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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Study of 300,486 individuals identifies 148 independent genetic loci influencing general cognitive function (2018)

Nature Communications
Davies G, Lam M, Harris SE, Trampush JW, Luciano M, Hill WD, Hagenaars SP, Ritchie SJ, Marioni RE, Fawns-Ritchie C, Liewald DCM, Okely JA, Ahola-Olli AV, Barnes CLK, Bertram L, Bis JC, Burdick KE, Christoforou A, DeRosse P, Djurovic S, Espeseth T, Giakoumaki S, Giddaluru S, Gustavson DE, Hayward C, Hofer E, Ikram MA, Karlsson R, Knowles E, Lahti J, Leber M, Li S, Mather KA, Melle I, Morris D, Oldmeadow C, Palviainen T, Payton A, Pazoki R, Petrovic K, Reynolds CA, Sargurupremraj M, Scholz M, Smith JA, Smith AV, Terzikhan N, Thalamuthu A, Trompet S, Lee SJD, Ware EB, Windham BG, Wright MJ, Yang J, Yu J, Ames D, Amin N, Amouyel P, Andreassen OA, Armstrong NJ, Assareh AA, Attia JR, Attix D, Avramopoulos D, Bennett DA, Boehmer AC, Boyle PA, Brodaty H, Campbell H, Cannon TD, Cirulli ET, Congdon E, Conley ED, Corley J, Cox SR, Dale AM, Dehghan A, Dick D, Dickinson D, Eriksson JG, Evangelou E, Faul JD, Ford I, Freimer NA, Gao H, Giegling I, Gillespie NA, Gordon SD, Gottesman RF, Griswold ME, Gudnason V, Harris TB, Hartmann AM, Hatzimanolis A, Heiss G, Holliday EG, Joshi PK, Kahonen M, Kardia SLR, Karlsson I, Kleineidam L, Knopman DS, Kochan NA, Konte B, Kwok JB, Hellard S, Lee T, Lehtimaki T, Li SC, Liu T, Koini M, London E, LongstrethJr WT, Lopez OL, Loukola A, Luck T, Lundervold AJ, Lundquist A, Lyytikainen LP, Martin NG, Montgomery GW, Murray AD, Need AC, Noordam R, Nyberg L, Ollier W, Papenberg G, Pattie A, Polasek O, Poldrack RA, Psaty BM, Reppermund S, Riedel-Heller SG, Rose RJ, Rotter JI, Roussos P, Rovio SP, Saba Y, Sabb FW, Sachdev PS, Satizabal CL, Schmid M, Scott RJ, Scult MA, Simino J, Slagboom PE, Smyrnis N, Soumare A, Stefanis NC, Stott DJ, Straub RE, Sundet K, Taylor AM, Taylor KD, Tzoulaki I, Tzourio C, Uitterlinden A, Vitart V, Voineskos AN, Kaprio J, Wagner M, Wagner H, Weinhold L, Wen KH, Widen E, Yang Q, Zhao W, Adams HHH, Arking DE, Bilder RM, Bitsios P, Boerwinkle E, Chiba-Falek O, Corvin A, Jager PL, Debette S, Donohoe G, Elliott P, Fitzpatrick AL, Gill M, Glahn DC, Hagg S, Hansell NK, Hariri AR, Ikram MK, Jukema JW, Vuoksimaa E, Keller MC, Kremen WS, Launer L, Lindenberger U, Palotie A, Pedersen NL, Pendleton N, Porteous DJ, Raikkonen K, Raitakari OT, Ramirez A, Reinvang I, Rudan I, Rujescu D, Schmidt R, Schmidt H, Schofield PW, Schofield PR, Starr JM, Steen VM, Trollor JN, Turner ST, Duijn CM, Villringer A, Weinberger DR, Weir DR, Wilson JF, Malhotra A, McIntosh AM, Gale CR, Seshadri S, MosleyJr TH, Bressler J, Lencz T, Deary IJ,
(Vertaisarvioitu alkuperäisartikkeli tai data-artikkeli tieteellisessä aikakauslehdessä (A1))

Molecular genetic overlap between migraine and major depressive disorder (2018)

European Journal of Human Genetics
Yuanhao Yang, Huiying Zhao, Dorret I Boomsma, Lannie Ligthart, Andrea C. Belin, George Davey Smith, Tonu Esko, Tobias M. Freilinger, Thomas Folkmann Hansen, M. Arfan Ikram, Mikko Kallela, Christian Kubisch, Christofidou Paraskevi, David P. Strachan, Maija Wessman; The International Headache Genetics Consortium, Arn M. J. M. van den Maagdenberg, Gisela M. Terwindt, Dale R. Nyholt
(Vertaisarvioitu alkuperäisartikkeli tai data-artikkeli tieteellisessä aikakauslehdessä (A1))

