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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Genetic Determinants of Circulating Glycine Levels and Risk of Coronary Artery Disease (2019)

Journal of the American Heart Association
Qiong Jia, Yi Han, Pin Huang, Nicholas C. Woodward, Janet Gukasyan, Johannes Kettunen, Mika Ala‐Korpela, Olga Anufrieva, Qin Wang, Markus Perola, Olli Raitakari, Terho Lehtimäki, Jorma Viikari, Marjo‐Riitta Järvelin, Michael Boehnke, Markku Laakso, Karen L. Mohlke, Oliver Fiehn, Zeneng Wang, W.H. Wilson Tang, Stanley L. Hazen, Jaana A. Hartiala, Hooman Allayee
(Vertaisarvioitu alkuperäisartikkeli tai data-artikkeli tieteellisessä aikakauslehdessä (A1))

Is It Good To Be Good? Dispositional Compassion and Health Behaviors (2019)

Annals of Behavioral Medicine
Gluschkoff K., Pulkki-Råback L., Elovainio M., Saarinen A., Tammelin T., Hirvensalo M., Lehtimäki T., Keltikangas-Järvinen L., Raitakari O., Hintsanen M.
(Vertaisarvioitu alkuperäisartikkeli tai data-artikkeli tieteellisessä aikakauslehdessä (A1))

Multi-ancestry sleep-by-SNP interaction analysis in 126,926 individuals reveals lipid loci stratified by sleep duration (2019)

Nature Communications
Noordam R, Bos MM, Wang H, Winkler TW, Bentley AR, Kilpeläinen TO, de Vries PS, Sung YJ, Schwander K, Cade BE, Manning A, Aschard H, Brown MR, Chen H, Franceschini N, Musani SK, Richard M, Vojinovic D, Aslibekyan S, Bartz TM, de Las Fuentes L, Feitosa M, Horimoto AR, Ilkov M, Kho M, Kraja A, Li C, Lim E, Liu Y, Mook-Kanamori DO, Rankinen T, Tajuddin SM, van der Spek A, Wang Z, Marten J, Laville V, Alver M, Evangelou E, Graff ME, He M, Kühnel B, Lyytikäinen LP, Marques-Vidal P, Nolte IM, Palmer ND, Rauramaa R, Shu XO, Snieder H, Weiss S, Wen W, Yanek LR, Adolfo C, Ballantyne C, Bielak L, Biermasz NR, Boerwinkle E, Dimou N, Eiriksdottir G, Gao C, Gharib SA, Gottlieb DJ, Haba-Rubio J, Harris TB, Heikkinen S, Heinzer R, Hixson JE, Homuth G, Ikram MA, Komulainen P, Krieger JE, Lee J, Liu J, Lohman KK, Luik AI, Mägi R, Martin LW, Meitinger T, Metspalu A, Milaneschi Y, Nalls MA, O'Connell J, Peters A, Peyser P, Raitakari OT, Reiner AP, Rensen PCN, Rice TK, Rich SS, Roenneberg T, Rotter JI, Schreiner PJ, Shikany J, Sidney SS, Sims M, Sitlani CM, Sofer T, Strauch K, Swertz MA, Taylor KD, Uitterlinden AG, van Duijn CM, Völzke H, Waldenberger M, Wallance RB, van Dijk KW, Yu C, Zonderman AB, Becker DM, Elliott P, Esko T, Gieger C, Grabe HJ, Lakka TA, Lehtimäki T, North KE, Penninx BWJH, Vollenweider P, Wagenknecht LE, Wu T, Xiang YB, Zheng W, Arnett DK, Bouchard C, Evans MK, Gudnason V, Kardia S, Kelly TN, Kritchevsky SB, Loos RJF, Pereira AC, Province M, Psaty BM, Rotimi C, Zhu X, Amin N, Cupples LA, Fornage M, Fox EF, Guo X, Gauderman WJ, Rice K, Kooperberg C, Munroe PB, Liu CT, Morrison AC, Rao DC, van Heemst D, Redline S
(A1 Vertaisarvioitu alkuperäisartikkeli tieteellisessä lehdessä )

