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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Genome-wide associations for birth weight and correlations with adult disease (2016)

Nature
Horikoshi M, Beaumont RN, Day FR, Warrington NM, Kooijman MN, Fernandez-Tajes J, Feenstra B, van Zuydam NR, Gaulton KJ, Grarup N, Bradfield JP, Strachan DP, Li-Gao R, Ahluwalia TS, Kreiner E, Rueedi R, Lyytikainen LP, Cousminer DL, Wu Y, Thiering E, Wang CA, Have CT, Hottenga JJ, Vilor-Tejedor N, Joshi PK, Boh ETH, Ntalla I, Pitkanen N, Mahajan A, van Leeuwen EM, Joro R, Lagou V, Nodzenski M, Diver LA, Zondervan KT, Bustamante M, Marques-Vidal P, Mercader JM, Bennett AJ, Rahmioglu N, Nyholt DR, Ma RCW, Tam CHT, Tam WH, Ganesh SK, van Rooij FJA, Jones SE, Loh PR, Ruth KS, Tuke MA, Tyrrell J, Wood AR, Yaghootkar H, Scholtens DM, Paternoster L, Prokopenko I, Kovacs P, Atalay M, Willems SM, Panoutsopoulou K, Wang X, Carstensen L, Geller F, Schraut KE, Murcia M, van Beijsterveldt CEM, Willemsen G, Appel EVR, Fonvig CE, Trier C, Tiesler CMT, Standl M, Kutalik Z, Bonas-Guarch S, Hougaard DM, Sanchez F, Torrents D, Waage J, Hollegaard MV, de Haan HG, Rosendaal FR, Medina-Gomez C, Ring SM, Hemani G, McMahon G, Robertson NR, Groves CJ, Langenberg C, Luan J, Scott RA, Zhao JH, Mentch FD, MacKenzie SM, Reynolds RM, Lowe WL, Tonjes A, Stumvoll M, Lindi V, Lakka TA, van Duijn CM, Kiess W, Korner A, Sorensen TIA, Niinikoski H, Pahkala K, Raitakari OT, Zeggini E, Dedoussis GV, Teo YY, Saw SM, Melbye M, Campbell H, Wilson JF, Vrijheid M, de Geus EJCN, Boomsma DI, Kadarmideen HN, Holm JC, Hansen T, Sebert S, Hattersley AT, Beilin LJ, Newnham JP, Pennell CE, Heinrich J, Adair LS, Borja JB, Mohlke KL, Eriksson JG, Widen E, Kahonen M, Viikari JS, Lehtimaki T, Vollenweider P, Bonnelykke K, Bisgaard H, Mook-Kanamori DO, Hofman A, Rivadeneira F, Uitterlinden AG, Pisinger C, Pedersen O, Power C, Hypponen E, Wareham NJ, Hakonarson H, Davies E, Walker BR, Jaddoe VWV, Jarvelin MR, Grant SFA, Vaag AA, Lawlor DA, Frayling TM, Smith GD, Morris AP, Ong KK, Felix JF, Timpson NJ, Perry JRB, Evans DM, McCarthy MI, Freathy RM
(Vertaisarvioitu alkuperäisartikkeli tai data-artikkeli tieteellisessä aikakauslehdessä (A1))

Genome-wide analysis identifies 12 loci influencing human reproductive behavior (2016)