Circulating metabolic biomarkers of renal function in diabetic and non-diabetic populations (2018)

Scientific Reports
Clara Barrios, Jonas Zierer, Peter Würtz, Toomas Haller, Andres Metspalu, Christian Gieger, Barbara Thorand, Christa Meisinger, Melanie Waldenberger, Olli Raitakari, Terho Lehtimäki, Sol Otero, Eva Rodríguez, Juan Pedro-Botet, Mika Kähönen, Mika Ala-Korpela, Gabi Kastenmüller, Tim D. Spector, Julio Pascual, Cristina Menni
(Vertaisarvioitu alkuperäisartikkeli tai data-artikkeli tieteellisessä aikakauslehdessä (A1))

The Decreasing Prevalence of Nonrefractive Visual Impairment in Older Europeans: A Meta-analysis of Published and Unpublished Data (2018)

Ophthalmology: Journal of The American Academy of Ophthalmology
Delcourt C, Le Goff M, von Hanno T, Mirshahi A, Khawaja AP, Verhoeven VJM, Hogg RE, Anastosopoulos E, Cachulo ML, Höhn R, Wolfram C, Bron A, Miotto S, Carrière I, Colijn JM, Buitendijk GHS, Evans J, Nitsch D, Founti P, Yip JLY, Pfeiffer N, Creuzot-Garcher C, Silva R, Piermarocchi S, Topouzis F, Bertelsen G, Foster PJ, Fletcher A, Klaver CCW, Korobelnik JF; for the European Eye Epidemiology Consortium
(A1 Vertaisarvioitu alkuperäisartikkeli tieteellisessä lehdessä )

Genome Analyses of >200,000 Individuals Identify 58 Loci for Chronic Inflammation and Highlight Pathways that Link Inflammation and Complex Disorders (2018)