Personality traits and perceptions of organisational justice (2019)

International Journal of Psychology
Törnroos Maria, Elovainio Marko, Hintsa Taina, Hintsanen Mirka, Pulkki-Råback Laura, Jokela Markus, Lehtimäki Terho, Raitakari Olli T., Keltikangas-Järvinen Liisa
(Vertaisarvioitu alkuperäisartikkeli tai data-artikkeli tieteellisessä aikakauslehdessä (A1))

Predicting overweight and obesity in young adulthood from childhood body-mass index: comparison of cutoffs derived from longitudinal and cross-sectional data (2019)

The Lancet Child & Adolescent Health
Kartiosuo N, Ramakrishnan R, Lemeshow S, Juonala M, Burns TL, Woo JG, Jr DR, Daniels SR, Venn A, Steinberger J, Urbina EM, Bazzano L, Sabin MA, Hu T, Prineas RJ, Sinaiko AR, Pahkala K, Raitakari O, Dwyer T, Dwyer T
(Vertaisarvioitu alkuperäisartikkeli tai data-artikkeli tieteellisessä aikakauslehdessä (A1))

CVD risk factors and surrogate markers - Urban-rural differences (2019)

Scandinavian Journal of Public Health
Joel Nuotio, Lauri Vähämurto, Katja Pahkala, Costan G. Magnussen, Nina Hutri-Kähönen, Mika Kähönen, Tomi Laitinen, Leena Taittonen, Päivi Tossavainen,Terho Lehtimäki, Eero Jokinen, Jorma S.A. Viikari, Olli Raitakari, Markus Juonala
(Vertaisarvioitu alkuperäisartikkeli tai data-artikkeli tieteellisessä aikakauslehdessä (A1))

Multi-ancestry genome-wide gene-smoking interaction study of 387,272 individuals identifies new loci associated with serum lipids (2019)

