Olli Raitakari Selected as Academy Professor
The Academy of Finland has selected ten new Academy Professors for the period of 1 Jan 2019–31 Dec 2023. From the University of Turku, Director of the Research Centre of Applied and Preventive Cardiovascular Medicine, Professor Olli Raitakari was awarded an Academy Professorship.
Academy Professors are internationally leading-edge researchers and recognised experts in their field who are expected to have great scientific impact in the scientific community and in society at large. Academy Professors are also expected to significantly advance research in their field and to develop creative research environments.
The Director of the Research Centre of Applied and Preventive Cardiovascular Medicine Olli Raitakari from the University of Turku was selected as one of the new Academy Professors.
As an Academy Professor, Raitakari studies whether ancestral exposure may cause intergenerational effects on obesity-related phenotypes, cognitive function and psychological well-being. The studied exposures are tobacco smoke, persistent organic pollutants and accumulation of psychosocial adversities. The project will collect serum, blood and semen samples for epigenetic marker analysis to provide understanding of the mechanisms of intergenerational transmission in humans.
Raitakari is an internationally recognised expert in his field with an extensive scientific publication record, and he has actively contributed to researcher training. He is especially known for the longitudinal studies of the Research Centre of Applied and Preventive Cardiovascular Medicine, specifically the Cardiovascular Risk in Young Finns Study (LASERI) and the Special Turku Coronary Risk Factor Intervention Project (STRIP).
He has received research funding from both the European Research Council (ERC Advanced Grant) and the US National Institute of Health. He also served as Academy Professor in 2012–2016, establishing an international research consortium around childhood cardiovascular diseases.
In addition to Raitakari, Academy Professorships were awarded Lauri Aaltonen from the University of Helsinki, Anne Haila from the University of Helsinki, Pekka Lappalainen from the University of Helsinki, Matti Lassas from the University of Helsinki, Peter Liljeroth from Aalto University, Johanna Mappes from the University of Jyväskylä, Anssi Peräkylä from the University of Helsinki, Kari Rummukainen from the University of Helsinki, and Tapio Salmi from Åbo Akademi University.
The new Academy Professors and descriptions of their research are available on the website of the Academy of Finland.
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Photo: Hanna Oksanen