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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Novel loci associated with usual sleep duration: the CHARGE Consortium Genome-Wide Association Study (2015)

Molecular Psychiatry
Gottlieb DJ, Hek K, Chen TH, Watson NF, Eiriksdottir G, Byrne EM, Cornelis M, Warby SC, Bandinelli S, Cherkas L, Evans DS, Grabe HJ, Lahti J, Li M, Lehtimaki T, Lumley T, Marciante KD, Perusse L, Psaty BM, Robbins J, Tranah GJ, Vink JM, Wilk JB, Stafford JM, Bellis C, Biffar R, Bouchard C, Cade B, Curhan GC, Eriksson JG, Ewert R, Ferrucci L, Fulop T, Gehrman PR, Goodloe R, Harris TB, Heath AC, Hernandez D, Hofman A, Hottenga JJ, Hunter DJ, Jensen MK, Johnson AD, Kahonen M, Kao L, Kraft P, Larkin EK, Lauderdale DS, Luik AI, Medici M, Montgomery GW, Palotie A, Patel SR, Pistis G, Porcu E, Quaye L, Raitakari O, Redline S, Rimm EB, Rotter JI, Smith AV, Spector TD, Teumer A, Uitterlinden AG, Vohl MC, Widen E, Willemsen G, Young T, Zhang X, Liu Y, Blangero J, Boomsma DI, Gudnason V, Hu F, Mangino M, Martin NG, O'Connor GT, Stone KL, Tanaka T, Viikari J, Gharib SA, Punjabi NM, Raikkonen K, Volzke H, Mignot E, Tiemeier H
(Vertaisarvioitu alkuperäisartikkeli tai data-artikkeli tieteellisessä aikakauslehdessä (A1))

Effects of diabetes definition on global surveillance of diabetes prevalence and diagnosis: a pooled analysis of 96 population-based studies with 331288 participants (2015)