American Journal of Human Genetics
Ligthart S, Vaez A, Vosa U, Stathopoulou MG, de Vries PS, Prins BP, Van der Most PJ, Tanaka T, Naderi E, Rose LM, Wu Y, Karlsson R, Barbalic M, Lin HH, Pool R, Zhu G, Mace A, Sidore C, Trompet S, Mangino M, Sabater-Lleal M, Kemp JP, Abbasi A, Kacprowski T, Verweij N, Smith AV, Huang T, Marzi C, Feitosa MF, Lohman KK, Kleber ME, Milaneschi Y, Mueller C, Huq M, Vlachopoulou E, Lyytikainen LP, Oldmeadow C, Deelen J, Perola M, Zhao JH, Feenstra B, Amini M, Lahti J, Schraut KE, Fornage M, Suktitipat B, Chen WM, Li XH, Nutile T, Malerba G, Luan JA, Bak T, Schork N, Del Greco MF, Thiering E, Mahajan A, Marioni RE, Mihailov E, Eriksson J, Ozel AB, Zhang WH, Nethander M, Cheng YC, Aslibekyan S, Ang W, Gandin I, Yengo L, Portas L, Kooperberg C, Hofer E, Rajan KB, Schurmann C, den Hollander W, Ahluwalia TS, Zhao J, Draisma HHM, Ford I, Timpson N, Teumer A, Huang HY, Wahl S, Liu YM, Huang J, Uh HW, Geller F, Joshi PK, Yanek LR, Trabetti E, Lehne B, Vozzi D, Verbanck M, Biino G, Saba Y, Meulenbelt I, O'Connell JR, Laakso M, Giulianini F, Magnusson PKE, Ballantyne CM, Hottenga JJ, Montgomery G, Rivadineira F, Rueedi R, Steri M, Herzig KH, Stott DJ, Menni C, Franberg M, St Pourcain B, Felix SB, Pers TH, Bakker SJL, Kraft P, Peters A, Vaidya D, Delgado G, Smit JH, Grossmann V, Sinisalo J, Seppala I, Williams SR, Holliday EG, Moed M, Langenberg C, Raikkonen K, Ding JZ, Campbell H, Sale MM, Chen YDI, James AL, Ruggiero D, Soranzo N, Hartman CA, Smith EN, Berenson GS, Fuchsberger C, Hernandez D, Tiesler CMT, Giedraitis V, Liewald D, Fischer K, Mellstrom D, Larsson A, Wang YM, Scott WR, Lorentzon M, Beilby J, Ryan KA, Pennell CE, Vuckovic D, Balkau B, Concas MP, Schmidt R, de Leon CFM, Bottinger EP, Kloppenburg M, Paternoster L, Boehnke M, Musk AW, Willemsen G, Evans DM, Madden PAF, Kahonen M, Kutalik Z, Zoledziewska M, Karhunen V, Kritchevsky SB, Sattar N, Lachance G, Clarke R, Harris TB, Raitakari OT, Attia JR, Van Heemst D, Kajantie E, Sorice R, Gambaro G, Scott RA, Hicks AA, Ferrucci L, Standl M, Lindgren CM, Starr JM, Karlsson M, Lind L, Li JZ, Chambers JC, Mori TA, de Geus EJCN, Heath AC, Martin NG, Auvinen J, Buckley BM, de Craen AJM, Waldenberger M, Strauch K, Meitinger T, Scott RJ, McEvoy M, Beekman M, Bombieri C, Ridker PM, Mohlke KL, Pedersen NL, Morrison AC, Boomsma DI, Whitfield JB, Strachan DP, Hofman A, Vollenweider P, Cucca F, Jarvelin MR, Jukema JW, Spector TD, Hamsten A, Zeller T, Uitterlinden AG, Nauck M, Gudnason V, Qi L, Grallert H, Borecki IB, Rotter JI, Marz W, Wild PS, Lokki ML, Boyle M, Salomaa V, Melbye M, Eriksson JG, Wilson JF, Penninx BWJH, Becker DM, Worrall BB, Gibson G, Krauss RM, Ciullo M, Zaza G, Wareham NJ, Oldehinkel AJ, Palmer LJ, Murray SS, Pramstaller PP, Bandinelli S, Heinrich J, Ingelsson E, Deary IJ, Magi R, Vandenput L, van der Harst P, Desch KC, Kooner JS, Ohlsson C, Hayward C, Lehtimaki T, Shuldiner AR, Arnett DK, Beilin LJ, Robino A, Froguel P, Pirastu M, Jess T, Koenig W, Loos RJF, Evans DA, Schmidt H, Smith GD, Slagboom PE, Eiriksdottir G, Morris AP, Psaty BM, Tracy RP, Nolte IM, Boerwinkle E, Visvikis-Siest S, Reiner AP, Gross M, Bis JC, Franke L, Franco OH, Benjamin EJ, Chasman DI, Dupuis J, Snieder H, Dehghan A, Alizadeh BZ
(Vertaisarvioitu alkuperäisartikkeli tai data-artikkeli tieteellisessä aikakauslehdessä (A1))

Childhood socioeconomic status and lifetime health behaviors: The Young Finns Study (2018)

International Journal of Cardiology
Elina Puolakka, Katja Pahkala, Tomi T. Laitinen, Costan G. Magnussen, Nina Hutri-Kähönen, Satu Männistö, Kristiina S. Pälve, Tuija Tammelin, Päivi Tossavainen, Eero Jokinen, Kylie J. Smith, Tomi Laitinen, Marko Elovainio, Laura Pulkki-Råback, Jorma S.A. Viikari, Olli T. Raitakari, Markus Juonala
(Vertaisarvioitu alkuperäisartikkeli tai data-artikkeli tieteellisessä aikakauslehdessä (A1))

GWAS and colocalization analyses implicate carotid intima-media thickness and carotid plaque loci in cardiovascular outcomes (2018)

