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 associations at 53 loci highlight cell types and biological pathways relevant for kidney function (2016)

Nature Communications
Pattaro C, Teumer A, Gorski M, Chu AY, Li M, Mijatovic V, Garnaas M, Tin A, Sorice R, Li Y, Taliun D, Olden M, Foster M, Yang Q, Chen MH, Pers TH, Johnson AD, Ko YA, Fuchsberger C, Tayo B, Nalls M, Feitosa MF, Isaacs A, Dehghan A, d'Adamo P, Adeyemo A, Dieffenbach AK, Zonderman AB, Nolte IM, van der Most PJ, Wright AF, Shuldiner AR, Morrison AC, Hofman A, Smith AV, Dreisbach AW, Franke A, Uitterlinden AG, Metspalu A, Tonjes A, Lupo A, Robino A, Johansson A, Demirkan A, Kollerits B, Freedman BI, Ponte B, Oostra BA, Paulweber B, Kramer BK, Mitchell BD, Buckley BM, Peralta CA, Hayward C, Helmer C, Rotimi CN, Shaffer CM, Muller C, Sala C, van Duijn CM, Saint-Pierre A, Ackermann D, Shriner D, Ruggiero D, Toniolo D, Lu YC, Cusi D, Czamara D, Ellinghaus D, Siscovick DS, Ruderfer D, Gieger C, Grallert H, Rochtchina E, Atkinson EJ, Holliday EG, Boerwinkle E, Salvi E, Bottinger EP, Murgia F, Rivadeneira F, Ernst F, Kronenberg F, Hu FB, Navis GJ, Curhan GC, Ehret GB, Homuth G, Coassin S, Thun GA, Pistis G, Gambaro G, Malerba G, Montgomery GW, Eiriksdottir G, Jacobs G, Li G, Wichmann HE, Campbell H, Schmidt H, Wallaschofski H, Volzke H, Brenner H, Kroemer HK, Kramer H, Lin HH, Leach IM, Ford I, Guessous I, Rudan I, Prokopenko I, Borecki I, Heid IM, Kolcic I, Persico I, Jukema JW, Wilson JF, Felix JF, Divers J, Lambert JC, Stafford JM, Gaspoz JM, Smith JA, Faul JD, Wang JJ, Ding JZ, Hirschhorn JN, Attia J, Whitfield JB, Chalmers J, Viikari J, Coresh J, Denny JC, Karjalainen J, Fernandes JK, Endlich K, Butterbach K, Keene KL, Lohman K, Portas L, Launer LJ, Lyytikainen LP, Yengo L, Franke L, Ferrucci L, Rose LM, Kedenko L, Rao M, Struchalin M, Kleber ME, Cavalieri M, Haun M, Cornelis MC, Ciullo M, Pirastu M, de Andrade M, McEvoy MA, Woodward M, Adam M, Cocca M, Nauck M, Imboden M, Waldenberger M, Pruijm M, Metzger M, Stumvoll M, Evans MK, Sale MM, Kahonen M, Boban M, Bochud M, Rheinberger M, Verweij N, Bouatia-Naji N, Martin NG, Hastie N, Probst-Hensch N, Soranzo N, Devuyst O, Raitakari O, Gottesman O, Franco OH, Polasek O, Gasparini P, Munroe PB, Ridker PM, Mitchell P, Muntner P, Meisinger C, Smit JH, Kovacs P, Wild PS, Froguel P, Rettig R, Magi R, Biffar R, Schmidt R, Middelberg RPS, Carroll RJ, Penninx BW, Scott RJ, Katz R, Sedaghat S, Wild SH, Kardia SLR, Ulivi S, Hwang SJ, Enroth S, Kloiber S, Trompet S, Stengel B, Hancock SJ, Turner ST, Rosas SE, Stracke S, Harris TB, Zeller T, Zemunik T, Lehtimaki T, Illig T, Aspelund T, Nikopensius T, Esko T, Tanaka T, Gyllensten U, Volker U, Emilsson V, Vitart V, Aalto V, Gudnason V, Chouraki V, Chen WM, Igl W, Marz W, Koenig W, Lieb W, Loos RJF, Liu YM, Snieder H, Pramstaller PP, Parsa A, O'Connell JR, Susztak K, Hamet P, Tremblay J, de Boer IH, Boger CA, Goessling W, Chasman DI, Kottgen A, Kao WHL, Fox CS
(Vertaisarvioitu alkuperäisartikkeli tai data-artikkeli tieteellisessä aikakauslehdessä (A1))

Discovery and Fine-Mapping of Glycaemic and Obesity-Related Trait Loci Using High-Density Imputation (2015)

