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 International Childhood Cardiovascular Cohort (i3C) consortium outcomes study of childhood cardiovascular risk factors and adult cardiovascular morbidity and mortality: Design and recruitment (2018)

Contemporary Clinical Trials
Alan R. Sinaiko, David R. Jacobs Jr, Jessica G. Woo, Lydia Bazzano, Trudy Burns, Tian Hu, Markus Juonala, Ronald Prineas, Olli Raitakari, Julia Steinberger, Elaine Urbina, Alison Venn, Cashell Jaquish, Terry Dwyer
(Vertaisarvioitu alkuperäisartikkeli tai data-artikkeli tieteellisessä aikakauslehdessä (A1))

Protein-altering variants associated with body mass index implicate pathways that control energy intake and expenditure in obesity (2018)

Nature Genetics
Veronesi G., Vestergaard H., Velez Edwards D., Vermeulen S., Varga T., Varma R., Vanhala M., Varbo A., Wallentin L., Wang F., Wagenknecht L., Walker M., Völker U., Vuckovic D., Vitart V., Vogt T., Wessel J., Waterworth D., Warren H., Wareham N., Ware E., Wang Y., Wang S., Wang C., Yao J., Yaghootkar H., Wu Y., Wood A., Witte D., Wilson J., Willer C., White H., Stringham H., Stumvoll M., Sun L., Surendran P., Stefansson K., Steinthorsdottir V., Stirrups K., Strauch K., Taylor K., Teumer A., Thompson D., Thorleifsson G., Swift A., Tada H., Tansey K., Tardif J., Tsafantakis E., Trompet S., Tybjaerg-Hansen A., Tuomilehto J., Thuesen B., Thorsteinsdottir U., Tromp G., Tönjes A., Duijn C., Laan S., Van Setten J., Leeuwen N., Uher R., Tyrer J., Uusitupa M., Uitterlinden A., Yao P., Yerges-Armstrong L., Young R., Zeggini E., Zhan X., Zhang W., Zhao J., Zhao W., Zhou W., Zondervan K., Rotter J., Pospisilik J., Rivadeneira F., Borecki I., Deloukas P., Frayling T., North K., Lettre G., Hirschhorn J., Lindgren C., Loos R., Giri A., Esko T., Guo X., Graff M., Justice A., Schurmann C., Bradfield J., Fine R., Turcot V., Highland H., Lu Y., Medina-Gomez C., Mudgal P., Ng M., Reiner A., Alfred T., Feitosa M., Masca N., Manning A., Mahajan A., Marouli E., Sivapalaratnam S., Young K., Hendricks A., Karaderi T., Lempradl A., Locke A., Benn M., Bastarache L., Barroso I., Bang L., Balkau B., Auer P., Asselbergs F., Amouyel P., Allison M., Alharthi S., Alam D., Aben K., Abecasis G., Winkler T., Willems S., Vedantam S., Broer L., Brumat M., Breen G., Brilliant M., Bowden D., Brandslund I., Bots M., Bottinger E., Böger C., Bork-Jensen J., Boeing H., Boerwinkle E., Blüher M., Boehnke M., Bergmann S., Bielak L., Crosslin D., Cox A., Corominas Galbany J., Corley J., Davies G., Danesh J., D'Eustacchio A., Cuellar-Partida G., Deary I., Mutsert R., Groot M., Bakker P., Hollander A., Heijer M., Demerath E., Dedoussis G., Campbell P., Cappellani S., Burt A., Butterworth A., Caulfield M., Chambers J., Carey D., Catamo E., Chowdhury R., Christensen C., Chasman D., Chen Y., Collins F., Cook J., Chu A., Cocca M., Fauser S., Faul J., Ferrannini E., Feng S., Florez J., Ferrieres J., Fornage M., Ford I., Franke A., Franco O., Friedrich N., Franks P., Galesloot T., Frikke-Schmidt R., Gandin I., Gan W., Ruijter H., Dennis J., Denny J., Angelantonio E., Drenos F., Du M., Dubé M., Dunning A., Easton D., Edwards T., Ellinghaus D., Ellinor P., Elliott P., Evangelou E., Farmaki A., Farooqi I., Heard-Costa N., He L., Hayward C., Have C., Hattersley A., Harris T., Harris K., Hansen T., Howson J., Hovingh G., Holmen O., Hewitt A., Hernesniemi J., Helgeland Ø., Heid I., Heath A., Grabe H., Grant S., Gordon-Larsen P., Gorski M., Giedraitis V., Gjesing A., Gasparini P., Gibson J., Hakonarson H., Hammerschlag A., Gustafsson S., Haessler J., Grove M., Gudnason V., Grarup N., Griffiths H., Kardia S., Karaleftheri M., Kathiresan S., Karpe F., Kamstrup P., Kähönen M., Kaprio J., Kanoni S., Kooner J., Komulainen P., Korhonen T., Kooperberg C., Kiemeney L., Kee F., Kitajima H., Kim E., Ingelsson E., Jackson A., Jansson J., Jarvik G., Hu Y., Huang P., Huffman J., Ikram M., Jørgensen T., Jukema J., Kahali B., Kahn R., Jensen G., Jia Y., Johansson S., Jørgensen M., Liu D., Liu Y., Linneberg A., Liu C., Lotery A., Loukola A., Lo K., Lophatananon A., Lin H., Lin K., Li J., Li-Gao R., Lind L., Lindström J., Lin L., Lin X., Larson E., Langenberg C., Lange L., Lange E., Li H., Lewis C., Lehtimäki T., Lee N., Kuulasmaa K., Kutalik Z., Kuivaniemi H., Kovacs P., Lamparter D., Lakka T., Laakso M., Kuusisto J., Nalls M., Narisu N., Nelson C., Neville M., Nielsen S., Nikus K., Njølstad P., Nordestgaard B., Montgomery G., Mook-Kanamori D., Moore C., Mori T., Morris A., Morris A., Müller-Nurasyid M., Munroe P., Meidtner K., Medland S., Mistry V., Milani L., Mohlke K., Mitchell P., Moitry M., Moilanen L., Lubitz S., Luan J., Männistö S., Lyytikäinen L., Mazul A., Marenne G., McKean-Cowdin R., McCarthy M., Rasheed A., Rauramaa R., Puolijoki H., Raitakari O., Polasek O., Polderman T., Peyser P., Pirie A., Peters A., Petersen E., Pers T., Person T., Perry J., Perry J., Pennell C., Perola M., Peloso G., Peissig P., Pedersen O., Pattie A., Patel A., Pasterkamp G., Palmer N., Palmer C., Padmanabhan S., Packard C., Owen K., Ophoff R., Olde Loohuis L., O'Donoghue M., O'Connel J., Nyholt D., Southam L., Spector T., Speliotes E., Starr J., Sim X., Slater A., Small K., Smith A., Scott R., Segura-Lepe M., Shah S., Sheu W., Sattar N., Schoen R., Schreiner P., Schulze M., Salomaa V., Saleheen D., Sapkota Y., Samani N., Rolandsson O., Robino A., Ruth K., Rudan I., Rivas M., Rioux J., Robertson N., Roberts D., Renström F., Reilly D., Ridker P., Rheinberger M.
(Vertaisarvioitu alkuperäisartikkeli tai data-artikkeli tieteellisessä aikakauslehdessä (A1))