Nature Communications
Franceschini N, Giambartolomei C, de Vries PS, Finan C, Bis JC, Huntley RP, Lovering RC, Tajuddin SM, Winkler TW, Graff M, Kavousi M, Dale C, Smith AV, Hofer E, van Leeuwen EM, Nolte IM, Lu LY, Scholz M, Sargurupremraj M, Pitkanen N, Franzen O, Joshi PK, Noordam R, Marioni RE, Hwang SJ, Musani SK, Schminke U, Palmas W, Isaacs A, Correa A, Zonderman AB, Hofman A, Teumer A, Cox AJ, Uitterlinden AG, Wong A, Smit AJ, Newman AB, Britton A, Ruusalepp A, Sennblad B, Hedblad B, Pasaniuc B, Penninx BW, Langefeld CD, Wassel CL, Tzourio C, Fava C, Baldassarre D, O'Leary DH, Teupser D, Kuh D, Tremoli E, Mannarino E, Grossi E, Boerwinkle E, Schadt EE, Ingelsson E, Veglia F, Rivadeneira F, Beutner F, Chauhan G, Heiss G, Snieder H, Campbell H, Volzke H, Markus HS, Deary IJ, Jukema JW, de Graaf J, Price J, Pott J, Hopewell JC, Liang JJ, Thiery J, Engmann J, Gertow K, Rice K, Taylor KD, Dhana K, Kiemeney LALM, Lind L, Raffield LM, Launer LJ, Holdt LM, Dorr M, Dichgans M, Traylor M, Sitzer M, Kumari M, Kivimaki M, Nalls MA, Melander O, Raitakari O, Franco OH, Rueda-Ochoa OL, Roussos P, Whincup PH, Amouyel P, Giral P, Anugu P, Wong Q, Malik R, Rauramaa R, Burkhardt R, Hardy R, Schmidt R, de Mutsert R, Morris RW, Strawbridge RJ, Wannamethee SG, Hagg S, Shah S, McLachlan S, Trompet S, Seshadri S, Kurl S, Heckbert SR, Ring S, Harris TB, Lehtimaki T, Galesloot TE, Shah T, de Faire U, Plagnol V, Rosamond WD, Post W, Zhu XF, Zhang XL, Guo XQ, Saba Y, Dehghan A, Seldenrijk A, Morrison AC, Hamsten A, Psaty BM, van Duijn CM, Lawlor DA, Mook-Kanamori DO, Bowden DW, Schmidt H, Wilson JF, Wilson JG, Rotter JI, Wardlaw JM, Deanfield J, Halcox J, Lyytikainen LP, Loeffler M, Evans MK, Debette S, Humphries SE, Volker U, Gudnason V, Hingorani AD, Bjorkegren JLM, Casas JP, O'Donnell CJ, Humphries SE, Volker U, Gudnason V, Hingorani AD, Bjorkegren JLM, Casas JP, O'Donnell CJ
(Vertaisarvioitu alkuperäisartikkeli tai data-artikkeli tieteellisessä aikakauslehdessä (A1))

Childhood adiposity, adult adiposity, and the ACE gene insertion/deletion polymorphism: evidence of gene-environment interaction effects on adult blood pressure and hypertension status in adulthood (2018)

Journal of Hypertension
Cong Sun, Anne-Louise Ponsonby, John B. Carlin, Minh Bui, Costan G. Magnussen, Trudy L. Burns, Terho Lehtimaki, Nicole H. Wardrop, Markus Juonala, Jorma S.A. Viikari, Alison J. Venn, Olli T. Raitakari, Terence Dwyer
(A1 Vertaisarvioitu alkuperäisartikkeli tieteellisessä lehdessä )

Sugar-sweetened beverage intake associations with fasting glucose and insulin concentrations are not modified by selected genetic variants in a ChREBP-FGF21 pathway: a meta-analysis (2018)

Diabetologia
McKeown N.M., Dashti H.S., Ma J., Haslam D.E., Kiefte-de Jong J.C., Smith C.E., Tanaka T., Graff M., Lemaitre R.N., Rybin D., Sonestedt E., Frazier-Wood A.C., Mook-Kanamori D.O., Li Y., Wang C.A., Leermakers E.T.M., Mikkilä V., Young K.L., Mukamal K.J., Cupples L.A., Schulz C.-A., Chen T.-A., Li-Gao R., Huang T., Oddy W.H., Raitakari O., Rice K., Meigs J.B., Ericson U., Steffen L.M., Rosendaal F.R., Hofman A., Kähönen M., Psaty B.M., Brunkwall L., Uitterlinden A.G., Viikari J., Siscovick D.S., Seppälä I., North K.E., Mozaffarian D., Dupuis J., Orho-Melander M., Rich S.S., de Mutsert R., Qi L., Pennell C.E., Franco O.H., Lehtimäki T., Herman M.A.
(Vertaisarvioitu alkuperäisartikkeli tai data-artikkeli tieteellisessä aikakauslehdessä (A1))

Impact of Lipid Measurements in Youth in Addition to Conventional Clinic-Based Risk Factors on Predicting Preclinical Atherosclerosis in Adulthood: The International Childhood Cardiovascular Cohort (i3C) Consortium (2018)

Circulation
Koskinen J, Juonala M, Dwyer T, Venn A, Thomson R, Bassano L, Berenson GS, Sabin Ma, Burns TL, Viikari JSA, Woo JG, Urbina EM, Prineas R, Hutri-Kähönen N, Sinaiko A, Jacobs D, Steinberger J, Danielts S, Raitakari OT, Magnussen CG
(Vertaisarvioitu alkuperäisartikkeli tai data-artikkeli tieteellisessä aikakauslehdessä (A1))