andreas G., Ismail Khadeeja, Mulder Rosa H., Hafferty Jonathan D., Adams Mark J., Walker Rosie M., Morris Stewart W., Lahti Jari, Küpers Leanne K., Escaramis Georgia, Alemany Silvia, Bonder Marc Jan, Meijer Mandy, Ip Hill F., Jansen Rick, Baselmans Bart M. L., Parmar Priyanka, Lowry Estelle, Streit Fabian, Sirignano Lea, Send Tabea S., Frank Josef, Jylhävä Juulia, Wang Yunzhang, Mishra Pashupati Prasad, Colins Olivier F., Corcoran David L., Poulton Richie, Mill Jonathan, Hannon Eilis, Arseneault Louise, Korhonen Tellervo, Vuoksimaa Eero, Felix Janine F., Bakermans-Kranenburg Marian J., Campbell Archie, Czamara Darina, Binder Elisabeth, Corpeleijn Eva, Gonzalez Juan R., Grazuleviciene Regina, Gutzkow Kristine B., Evandt Jorunn, Vafeiadi Marina, Klein Marieke, van der Meer Dennis, Ligthart Lannie, Consortium BIOS, Kluft Cornelis, Davies Gareth E., Hakulinen Christian, Keltikangas-Järvinen Liisa, Franke Barbara, Freitag Christine M., Konrad Kerstin, Hervas Amaia, Fernández-Rivas Aranzazu, Vetro Agnes, Raitakari Olli, Lehtimäki Terho, Vermeiren Robert, Strandberg Timo, Räikkönen Katri, Snieder Harold, Witt Stephanie H., Deuschle Michael, Pedersen Nancy L., Hägg Sara, Sunyer Jordi, Franke Lude, Kaprio Jaakko, Ollikainen Miina, Moffitt Terrie E., Tiemeier Henning, van IJzendoorn Marinus H., Relton Caroline, Vrijheid Martine, Sebert Sylvain, Jarvelin Marjo-Riitta, Caspi Avshalom, Evans Kathryn L., McIntosh Andrew M., Bartels Meike, Boomsma Dorret I.
(Vertaisarvioitu alkuperäisartikkeli tai data-artikkeli tieteellisessä aikakauslehdessä (A1))

The Timing and Sequence of Cardiovascular Health Decline (2021)

American Journal of Preventive Medicine
Pool Lindsay R., Krefman Amy E., Labarthe Darwin R., Greenland Philip, Juonala Markus, Kähönen Mika, Lehtimäki Terho, Day Rena Sue, Bazzano Lydia A., Van Horn Linda, Liu Lei, Fernandez-Alonso Camilo, Webber Larry S., Pahkala Katja, Laitinen Tomi T., Raitakari Olli T., Lloyd-Jones Donald M., Allen Norrina B.
(Vertaisarvioitu alkuperäisartikkeli tai data-artikkeli tieteellisessä aikakauslehdessä (A1))

The Role of Inflammatory Cytokines as Intermediates in the Pathway from Increased Adiposity to Disease (2021)

Obesity
Kalaoja Marita, Corbin Laura J, Tan Vanessa Y, Ahola-Olli Ari V, Havulinna Aki S, Santalahti Kristiina, Pitkänen Niina, Lehtimäki Terho, Lyytikäinen Leo-Pekka, Raitoharju Emma, Seppälä Ilkka, Kähönen Mika, Ripatti Samuli, Palotie Aarno, Perola Markus, Viikari Jorma S, Jalkanen Sirpa, Maksimow Mikael, Salomaa Veikko, Salmi Marko, Raitakari Olli T, Kettunen Johannes, Timpson Nicholas J
(Vertaisarvioitu alkuperäisartikkeli tai data-artikkeli tieteellisessä aikakauslehdessä (A1))

Variants associated with HHIP expression have sexdifferential effects on lung function (2021)

