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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Worldwide trends in blood pressure from 1975 to 2015: a pooled analysis of 1479 population-based measurement studies with 19.1 million participants (2017)

Lancet
Zhou B, Bentham J, Di Cesare M, Bixby H, Danaei G, Cowan MJ, Paciorek CJ, Singh G, Hajifathalian K, Bennett JE, Taddei C, Bilano V, Carrillo-Larco RM, Djalalinia S, Khatibzadeh S, Lugero C, Peykari N, Zhang WZ, Lu Y, Stevens GA, Riley LM, Bovet P, Elliott P, Gu DF, Ikeda N, Jackson RT, Joffres M, Kengne AP, Laatikainen T, Lam TH, Laxmaiah A, Liu J, Miranda JJ, Mondo CK, Neuhauser HK, Sundstrom J, Smeeth L, Soric M, Woodward M, Ezzati M, Abarca-Gomez L, Abdeen ZA, Rahim HA, Abu-Rmeileh NM, Acosta-Cazares B, Adams R, Aekplakorn W, Afsana K, Aguilar-Salinas CA, Agyemang C, Ahmadvand A, Ahrens W, Al Raddadi R, Al Woyatan R, Ali MM, Alkerwi A, Aly E, Amouyel P, Amuzu A, Andersen LB, Anderssen SA, Angquist L, Anjana RM, Ansong D, Aounallah-Skhiri H, Araujo J, Ariansen I, Aris T, Arlappa N, Aryal K, Arveiler D, Assah FK, Assuncao MCF, Avdicova M, Azevedo A, Azizi F, Babu BV, Bahijri S, Balakrishna N, Bandosz P, Banegas JR, Barbagallo CM, Barcelo A, Barkat A, Barros AJD, Barros MV, Bata I, Batieha AM, Baur LA, Beaglehole R, Ben Romdhane H, Benet M, Benson LS, Bernabe-Ortiz A, Bernotiene G, Bettiol H, Bhagyalaxmi A, Bharadwaj S, Bhargava SK, Bi YF, Bikbov M, Bjerregaard P, Bjertness E, Bjokelund C, Blokstra A, Bo S, Bobak M, Boeing H, Boggia JG, Boissonnet CP, Bongard V, Bovet P, Braeckman L, Brajkovich I, Branca F, Breckenkamp J, Brenner H, Brewster LM, Bruno G, Bueno-de-Mesquita HB, Bugge A, Burns C, Bursztyn M, de Leon AC, Cameron C, Can G, Candido APC, Capuano V, Cardoso VC, Carlsson AC, Carvalho MJ, Casanueva FF, Casanueva FF, Casas JP, Caserta CA, Chamukuttan S, Chan AW, Chan Q, Chaturvedi HK, Chaturvedi N, Chen CJ, Chen FF, Chen HS, Chen S, Chen ZM, Cheng CY, Dekkaki IC, Chetrit A, Chiolero A, Chiou ST, Chirita-Emandi A, Cho B, Cho Y, Chudek J, Cifkova R, Claessens F, Clays E, Concin H, Cooper C, Cooper R, Coppinger TC, Costanzo S, Cottel D, Cowell C, Craig CL, Crujeiras AB, Cruz JJ, D'Arrigo G, d'Orsi E, Dallongeville J, Damasceno A, Danaei G, Dankner R, Dantoft TM, Dauchet L, De Backer G, de Gaetano G, De Henauw S, De Smedt D, Deepa M, Dehghan A, Delisle H, Deschamps V, Dhana K, Di Castelnuovo AF, Dias-da-Costa JS, Diaz A, Dickerson TT, Djalalinia S, Do HTP, Dobson AJ, Donfrancesco C, Donoso SP, Doring A, Doua K, Drygas W, Dulskiene V, Dzakula A, Dzerve V, Dziankowska-Zaborszczyk E, Eggertsen R, Ekelund U, El Ati J, Ellert U, Elliott P, Elosua R, Erasmus RT, Erem C, Eriksen L, Escobedo-de la Pena J, Evans A, Faeh D, Fall CH, Farzadfar F, Felix-Redondo FJ, Ferguson TS, Fernandez-Berges D, Ferrante D, Ferrari M, Ferreccio C, Ferrieres J, Finn JD, Fischer K, Foger B, Foo LH, Forslund AS, Forsner M, Fortmann SP, Fouad HM, Francis DK, Franco MD, Franco OH, Frontera G, Fuchs FD, Fuchs SC, Fujita Y, Furusawa T, Gaciong Z, Gareta D, Garnett SP, Gaspoz JM, Gasull M, Gates L, Gavrila D, Geleijnse