Lancet Diabetes and Endocrinology
Danaei G, Fahimi S, Lu Y, Zhou B, Hajifathalian K, Di Cesare M, Lo WC, Reis-Santos B, Cowan MJ, Shaw JE, Bentham J, Lin JK, Bixby H, Magliano D, Bovet P, Miranda JJ, Khang YH, Stevens GA, Riley LM, Ali MK, Ezzati M, Abdeen ZA, Kadir KA, Abu-Rmeileh NM, Acosta-Cazares B, Aekplakorn W, Aguilar-Salinas CA, Ahmadvand A, Al Nsour M, Alkerwi A, Amouyel P, Andersen LB, Anderssen SA, Andrade DS, Anjana RM, Aounallah-Skhiri H, Aris T, Arlappa N, Arveiler D, Assah FK, Avdicova M, Balakrishna N, Bandosz P, Barbagallo CM, Barcelo A, Batieha AM, Baur LA, Ben Romdhane H, Bernabe-Ortiz A, Bhargava SK, Bi YF, Bjerregaard P, Bjorkelund C, Blake M, Blokstra A, Bo S, Boehm BO, Boissonnet CP, Bovet P, Brajkovich I, Breckenkamp J, Brewster LM, Brian GR, Bruno G, Bugge A, de Leon AC, Can G, Candido APC, Capuano V, Carvalho MJ, Casanueva FF, Caserta CA, Castetbon K, Chamukuttan S, Chaturvedi N, Chen CJ, Chen F, Chen S, Cheng CY, Chetrit A, Chiou ST, Cho Y, Chudek J, Cifkova R, Claessens F, Concin H, Cooper C, Cooper R, Costanzo S, Cottel D, Cowell C, Crujeiras AB, D'Arrigo G, Dallongeville J, Dankner R, Dauchet L, de Gaetano G, De Henauw S, Deepa M, Dehghan A, Dhana K, Di Castelnuovo AF, Djalalinia S, Doua K, Drygas W, Du Y, Egbagbe EE, Eggertsen R, El Ati J, Elosua R, Erasmus RT, Erem C, Ergor G, Eriksen L, la Penaa JED, Fall CH, Farzadfar F, Felix-Redondo FJ, Ferguson TS, Fernandez-Berges D, Ferrari M, Ferreccio C, Finn JD, Foger B, Foo LH, Fouad HM, Francis DK, Franco MDC, Franco OH, Frontera G, Furusawa T, Gaciong Z, Galbarczyk A, Garnett SP, Gaspoz JM, Gasull M, Gates L, Geleijnse JM, Ghasemain A, Giampaoli S, Gianfagna F, Giovannelli J, Gross MG, Rivas JPG, Gorbea MB, Gottrand F, Grant JF, Grodzicki T, Grontved A, Gruden G, Gu DF, Guan OP, Guerrero R, Guessous I, Guimaraes AL, Gutierrez L, Hardy R, Kumar RH, He J, Heidemann C, Hihtaniemi IT, Ho SY, Ho SC, Hofman A, Russo ARV, Hormiga CM, Horta BL, Houti L, Hussieni AS, Huybrechts I, Hwalla N, Iacoviello L, Iannone AG, Ibrahim MM, Ikeda N, Ikram MA, Irazola VE, Islam M, Iwasaki M, Jacobs JM, Jafar T, Jasienska G, Jiang CQ, Jonas JB, Joshi P, Kafatos A, Kalter-Leibovici O, Kasaeian A, Katz J, Kaur P, Kavousi M, Kelishadi R, Kengne AP, Kersting M, Khader YS, Khang YH, Kiechl S, Kim J, Kiyohara Y, Kolsteren P, Korrovits P, Koskinen S, Kratzer W, Kromhout D, Kula K, Kurjata P, Kyobutungi C, Lachat C, Laid Y, Lam TH, Landrove O, Lanska V, Lappas G, Laxmaiah A, Leclercq C, Lee J, Lee J, Lehtimaaki T, Lekhraj R, Leon-Munoz LM, Li Y, Lim WY, Lima-Costa MF, Lin HH, Lin X, Lissner L, Lorbeer R, Lozano JE, Lundqvist A, Lytsy P, Ma G, Machado-Coelho GLL, Machi S, Maggi S, Magliano D, Makdisse M, Rao KM, Manios Y, Manzato E, Margozzini P, Marques-Vidal P, Martorell R, Masoodi SR, Matsha TE, Mbanya JCN, McFarlane SR, McGarvey ST, McLachlan S, McNulty BA, Mediene-Benchekor S, Meirhaeghe A, Menezes AMB, Merat S, Meshram II, Mi J, Miquel JF, Miranda JJ, Mohamed MK, Mohammad K, Mohan V, Yusoff MFM, Moller NC, Molnar D, Mondo CK, Moreno LA, Morgan K, Moschonis G, Mossakowska M, Mostafa A, Mota J, Muiesan ML, Muller-Nurasyid M, Mursu J, Nagel G, Namesna J, Nang EEK, Nangia VB, Navarrete-Munoz EM, Ndiaye NC, Nervi F, Nguyen ND, Nieto-Martinez RSE, Ning G, Ninomiya T, Noale M, Noto D, Ochoa-Aviles AM, Oh K, Onat A, Osmond C, Otero JA, Palmieri L, Panda-Jonas S, Panza F, Parsaeian M, Peixoto SV, Pereira AC, Peters A, Peykari N, Pilav A, Pitakaka F, Piwonska A, Piwonski J, Plans-Rubio P, Porta M, Portegies MLP, Poustchi H, Pradeepa R, Price JF, Punab M, Qasrawi RF, Qorbani M, Raitakari O, Rao SR, Ramachandran A, Ramos R, Rampal S, Rathmann W, Redon J, Reganit PFM, Rigo F, Robinson SM, Robitaille C, Rodriguez LA, Rodriguez-Artalejo F, Rodriguez-Perez MDC, Rojas-Martinez R, Romaguera D, Rosengren A, Rubinstein A, Rui O, Ruiz-Betancourt BS, Rutkowski M, Sabanayagam C, Sachdev HS, Saidi O, Sakarya S, Salanave B, Salonen JT, Salvetti M, Sanchez-Abanto J, Nunes R, Santos R, Sardinha LB, Scazufca M, Schargrodsky H, Scheidt-Nave C, Shaw JE, Shibuya K, Shin Y, Shiri R, Siantar R, Sibai AM, Simon M, Simons J, Simons LA, Sjostrom M, Slowikowska-Hilczer J, Slusarczyk P, Smeeth L, Snijder MB, Solfrizzi V, Sonestedt E, Soumare A, Staessen JA, Steene-Johannessen J, Stehle P, Stein AD, Stessman J, Stockl D, Stokwiszewski J, Strufaldi MW, Sun CA, Sundstrom J, Suriyawongpaisal P, Sy RG, Tai ES, Tarawneh M, Tarqui-Mamani CB, Thijs L, Tolstrup JS, Topbas M, Torrent M, Traissac P, Trinh OTH, Tulloch-Reid MK, Tuomainen TP, Turley ML, Tzourio C, Ueda P, Ukoli FM, Ulmer H, Valdivia G, Van Valkengoed IGM, Vanderschueren D, Vanuzzo D, Vega T, Velasquez-Melendez G, Veronesi G, Verschuren M, Vioque J, Virtanen J, Visvikis-Siest S, Viswanathan B, Vollenweider P, Voutilainen S, Wade AN, Wagner A, Walton J, Mohamud WNW, Wang MD, Wang YX, Wannamethee SG, Weerasekera D, Whincup PH, Widhalm K, Wiecek A, Wilks RJ, Willeit J, Wojtyniak B, Wong TY, Woo J, Woodward M, Wu AG, Wu FC, Wu SL, Xu HQ, Yang XG, Ye XW, Yoshihara A, Younger-Coleman NO, Zambon S, Zargar AH, Zdrojewski T, Zhao WH, Zheng YF
(Vertaisarvioitu alkuperäisartikkeli tai data-artikkeli tieteellisessä aikakauslehdessä (A1))