Wellcome Open Research
Fawcett Katherine A., Obeidat Ma'en, Melbourne Carl, Shrine Nick, Guyatt Anna L., John Catherine, Luan Jian'an, Richmond Anne, Moksnes Marta R., Granell Raquel, Weiss Stefan, Imboden Medea, May-Wilson Sebastian, Hysi Pirro, Boutin Thibaud S., Portas Laura, Flexeder Claudia, Harris Sarah E., Wang Carol A., Lyytikäinen Leo-Pekka, Palviainen Teemu, Foong Rachel E., Keidel Dirk, Minelli Cosetta, Langenberg Claudia, Bossé Yohan, Berge Maarten Van den, Sin Don D., Hao Ke, Campbell Aarchie, Porteous David, Padmanabhan Sandosh, Smith Blair H., Evans David M., Ring Sue, Langhammer Arnulf, Hveem Kristian, Willer Cristen, Ewert Ralf, Stubbe Beate, Pirastu Nicola, Klaric Lucija, Joshi Peter K., Patasova Katarina, Massimo Mangino, Polasek Ozren, Starr John M., Karrasch Stefan, Strauch Konstantin, Meitinger Thomas., Rudan Igor, Rantanen Taina, Pietiläinen Kirsi, Kähönen Mika, Raitakari Olli T., Hall Graham L., Sly Peter D., Pennell Craig E., Kaprio Jaakko, Lehtimäki Terho, Vitart Veronique, Deary Ian J., Jarvis Debbie, Wilson James F., Spector Tim, Probst-Hensch Nicole, Wareham Nicholas J., Völzke Henry, Henderson John, Strachan David P., Brumpton Ben M., Hayward Caroline, Hall Ian P., Tobin Martin D., Wain Louise V.
(Vertaisarvioitu alkuperäisartikkeli tai data-artikkeli tieteellisessä aikakauslehdessä (A1))

Meta-analyses identify DNA methylation associated with kidney function and damage (2021)

Nature Communications
Schlosser Pascal, Tin Adrienne, Matias-Garcia Pamela R., Thio Chris H. L., Joehanes Roby, Liu HongboB, Weihs Antoine, Yu Zhi, Hoppmann Anselm, Grundner-Culemann Franziska, Min Josine L., Adeyemo Adebowale A., Agyemang Charles, Ärnlöv Johan, Aziz Nasir A., Baccarelli Andrea, Bochud Murielle, Brenner Hermann, Breteler Monique M. B., Carmeli Cristian, Chaker Layal, Chambers John C., Cole Shelley A., Coresh Josef, Corre Tanguy, Correa Adolfo, Cox Simon R., de Klein Niek, Delgado Graciela E., Domingo-Relloso Arce, Eckardt Kai-Uwe, Ekici Arif B., Endlich Karlhans, Evans Kathryn L., Floyd James S., Fornage Myriam, Franke Lude, Fraszczyk Eliza, Gao Xu, Gào Xīn, Ghanbari Mohsen, Ghasemi Sahar, Gieger Christian, Greenland Philip, Grove Megan L., Harris Sarah E., Hemani Gibran, Henneman Peter, Herder Christian, Horvath Steve, Hou Lifang, Hurme Mikko A., Hwang Shih-Jen, Jarvelin Marjo-Riitta, Kardia Sharon L. R., Kasela Silva, Kleber Marcus E., Koenig Wolfgang, Kooner Jaspal S., Kramer Holly, Kronenberg Florian, Kühnel Brigitte, Lehtimäki Terho, Lind Lars, Liu Dan, Liu Yongmei, Lloyd-Jones Donald M., Lohman Kurt, Lorkowski Stefan, Lu Ake T., Marioni Riccardo E., März Winfried, McCartney Daniel L., Meeks Karlijn A. C., Milani Lili, Mishra Pashupati P., Nauck Matthias, Navas-Acien Ana, Nowak Christoph, Peters Annette, Prokisch Holger, Psaty Bruce M., Raitakari Olli T., Ratliff Scott M., Reiner Alex P., Rosas Sylvia E., Schöttker Ben, Schwartz Joel, Sedaghat Sanaz, Smith Jennifer A., Sotoodehnia Nona, Stocker Hanna R., Stringhini Silvia, Sundström Johan, Swenson Brenton R., Tellez-Plaza Maria, van Meurs Joyce B. J., van Vliet-Ostaptchouk Jana V., Venema Andrea, Verweij Niek, Walker Rosie M., Wielscher Matthias, Winkelmann Juliane, Wolffenbuttel Bruce H. R., Zhao Wei, Zheng Yinan; Estonian Biobank Research Team; Genetics of DNA Methylation Consortium, Loh Marie, Snieder Harold, Levy Daniel, Waldenberger Melanie, Susztak Katalin, Köttgen Anna, Teumer Alexander
(Vertaisarvioitu alkuperäisartikkeli tai data-artikkeli tieteellisessä aikakauslehdessä (A1))