JM, Ghasemian A, Ghimire A, Giampaoli S, Gianfagna F, Giovannelli J, Goldsmith RA, Goncalves H, Gross MG, Rivas JPG, Gottrand F, Graff-Iversen S, Grafnetter D, Grajda A, Gregor RD, Grodzicki T, Grontved A, Gruden G, Grujic V, Gu DF, Guan OP, Gudnason V, Guerrero R, Guessous I, Guimaraes AL, Gulliford MC, Gunnlaugsdottir J, Gunter M, Gupta PC, Gureje O, Gurzkowska B, Gutierrez L, Gutzwiller F, Hadaegh F, Halkjaer J, Hambleton IR, Hardy R, Harikumar R, Hata J, Hayes AJ, He J, Hendriks ME, Henriques A, Cadena LH, Herqutanto, Herrala S, Heshmat R, Hihtaniemi IT, Ho SY, Ho SC, Hobbs M, Hofman A, Dinc GH, Hormiga CM, Horta BL, Houti L, Howitt C, Htay TT, Htet AS, Hu YH, Huerta JM, Husseini AS, Huybrechts I, Hwalla N, Iacoviello L, Iannone AG, Ibrahim MM, Ikram MA, Irazola VE, Islam M, Ivkovic V, Iwasaki M, Jackson RT, Jacobs JM, Jafar T, Jamrozik K, Janszky I, Jasienska G, Jelakovic B, Jiang CQ, Johansson M, Jonas JB, Jorgensen T, Joshi P, Juolevi A, Jurak G, Juresa V, Kaaks R, Kafatos A, Kalter-Leibovici O, Kamaruddin NA, Kasaeian A, Katz J, Kauhanen J, Kaur P, Kavousi M, Kazakbaeva G, Keil U, Boker LK, Keinanen-Kiukaanniemi S, Kelishadi R, Kemper HCG, Kengne AP, Kersting M, Key T, Khader YS, Khalili D, Khang YH, Khaw KT, Kiechl S, Killewo J, Kim J, Klumbiene J, Kolle E, Kolsteren P, Korrovits P, Koskinen S, Kouda K, Koziel S, Kristensen PL, Krokstad S, Kromhout D, Kruger HS, Kubinova R, Kuciene R, Kuh D, Kujala UM, Kula K, Kulaga Z, Kumar RK, Kurjata P, Kusuma YS, Kuulasmaa K, Kyobutungi C, Laatikainen T, Lachat C, Landrove O, Lanska V, Lappas G, Larijani B, Laugsand LE, Laxmaiah A, Bao KLN, Le TD, Leclercq C, Lee J, Lee J, Lehtimaki T, Lekhraj R, Leon-Munoz LM, Levitt NS, Li YP, Lilly CL, Lim WY, Lima-Costa MF, Lin HH, Lin X, Linneberg A, Lissner L, Litwin M, Liu J, Lorbeer R, Lotufo PA, Lozano JE, Luksiene D, Lundqvist A, Lunet N, Lytsy P, Ma GS, Ma J, Machado-Coelho GLL, Machi S, Maggi S, Magliano DJ, Majer M, Makdisse M, Malekzadeh R, Malhotra R, Rao KM, Malyutina S, Manios Y, Mann JI, Manzato E, Margozzini P, Marques-Vidal P, Marrugat J, Martorell R, Mathiesen EB, Matijasevich A, Matsha TE, Mbanya JCN, Posso AJM, McFarlane SR, McFarlane SR, McGarvey ST, McLachlan S, McLean RM, McNulty BA, Khir ASM, Mediene-Benchekor S, Medzioniene J, Meirhaeghe A, Meisinger C, Menezes AMB, Menon GR, Meshram II, Metspalu A, Mi J, Mikkel K, Miller JC, Miquel JF, Miranda JJ, Misigoj-Durakovic M, Mohamed MK, Mohammad K, Mohammadifard N, Mohan V, Yusoff MFM, Moller NC, Molnar D, Momenan A, Mondo CK, Monyeki KDK, Moreira LB, Morejon A, Moreno LA, Morgan K, Moschonis G, Mossakowska M, Mostafa A, Mota J, Motlagh ME, Motta J, Muiesan ML, Muller-Nurasyid M, Murphy N, Mursu J, Musil V, Nagel G, Naidu BM, Nakamura H, Namsna J, Nang EEK, Nangia VB, Narake S, Navarrete-Munoz EM, Ndiaye NC, Neal WA, Nenko I, Nervi F, Neuhauser HK, Nguyen ND, Nguyen QN, Nieto-Martinez RE, Niiranen TJ, Ning G, Ninomiya T, Nishtar S, Noale M, Noboa OA, Noorbala AA, Norat T, Noto D, Al Nsour M, O'Reilly D, Oh K, Olinto MTA, Oliveira IO, Omar MA, Onat A, Ordunez P, Osmond C, Ostojic SM, Otero JA, Overvad