PLoS Genetics
Horikoshi M, Magi R, van de Bunt M, Surakka I, Sarin AP, Mahajan A, Marullo L, Thorleifsson G, Hagg S, Hottenga JJ, Ladenvall C, Ried JS, Winkler TW, Willems SM, Pervjakova N, Esko T, Beekman M, Nelson CP, Willenborg C, Wiltshire S, Ferreira T, Fernandez J, Gaulton KJ, Steinthorsdottir V, Hamsten A, Magnusson PKE, Willemsen G, Milaneschi Y, Robertson NR, Groves CJ, Bennett AJ, Lehtimaki T, Viikari JS, Rung J, Lyssenko V, Perola M, Heid IM, Herder C, Grallert H, Muller-Nurasyid M, Roden M, Hypponen E, Isaacs A, van Leeuwen EM, Karssen LC, Mihailov E, Houwing-Duistermaat JJ, de Craen AJM, Deelen J, Havulinna AS, Blades M, Hengstenberg C, Erdmann J, Schunkert H, Kaprio J, Tobin MD, Samani NJ, Lind L, Salomaa V, Lindgren CM, Slagboom PE, Metspalu A, van Duijn CM, Eriksson JG, Peters A, Gieger C, Jula A, Groop L, Raitakari OT, Power C, Penninx BWJH, de Geus E, Smit JH, Boomsma DI, Pedersen NL, Ingelsson E, Thorsteinsdottir U, Stefansson K, Ripatti S, Prokopenko I, McCarthy MI, Morris AP; ENGAGE Consortium
(Vertaisarvioitu alkuperäisartikkeli tai data-artikkeli tieteellisessä aikakauslehdessä (A1))

Genome-wide association study of kidney function decline in individuals of European descent (2015)

Kidney International
Gorski M, Tin A, Garnaas M, McMahon GM, Chu AY, Tayo BO, Pattaro C, Teumer A, Chasman DI, Chalmers J, Hamet P, Tremblay J, Woodward M, Aspelund T, Eiriksdottir G, Gudnason V, Harris TB, Launer LJ, Smith AV, Mitchell BD, O'Connell JR, Shuldiner AR, Coresh J, Li M, Freudenberger P, Hofer E, Schmidt H, Schmidt R, Holliday EG, Mitchell P, Wang JJ, de Boer IH, Li G, Siscovick DS, Kutalik Z, Corre T, Vollenweider P, Waeber G, Gupta J, Kanetsky PA, Hwang SJ, Olden M, Yang Q, de Andrade M, Atkinson EJ, Kardia SLR, Turner ST, Stafford JM, Ding JZ, Liu YM, Barlassina C, Cusi D, Salvi E, Staessen JA, Ridker PM, Grallert H, Meisinger C, Muller-Nurasyid M, Kramer BK, Kramer H, Rosas SE, Nolte IM, Penninx BW, Snieder H, Del Greco MF, Franke A, Nothlings U, Lieb W, Bakker SJL, Gansevoort RT, van der Harst P, Dehghan A, Franco OH, Hofman A, Rivadeneira F, Sedaghat S, Uitterlinden AG, Coassin S, Haun M, Kollerits B, Kronenberg F, Paulweber B, Aumann N, Endlich K, Pietzner M, Volker U, Rettig R, Chouraki V, Helmer C, Lambert JC, Metzger M, Stengel B, Lehtimaki T, Lyytikainen LP, Raitakari O, Johnson A, Parsa A, Bochud M, Heid IM, Goessling W, Kottgen A, Kao WHL, Fox CS, Boger CA
(Vertaisarvioitu alkuperäisartikkeli tai data-artikkeli tieteellisessä aikakauslehdessä (A1))

Concordance of genetic risk across migraine subgroups: Impact on current and future genetic association studies (2015)

Cephalalgia
Nyholt DR, Anttila V, Winsvold BS, Kurth T, Stefansson H, Kallela M, Malik R, de Vries B, Terwindt GM, Ikram MA, Stam AH, Ligthart L, Freilinger T, Alexander M, Muller-Myhsok B, Schreiber S, Meitinger T, Aromaa A, Eriksson JG, Kaprio J, Boomsma DI, van Duijn C, Raitakari O, Jarvelin MR, Zwart JA, Quaye L, Strachan DP, Kubisch C, Ferrari MD, van den Maagdenberg AMJM, Dichgans M, Wessman M, Smith GD, Stefansson K, Chasman DI, Palotie A
(Vertaisarvioitu alkuperäisartikkeli tai data-artikkeli tieteellisessä aikakauslehdessä (A1))

The biomarker GlycA is associated with chronic inflammation and predicts long-term risk of severe infection (2015)

Cell Systems
Ritchie SC, Würtz P, Nath AP, Abraham G, Havulinna AS, Fearnley LG, Sarin A-P, Kangas AJ, Soininen P, Aalto K, Seppälä I, Raitoharju E, Salmi M, Maksimow M, Männistö S, Kähönen M, Juonala M, Ripatti S, Lehtimäki T, Jalkanen S, Perola M, Raitakari O, Salomaa V, Ala-Korpela M, Kettunen J, Inouye M
(Vertaisarvioitu alkuperäisartikkeli tai data-artikkeli tieteellisessä aikakauslehdessä (A1))