Terho Heikkinen profile picture
Terho
Heikkinen
Professor, Paediatrics and Adolescent Medicine
Professor of Paediatrics, MD, PhD
Respiratory infections in children; RESCEU (EU/IMI-funded project 2017-2021); INFORM study

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Areas of expertise

Paediatric infectious diseases
respiratory infections
respiratory viruses
vaccinations
influenza
respiratory syncytial virus
otitis media

Biography

Professor Terho Heikkinen graduated from the Medical School at the University of Turku in 1984, where he also specialized in Paediatrics and Paediatric Infectious Diseases. He defended his thesis on Development and prevention of acute otitis media in children in 1994. Having received the European Society for Paediatric Infectious Diseases Fellowship Award, he worked in 1996-1998 as a post-doc Research Fellow at the University of Texas Medical Branch at Galveston, USA. Subsequently, he worked as a Senior Clinical Researcher and Clinical Lecturer at the Department of Paediatrics, University of Turku. Since 2016, he has been Professor of Paediatrics at the Faculty of Medicine, University of Turku.

During the years, Terho Heikkinen has served as the chairman or a board member of several international and domestic societies in the field of paediatric infectious diseases, including the President of the World Society for Pediatric Infectious Diseases. He is currently a board member of the European Scientific Working Group on Influenza (ESWI), a scientific advisory board and executive committee member of the global Respiratory Syncytial Virus Network (ReSViNET), and the chairman of the Nordic Research Network for Paediatric Infectious Diseases (NORDPID).

Teaching

Since 1999, Terho Heikkinen has worked as a full-time teacher of paediatrics at the Department of Paediatrics, University of Turku. He is also responsible for the organization of the biannual International Course of Paediatrics & Adolescent Medicine for international Erasmus students. He has given 188 invited lectures at various international and domestic academic meetings.


Research

Terho Heikkinen´s major research interest lies in respiratory infections, especially those caused by influenza or respiratory syncytial viruses. In year 2000, he founded his own research group and initiated a long-term research project on respiratory virus infections in children, including the etiology, epidemiology, diagnosis, treatment, prevention, and overall societal impact of these infections and their complications.

Terho Heikkinen has been actively involved in international research collaboration. In 2014, he was a founding member of ReSViNET, a global respiratory syncytial virus research network. He is also a principal investigator in RESCEU (Respiratory syncytial virus consortium in Europe) that in 2017 received 5-year EU/IMI funding for research on the burden of respiratory syncytial virus infections in Europe. He was also a founding member of the Nordic Research Network for Paediatric Infectious Diseases (NORDPID) that was established in 2018.

 

Publications

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Global, regional, and national disease burden estimates of acute lower respiratory infections due to respiratory syncytial virus in children younger than 5 years in 2019: a systematic analysis (2022)

Lancet
Li Y, Wang X, Blau DM, Caballero MT, Feikin DR, Gill CJ, Madhi SA, Omer SB, Simoes EAF, Campbell H, Pariente AB, Bardach D, Bassat Q, Casalegno JS, Chakhunashvili G, Crawford N, Danilenko D, Ha Do LA, Echavarria M, Gentile A, Gordon A, Heikkinen T, Huang QS, Jullien S, Krishnan A, Lopez EL, Markic J, Mira-Iglesias A, Moore HC, Moyes J, Mwananyanda L, Nokes DJ, Noordeen F, Obodai E, Palani N, Romero C, Salimi V, Satav A, Seo E, Shchomak Z, Singleton R, Stolyarov K, Stoszek SK, von Gottberg A, Wurzel D, Yoshida LM, Yung CF, Zar HJ, Nair H; Respiratory Virus Global Epidemiology Network; Harish Nair 45; RESCEU investigators
(Vertaisarvioitu katsausartikkeli tieteellisessä aikakauslehdessä (A2))

Respiratory Syncytial Virus-Associated Hospital Admissions and Bed Days in Children <5 Years of Age in 7 European Countries (2022)

Journal of Infectious Diseases
Wang Xin, Li You, Fernandez Liliana Vazquez, Teirlinck Anne C, Lehtonen Toni, van Wijhe Maarten, Stona Luca, Bangert Mathieu, Reeves Rachel M, Bøås Håkon, van Boven Michiel, Heikkinen Terho, Johannesen Caroline Klint, Baraldi Eugenio, Dona Donà, Tong Sabine, Campbell Harry; Respiratory Syncytial Virus Consortium in Europe (RESCEU) Investigators
(A1 Vertaisarvioitu alkuperäisartikkeli tieteellisessä lehdessä )

Distinct patterns of within-host virus populations between two subgroups of human respiratory syncytial virus (2021)

Nature Communications
Lin G.L., Drysdale S.B., Snape M.D., O’Connor D., Brown A., MacIntyre-Cockett G., Mellado-Gomez E., de Cesare M., Bonsall D., Ansari M.A., Öner D., Aerssens J., Butler C., Bont L., Openshaw P., Martinón-Torres F., Nair H., Bowden R.; RESCEU Investigators, Golubchik T., Pollard A.J.
(Vertaisarvioitu alkuperäisartikkeli tai data-artikkeli tieteellisessä aikakauslehdessä (A1))

Burden of influenza during the first year of life (2021)

Influenza and Other Respiratory Viruses
Mattila Janna‐Maija, Thomas Emilia, Lehtinen Pasi, Vuorinen Tytti, Waris Matti, Heikkinen Terho
(Vertaisarvioitu alkuperäisartikkeli tai data-artikkeli tieteellisessä aikakauslehdessä (A1))

Influenssavirukset (2020)

Ilkka Julkunen, Terho Heikkinen
(Artikkeli ammatillisessa kokoomateoksessa (D2))

Global burden of respiratory infections associated with seasonal influenza in children under 5 years in 2018: a systematic review and modelling study (2020)

Lancet Global Health
Wang X, Li Y, O'Brien KL, Madhi SA, Widdowson MA, Byass P, Omer SB, Abbas Q, Ali A, Amu A, Azziz-Baumgartner E, Bassat Q, Brooks WA, Chaves SS, Chung A, Cohen C, Echavarria M, Fasce RA, Gentile A, Gordon A, Groome M, Heikkinen T, Hirve S, Jara JH, Katz MA, Khuri-Bulos N, Krishnan A, de Leon O, Lucero MG, McCracken JP, Mira-Iglesias A, Moisi JC, Munywoki PK, Ourohire M, Polack FP, Rahi M, Rasmussen ZA, Rath BA, Saha SK, Simoes EAF, Sotomayor V, Thamthitiwat S, Treurnicht FK, Wamukoya M, Yoshida LM, Zar HJ, Campbell H, Nair H; Respiratory Virus Global Epidemiology Network
(A2 Vertaisarvioitu katsausartikkeli tieteellisessä lehdessä)
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