K, Owusu-Dabo E, Paccaud FM, Padez C, Pahomova E, Pajak A, Palli D, Palmieri L, Panda-Jonas S, Panza F, Papandreou D, Parnell WR, Parsaeian M, Pecin I, Pednekar MS, Peer N, Peeters PH, Peixoto SV, Pelletier C, Peltonen M, Pereira AC, Perez RM, Peters A, Petkeviciene J, Peykari N, Pham ST, Pigeot I, Pikhart H, Pilav A, Pilotto L, Pitakaka F, Plans-Rubio P, Polakowska M, Polasek O, Porta M, Portegies MLP, Pourshams A, Pradeepa R, Prashant M, Price JF, Puiu M, Punab M, Qasrawi RF, Qorbani M, Radic I, Radisauskas R, Rahman M, Raitakari O, Raj M, Rao SR, Ramos E, Rampal S, Reina DAR, Rasmussen F, Redon J, Reganit PFM, Ribeiro R, Riboli E, Rigo F, de Wit TFR, Ritti-Dias RM, Robinson SM, Robitaille C, Rodriguez-Artalejo F, Rodriguez-Villamizar LA, Rojas-Martinez R, Rosengren A, Rubinstein A, Rui O, Ruiz-Betancourt BS, Horimoto ARVR, Rutkowski M, Sabanayagam C, Sachdev HS, Saidi O, Sakarya S, Salanave B, Martinez ES, Salmeron D, Salomaa V, Salonen JT, Salvetti M, Sanchez-Abanto J, Sans S, Santos D, Santos IS, dos Santos RN, Santos R, Saramies JL, Sardinha LB, Margolis GS, Sarrafzadegan N, Saum KU, Savva SC, Scazufca M, Schargrodsky H, Schneider IJ, Schultsz C, Schutte AE, Sen A, Senbanjo IO, Sepanlou SG, Sharma SK, Shaw JE, Shibuya K, Shin DW, Shin YC, Siantar R, Sibai AM, Silva DAS, Simon M, Simons J, Simons LA, Sjotrom M, Skovbjerg S, Slowikowska-Hilczer J, Slusarczyk P, Smeeth L, Smith MC, Snijder MB, So HK, Sobngwi E, Soderberg S, Solfrizzi V, Sonestedt E, Song Y, Sorensen TIA, Soric M, Jerome CS, Soumare A, Staessen JA, Starc G, Stathopoulou MG, Stavreski B, Steene-Johannessen J, Stehle P, Stein AD, Stergiou GS, Stessman J, Stieber J, Stockl D, Stocks T, Stokwiszewski J, Stronks K, Strufaldi MW, Sun CA, Sundstrom J, Sung YT, Suriyawongpaisal P, Sy RG, Tai ES, Tammesoo ML, Tamosiunas A, Tang L, Tang X, Tanser F, Tao Y, Tarawneh MR, Tarqui-Mamani CB, Taylor A, Theobald H, Thijs L, Thuesen BH, Tjonneland A, Tolonen HK, Topbas M, Topor-Madry R, Tormo MJ, Torrent M, Traissac P, Trichopoulos D, Trichopoulou A, Trinh OTH, Trivedi A, Tshepo L, Tulloch-Reid MK, Tuomainen TP, Turley ML, Tynelius P, Tzourio C, Ueda P, Ugel E, Ulmer H, Uusitalo HMT, Valdivia G, Valvi D, van der Schouw YT, Van Herck K, van Rossem L, van Valkengoed IGM, Vanderschueren D, Vanuzzo D, Vatten L, Vega T, Velasquez-Melendez G, Veronesi G, Verschuren WMM, Verstraeten R, Victora CG, Viet L, Viikari-Juntura E, Vineis P, Vioque J, Virtanen JK, Visvikis-Siest S, Viswanathan B, Vollenweider P, Vrdoljak A, Vrijheid M, Wade AN, Wagner A, Walton J, Mohamud WNW, Wang MD, Wang Q, Wang YX, Wannamethee SG, Wareham N, Wederkopp N, Weerasekera D, Whincup PH, Widhalm K, Widyahening IS, Wiecek A, Wijga AH, Wilks RJ, Willeit P, Williams EA, Wilsgaard T, Wojtyniak B, Wong TY, Wong-McClure RA, Woo J, Woodward M, Wu AG, Wu FC, Wu SL, Xu HQ, Yan WL, Yang XG, Ye XW, Yiallouros PK, Yoshihara A, Younger-Coleman NO, Yusoff AF, Zambon S, Zdrojewski T, Zeng Y, Zhao D, Zhao WH, Zheng Y, Zhu D, Zimmermann E, Cisneros JZ
(Vertaisarvioitu alkuperäisartikkeli tai data-artikkeli tieteellisessä aikakauslehdessä (A1))