Genome-wide association meta-analysis highlights light-induced signaling as a driver for refractive error (2018)

Nature Genetics
Tedja MS, Wojciechowski R, Hysi PG, Eriksson N, Furlotte NA, Verhoeven VJM, Iglesias AI, Meester-Smoor MA, Tompson SW, Fan Q, Khawaja AP, Cheng CY, Hohn R, Yamashiro K, Wenocur A, Grazal C, Haller T, Metspalu A, Wedenoja J, Jonas JB, Wang YX, Xie J, Mitchell P, Foster PJ, Klein BEK, Klein R, Paterson AD, Hosseini SM, Shah RL, Williams C, Teo YY, Tham YC, Gupta P, Zhao WT, Shi Y, Saw WY, Tai ES, Sim XL, Huffman JE, Polasek O, Hayward C, Bencic G, Rudan I, Wilson JF, Joshi PK, Tsujikawa A, Matsuda F, Whisenhunt KN, Zeller T, van der Spek PJ, Haak R, Meijers-Heijboer H, van Leeuwen EM, Iyengar SK, Lass JH, Hofman A, Rivadeneira F, Uitterlinden AG, Vingerling JR, Lehtimaki T, Raitakari OT, Biino G, Concas MP, Schwantes-An TH, Igo RP, Cuellar-Partida G, Martin NG, Craig JE, Gharahkhani P, Williams KM, Nag A, Rahi JS, Cumberland PM, Delcourt C, Bellenguez C, Ried JS, Bergen AA, Meitinger T, Gieger C, Wong TY, Hewitt AW, Mackey DA, Simpson CL, Pfeiffer N, Parssinen O, Baird PN, Vitart V, Amin N, van Duijn CM, Bailey-Wilson JE, Young TL, Saw SM, Stambolian D, MacGregor S, Guggenheim JA, Tung JY, Hammond CJ, Klaver CCW
(Vertaisarvioitu alkuperäisartikkeli tai data-artikkeli tieteellisessä aikakauslehdessä (A1))