Nature Genetics
Bentley AR, Sung YJ, Brown MR, Winkler TW, Kraja AT, Ntalla I, Schwander K, Chasman DI, Lim E, Deng X, Guo XQ, Liu JM, Lu YC, Cheng CY, Sim X, Vojinovic D, Huffman JE, Musani SK, Li CW, Feitosa MF, Richard MA, Noordam R, Baker J, Chen GJ, Aschard H, Bartz TM, Ding JZ, Dorajoo R, Manning AK, Rankinen T, Smith AV, Tajuddin SM, Zhao W, Graff M, Alver M, Boissel M, Chai JF, Chen X, Divers J, Evangelou E, Gao C, Goel A, Hagemeijer Y, Harris SE, Hartwig FP, He MA, Horimoto ARVR, Hsu FC, Hung YJ, Jackson AU, Kasturiratne A, Komulainen P, Kuhnel B, Leander K, Lin KH, Luan JA, Lyytikainen LP, Matoba N, Nolte IM, Pietzner M, Prins B, Riaz M, Robino A, Said MA, Schupf N, Scott RA, Sofer T, Stancakova A, Takeuchi F, Tayo BO, van der Most PJ, Varga TV, Wang TD, Wang YJ, Ware EB, Wen WQ, Xiang YB, Yanek LR, Zhang WH, Zhao JH, Adeyemo A, Afaq S, Amin N, Amini M, Arking DE, Arzumanyan Z, Aung T, Ballantyne C, Barr RG, Bielak LF, Boerwinkle E, Bottinger EP, Broeckel U, Brown M, Cade BE, Campbell A, Canouil M, Charumathi S, Chen YDI, Christensen K, Concas MP, Connell JM, de las Fuentes L, de Silva HJ, de Vries PS, Doumatey A, Duan Q, Eaton CB, Eppinga RN, Faul JD, Floyd JS, Forouhi NG, Forrester T, Friedlander Y, Gandin I, Gao H, Ghanbari M, Gharib SA, Gigante B, Giulianini F, Grabe HJ, Gu CC, Harris TB, Heikkinen S, Heng CK, Hirata M, Hixson JE, Ikram MA, Jia YC, Joehanes R, Johnson C, Jonas JB, Justice AE, Katsuya T, Khor CC, Kilpelainen TO, Koh WP, Kolcic I, Kooperberg C, Krieger JE, Kritchevsky SB, Kubo M, Kuusisto J, Lakka TA, Langefeld CD, Langenberg C, Launer LJ, Lehne B, Lewis CE, Li YZ, Liang JJ, Lin S, Liu CT, Liu JJ, Liu K, Loh M, Lohman KK, Louie T, Luzzi A, Magi R, Mahajan A, Manichaikul AW, McKenzie CA, Meitinger T, Metspalu A, Milaneschi Y, Milani L, Mohlke KL, Momozawa Y, Morris AP, Murray AD, Nalls MA, Nauck M, Nelson CP, North KE, O'Connell JR, Palmer ND, Papanicolau GJ, Pedersen NL, Peters A, Peyser PA, Polasek O, Poulter N, Raitakari OT, Reiner AP, Renstrom F, Rice TK, Rich SS, Robinson JG, Rose LM, Rosendaal FR, Rudan I, Schmidt CO, Schreiner PJ, Scott WR, Sever P, Shi Y, Sidney S, Sims M, Smith JA, Snieder H, Starr JM, Strauch K, Stringham HM, Tan NYQ, Tang H, Taylor KD, Teo YY, Tham YC, Tiemeier H, Turner ST, Uitterlinden AG, van Heemst D, Waldenberger M, Wang HM, Wang L, Wang LH, Wei WB, Williams CA, Wilson G, Wojczynski MK, Yao J, Young K, Yu CZ, Yuan JM, Zhou J, Zonderman AB, Becker DM, Boehnke M, Bowden DW, Chambers JC, Cooper RS, de Faire U, Deary IJ, Elliott P, Esko T, Farrall M, Franks PW, Freedman BI, Froguel P, Gasparini P, Gieger C, Horta BL, Juang JMJ, Kamatani Y, Kammerer CM, Kato N, Kooner JS, Laakso M, Laurie CC, Lee IT, Lehtimaki T, Magnusson PKE, Oldehinkel AJ, Penninx BWJH, Pereira AC, Rauramaa R, Redline S, Samani NJ, Scott J, Shu XO, van der Harst P, Wagenknecht LE, Wang JS, Wang YX, Wareham NJ, Watkins H, Weir DR, Wickremasinghe AR, Wu TC, Zeggini E, Zheng W, Bouchard C, Evans MK, Gudnason V, Kardia SLR, Liu YM, Psaty BM, Ridker PM, van Dam RM, Mook-Kanamori DO, Fornage M, Province MA, Kelly TN, Fox ER, Hayward C, van Duijn CM, Tai ES, Wong TY, Loos RJF, Franceschini N, Rotter JI, Zhu XF, Bierut LJ, Gauderman WJ, Rice K, Munroe PB, Morrison AC, Rao DC, Rotimi CN, Cupples LA
(Vertaisarvioitu alkuperäisartikkeli tai data-artikkeli tieteellisessä aikakauslehdessä (A1))

Genetic predisposition to higher body fat yet lower cardiometabolic risk in children and adolescents (2019)

International Journal of Obesity
Anna Viitasalo, Theresia M. Schnurr, Niina Pitkänen, Mette Hollensted, Tenna R. H. Nielsen, Katja Pahkala, Niina Lintu, Mads V. Lind, Mustafa Atalay, Christine Frithioff-Bøjsøe, Cilius E. Fonvig, Niels Grarup, Mika Kähönen, Anni Larnkjaer, Oluf Pedersen, Jens-Christian Holm, Kim F. Michaelsen, Timo A. Lakka, Terho Lehtimäki, Olli Raitakari, Torben Hansen, Tuomas O. Kilpeläinen
(Vertaisarvioitu alkuperäisartikkeli tai data-artikkeli tieteellisessä aikakauslehdessä (A1))