A genome-wide association meta-analysis on lipoprotein (a) concentrations adjusted for apolipoprotein (a) isoforms (2017)

Journal of Lipid Research
Mack S, Coassin S, Rueedi R, Yousri NA, Seppala I, Gieger C, Schonherr S, Forer L, Erhart G, Marques-Vidal P, Ried JS, Waeber G, Bergmann S, Dahnhardt D, Stockl A, Raitakari OT, Khahonen M, Peters A, Meitinger T, Strauch K, Kedenko L, Paulweber B, Lehtimaki T, Hunt SC, Vollenweider P, Lamina C, Kronenberg F
(Vertaisarvioitu alkuperäisartikkeli tai data-artikkeli tieteellisessä aikakauslehdessä (A1))

Prevalence of Age-Related Macular Degeneration in Europe: The Past and the Future (2017)

Ophthalmology: Journal of The American Academy of Ophthalmology
Colijn JM, Buitendijk GHS, Prokofyeva E, Alves D, Cachulo ML, Khawaja AP, Cougnard-Gregoire A, Merle BMJ, Korb C, Erke MG, Bron A, Anastasopoulos E, Meester-Smoor MA, Segato T, Piermarocchi S, de Jong PTVM, Vingerling JR, Topouzis F, Creuzot-Garcher C, Bertelsen G, Pfeiffer N, Fletcher AE, Foster PJ, Silva R, Korobelnik JF, Delcourt C, Klaver CCW; EYE-RISK consortium; European Eye Epidemiology (E3) consortium
(Vertaisarvioitu alkuperäisartikkeli tai data-artikkeli tieteellisessä aikakauslehdessä (A1))

Cardiovascular Risk Factors From Childhood and Midlife Cognitive Performance The Young Finns Study (2017)

Journal of the American College of Cardiology
Suvi P. Rovio, Katja Pahkala, Jaakko Nevalainen, Markus Juonala, Pia Salo, Mika Kähönen, Nina Hutri-Kähönen, Terho Lehtimäki, Eero Jokinen, Tomi Laitinen, Leena Taittonen, Päivi Tossavainen, Jorma S.A. Viikari, Juha O. Rinne, Olli T. Raitakari
(Vertaisarvioitu alkuperäisartikkeli tai data-artikkeli tieteellisessä aikakauslehdessä (A1))

Psychosocial environment in childhood and body mass index growth over 32 years (2017)

Preventive Medicine
Elovainio M, Pulkki-Råback L, Hakulinen C, Lehtimäki T, Jokinen E, Rönnemaa T, Mikkilä V, Tossavainen P, Jula A, Hutri-Kähönen N, Viikari J, Keltikangas-Järvinen L, Raitakari O, Juonala M
(Vertaisarvioitu alkuperäisartikkeli tai data-artikkeli tieteellisessä aikakauslehdessä (A1))

Ideal cardiovascular health in childhood-Longitudinal associations with cardiac structure and function: The Special Turku Coronary Risk Factor Intervention Project (STRIP) and the Cardiovascular Risk in Young Finns Study (YFS) (2017)

International Journal of Cardiology
Laitinen TT, Ruohonen S, Juonala M, Magnussen CG, Mikkila V, Mikola H, Hutri-Kahonen N, Laitinen T, Tossavainen P, Jokinen E, Niinikoski H, Jula A, Viikari JSA, Ronnemaa T, Raitakari OT, Pahkala K
(Vertaisarvioitu alkuperäisartikkeli tai data-artikkeli tieteellisessä aikakauslehdessä (A1))