PR interval genome-wide association meta-analysis identifies 50 loci associated with atrial and atrioventricular electrical activity (2018)

Nature Communications
van Setten J, Brody JA, Jamshidi Y, Swenson BR, Butler AM, Campbell H, Del Greco FM, Evans DS, Gibson Q, Gudbjartsson DF, Kerr KF, Krijthe BP, Lyytikainen LP, Muller C, Muller-Nurasyid M, Nolte IM, Padmanabhan S, Ritchie MD, Robino A, Smith AV, Steri M, Tanaka T, Teumer A, Trompet S, Ulivi S, Verweij N, Yin XY, Arnar DO, Asselbergs FW, Bader JS, Barnard J, Bis J, Blankenberg S, Boerwinkle E, Bradford Y, Buckley BM, Chung MK, Crawford D, den Hoed M, Denny JC, Dominiczak AF, Ehret GB, Eijgelsheim M, Ellinor PT, Felix SB, Franco OH, Franke L, Harris TB, Holm H, Ilaria G, Iorio A, Kahonen M, Kolcic I, Kors JA, Lakatta EG, Launer LJ, Lin HH, Lin HJ, Loos RJF, Lubitz SA, Macfarlane PW, Magnani JW, Leach IM, Meitinger T, Mitchell BD, Munzel T, Papanicolaou GJ, Peters A, Pfeufer A, Pramstaller PP, Raitakari OT, Rotter JI, Rudan I, Samani NJ, Schlessinger D, Aldana CTS, Sinner MF, Smith JD, Snieder H, Soliman EZ, Spector TD, Stott DJ, Strauch K, Tarasov KV, Thorsteinsdottir U, Uitterlinden AG, Van Wagoner DR, Volker U, Volzke H, Waldenberger M, Westra HJ, Wild PS, Zeller T, Alonso A, Avery CL, Bandinelli S, Benjamin EJ, Cucca F, Dorr M, Ferrucci L, Gasparini P, Gudnason V, Hayward C, Heckbert SR, Hicks AA, Jukema JW, Kaab S, Lehtimaki T, Liu YM, Munroe PB, Parsa A, Polasek O, Psaty BM, Roden DM, Schnabel RB, Sinagra G, Stefansson K, Stricker BH, van der Harst P, van Duijn CM, Wilson JF, Gharib SA, de Bakker PIW, Isaacs A, Arking DE, Sotoodehnia N, Sotoodehnia N, Arking DE, Isaacs A, de Bakker PIW, Gharib SA, Wilson JF
(Vertaisarvioitu alkuperäisartikkeli tai data-artikkeli tieteellisessä aikakauslehdessä (A1))

Common and Rare Coding Genetic Variation Underlying the Electrocardiographic PR Interval (2018)

Circulation: Genomic and Precision Medicine
Lin HH, van Setten J, Smith AV, Bihlmeyer NA, Warren HR, Brody JA, Radmanesh F, Hall L, Grarup N, Muller-Nurasyid M, Boutin T, Verweij N, Lin HJ, Li-Gao RF, van den Berg ME, Marten J, Weiss S, Prins BP, Haessler J, Lyytikainen LP, Mei H, Harris TB, Launer LJ, Li M, Alonso A, Soliman EZ, Connell JM, Huang PL, Weng LC, Jameson HS, Hucker W, Hanley A, Tucker NR, Chen YDI, Bis JC, Rice KM, Sitlani CM, Kors JA, Xie ZJ, Wen CP, Magnani JW, Nelson CP, Kanters JK, Sinner MF, Strauch K, Peters A, Waldenberger M, Meitinger T, Bork-Jensen J, Pedersen O, Linneberg A, Rudan I, de Boer RA, van der Meer P, Yao J, Guo XQ, Taylor KD, Sotoodehnia N, Rotter JI, Mook-Kanamori DO, Trompet S, Rivadeneira F, Uitterlinden A, Eijgelsheim M, Padmanabhan S, Smith BH, Volzke H, Mangino M, Spector TD, Bots ML, Perez M, Kahonen M, Raitakari OT, Gudnason V, Arking DE, Munroe PB, Psaty BM, van Duijn CM, Benjamin EJ, Rosand J, Samani NJ, Hansen T, Kaab S, Polasek O, van der Harst P, Heckbert SR, Jukema JW, Stricker BH, Hayward C, Dorr M, Jamshidi Y, Asselbergs FW, Kooperberg C, Lehtimaki T, Wilson JG, Ellinor PT, Lubitz SA, Isaacs A
(Vertaisarvioitu alkuperäisartikkeli tai data-artikkeli tieteellisessä aikakauslehdessä (A1))