A novel common variant in DCST2 is associated with length in early life and height in adulthood (2015)

Human Molecular Genetics
van der Valk RJP, Kreiner-Moller E, Kooijman MN, Guxens M, Stergiakouli E, Saaf A, Bradfield JP, Geller F, Hayes MG, Cousminer DL, Korner A, Thiering E, Curtin JA, Myhre R, Huikari V, Joro R, Kerkhof M, Warrington NM, Pitkanen N, Ntalla I, Horikoshi M, Veijola R, Freathy RM, Teo YY, Barton SJ, Evans DM, Kemp JP, St Pourcain B, Ring SM, Smith GD, Bergstrom A, Kull I, Hakonarson H, Mentch FD, Bisgaard H, Chawes B, Stokholm J, Waage J, Eriksen P, Sevelsted A, Melbye M, van Duijn CM, Medina-Gomez C, Hofman A, de Jongste JC, Taal HR, Uitterlinden AG, Armstrong LL, Eriksson J, Palotie A, Bustamante M, Estivill X, Gonzalez JR, Llop S, Kiess W, Mahajan A, Flexeder C, Tiesler CMT, Murray CS, Simpson A, Magnus P, Sengpiel V, Hartikainen AL, Keinanen-Kiukaanniemi S, Lewin A, Alves ADC, Blakemore AI, Buxton JL, Kaakinen M, Rodriguez A, Sebert S, Vaarasmaki M, Lakka T, Lindi V, Gehring U, Postma DS, Ang W, Newnham JP, Lyytikainen LP, Pahkala K, Raitakari OT, Panoutsopoulou K, Zeggini E, Boomsma DI, Groen-Blokhuis M, Ilonen J, Franke L, Hirschhorn JN, Pers TH, Liang L, Huang J, Hocher B, Knip M, Saw SM, Holloway JW, Melen E, Grant SFA, Feenstra B, Lowe WL, Widen E, Sergeyev E, Grallert H, Custovic A, Jacobsson B, Jarvelin MR, Atalay M, Koppelman GH, Pennell CE, Niinikoski H, Dedoussis GV, Mccarthy MI, Frayling TM, Sunyer J, Timpson NJ, Rivadeneira F, Bonnelykke K, Jaddoe VWV
(Vertaisarvioitu alkuperäisartikkeli tai data-artikkeli tieteellisessä aikakauslehdessä (A1))

Activated immune-inflammatory pathways are associated with long-standing depressive symptoms: Evidence from gene-set enrichment analyses in the Young Finns Study (2015)

Journal of Psychiatric Research
Elovainio M, Taipale T, Seppala I, Mononen N, Raitoharju E, Jokela M, Pulkki-Raback L, Illig T, Waldenberger M, Hakulinen C, Hintsa T, Kivimaki M, Kahonen M, Keltikangas-Jarvinen L, Raitakari O, Lehtimaki T
(Vertaisarvioitu alkuperäisartikkeli tai data-artikkeli tieteellisessä aikakauslehdessä (A1))

Insulin and BMI as Predictors of Adult Type 2 Diabetes Mellitus (2015)

Pediatrics
Matthew A. Sabin, Costan G. Magnussen, Markus Juonala, Julian P. H. Shield, Mika Kähönen, Terho Lehtimäki, Tapani Rönnemaa, Juha Koskinen, Britt-Marie Loo, Mikael Knip, Nina Hutri-Kähönen, Jorma S. A. Viikari, Terence Dwyer, Olli T. Raitakari
(Vertaisarvioitu alkuperäisartikkeli tai data-artikkeli tieteellisessä aikakauslehdessä (A1))