Nature Genetics
Barban N, Jansen R, de Vlaming R, Vaez A, Mandemakers JJ, Tropf FC, Shen X, Wilson JF, Chasman DI, Nolte IM, Tragante V, van der Laan SW, Perry JR, Kong A; BIOS Consortium., Ahluwalia TS, Albrecht E, Yerges-Armstrong L, Atzmon G, Auro K, Ayers K, Bakshi A, Ben-Avraham D, Berger K, Bergman A, Bertram L, Bielak LF, Bjornsdottir G, Bonder MJ, Broer L, Bui M, Barbieri C, Cavadino A, Chavarro JE, Turman C, Concas MP, Cordell HJ, Davies G, Eibich P, Eriksson N, Esko T, Eriksson J, Falahi F, Felix JF, Fontana MA, Franke L, Gandin I, Gaskins AJ, Gieger C, Gunderson EP, Guo X, Hayward C, He C, Hofer E, Huang H, Joshi PK, Kanoni S, Karlsson R, Kiechl S, Kifley A, Kluttig A, Kraft P, Lagou V, Lecoeur C, Lahti J, Li-Gao R, Lind PA, Liu T, Makalic E, Mamasoula C, Matteson L, Mbarek H, McArdle PF, McMahon G, Meddens SF, Mihailov E, Miller M, Missmer SA, Monnereau C, van der Most PJ, Myhre R, Nalls MA, Nutile T, Kalafati IP, Porcu E, Prokopenko I, Rajan KB, Rich-Edwards J, Rietveld CA, Robino A, Rose LM, Rueedi R, Ryan KA, Saba Y, Schmidt D, Smith JA, Stolk L, Streeten E, Tönjes A, Thorleifsson G, Ulivi S, Wedenoja J, Wellmann J, Willeit P, Yao J, Yengo L, Zhao JH, Zhao W, Zhernakova DV, Amin N, Andrews H, Balkau B, Barzilai N, Bergmann S, Biino G, Bisgaard H, Bønnelykke K, Boomsma DI, Buring JE, Campbell H, Cappellani S, Ciullo M, Cox SR, Cucca F, Toniolo D, Davey-Smith G, Deary IJ, Dedoussis G, Deloukas P, van Duijn CM, de Geus EJ, Eriksson JG, Evans DA, Faul JD, Sala CF, Froguel P, Gasparini P, Girotto G, Grabe HJ, Greiser KH, Groenen PJ, de Haan HG, Haerting J, Harris TB, Heath AC, Heikkilä K, Hofman A, Homuth G, Holliday EG, Hopper J, Hyppönen E, Jacobsson B, Jaddoe VW, Johannesson M, Jugessur A, Kähönen M, Kajantie E, Kardia SL, Keavney B, Kolcic I, Koponen P, Kovacs P, Kronenberg F, Kutalik Z, La Bianca M, Lachance G, Iacono WG, Lai S, Lehtimäki T, Liewald DC; LifeLines Cohort Study., Lindgren CM, Liu Y, Luben R, Lucht M, Luoto R, Magnus P, Magnusson PK, Martin NG, McGue M, McQuillan R, Medland SE, Meisinger C, Mellström D, Metspalu A, Traglia M, Milani L, Mitchell P, Montgomery GW, Mook-Kanamori D, de Mutsert R, Nohr EA, Ohlsson C, Olsen J, Ong KK, Paternoster L, Pattie A, Penninx BW, Perola M, Peyser PA, Pirastu M, Polasek O, Power C, Kaprio J, Raffel LJ, Räikkönen K, Raitakari O, Ridker PM, Ring SM, Roll K, Rudan I, Ruggiero D, Rujescu D, Salomaa V, Schlessinger D, Schmidt H, Schmidt R, Schupf N, Smit J, Sorice R, Spector TD, Starr JM, Stöckl D, Strauch K, Stumvoll M, Swertz MA, Thorsteinsdottir U, Thurik AR, Timpson NJ, Tung JY, Uitterlinden AG, Vaccargiu S, Viikari J, Vitart V, Völzke H, Vollenweider P, Vuckovic D, Waage J, Wagner GG, Wang JJ, Wareham NJ, Weir DR, Willemsen G, Willeit J, Wright AF, Zondervan KT, Stefansson K, Krueger RF, Lee JJ, Benjamin DJ, Cesarini D, Koellinger PD, den Hoed M, Snieder H, Mills MC
(Vertaisarvioitu alkuperäisartikkeli tai data-artikkeli tieteellisessä aikakauslehdessä (A1))

Meta-analysis of 49 549 individuals imputed with the 1000 Genomes Project reveals an exonic damaging variant in ANGPTL4 determining fasting TG levels (2016)

Journal of Medical Genetics
van Leeuwen EM, Sabo A, Bis JC, Huffman JE, Manichaikul A, Smith AV, Feitosa MF, Demissie S, Joshi PK, Duan Q, Marten J, van Klinken JB, Surakka I, Nolte IM, Zhang WH, Mbarek H, Li-Gao RF, Trompet S, Verweij N, Evangelou E, Lyytikainen LP, Tayo BO, Deelen J, van der Most PJ, van der Laan SW, Arking DE, Morrison A, Dehghan A, Franco OH, Hofman A, Rivadeneira F, Sijbrands EJ, Uitterlinden AG, Mychaleckyj JC, Campbell A, Hocking LJ, Padmanabhan S, Brody JA, Rice KM, White CC, Harris T, Isaacs A, Campbell H, Lange LA, Rudan I, Kolcic I, Navarro P, Zemunik T, Salomaa V, Kooner AS, Kooner JS, Lehne B, Scott WR, Tan ST, de Geus EJ, Milaneschi Y, Penninx BWJH, Willemsen G, de Mutsert R, Ford I, Gansevoort RT, Segura-Lepe MP, Raitakari OT, Viikari JS, Nikus K, Forrester T, McKenzie CA, de Craen AJM, de Ruijter HM, Pasterkamp G, Snieder H, Oldehinkel AJ, Slagboom PE, Cooper RS, Kahonen M, Lehtimaki T, Elliott P, van der Harst P, Jukema JW, Mook-Kanamori DO, Boomsma DI, Chambers JC, Swertz M, Ripatti S, van Dijk KW, Vitart V, Polasek O, Hayward C, Wilson JG, Wilson JF, Gudnason V, Rich SS, Psaty BM, Borecki IB, Boerwinkle E, Rotter JI, Cupples LA, van Duijn CM
(Vertaisarvioitu alkuperäisartikkeli tai data-artikkeli tieteellisessä aikakauslehdessä (A1))

Childhood gene-environment interactions and age-dependent effects of genetic variants associated with refractive error and myopia: The CREAM Consortium (2016)

Scientific Reports
Fan Q, Guo X, Tideman JW, Williams KM, Yazar S, Hosseini SM, Howe LD, Pourcain BS, Evans DM, Timpson NJ, McMahon G, Hysi PG, Krapohl E, Wang YX, Jonas JB, Baird PN, Wang JJ, Cheng CY, Teo YY, Wong TY, Ding X, Wojciechowski R, Young TL, Pärssinen O, Oexle K, Pfeiffer N, Bailey-Wilson JE, Paterson AD, Klaver CC, Plomin R, Hammond CJ, Mackey DA, He M, Saw SM, Williams C, Guggenheim JA; The CREAM Consortium
(Vertaisarvioitu alkuperäisartikkeli tai data-artikkeli tieteellisessä aikakauslehdessä (A1))