Harri Niinikoski profile picture
Harri
Niinikoski
Professor, Institute of Biomedicine
Professor, Nutrition in Medicine (Institute of Biomedicine)

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Areas of expertise

Childhood endocrinology and nutrition
inherited metabolic diseases
neonatal screening
prevention of cardiovascular risk factors.

Biography

Professor Harri Niinikoski graduated from the Medical School at the University of Turku in 1991, where he also specialized in Pediatrics in 2000 and received subspecialty in Pediatric Endocrinology in 2006. He defended his thesis on prevention of cardiovascular risk factors in childhood in 1997 (The STRIP study). He did his post-doc training at the Childhood Nutrition Research Center at the Baylor School of Medicine, Houston, Texas, in 2001-2003. Subsequently, he worked as a Senior Clinical Researcher and Clinical Lecturer at the Department of Pediatrics, University of Turku, and in 2011-2015 as the Head of the Division of Pediatric Care in Turku University Hospital. From 2015, he has been Professor of Nutrition in Medicine


Teaching

In 2006-2010, Harri Niinikoski worked as a full-time teacher of pediatrics at the Department of Pediatrics, University of Turku.


Research

Professor Harri Niinikoski’s research interest focus on primary prevention of cardiovascular disease, and childhood nutrition, endocrinology and metabolism. Moreover, he has been closely involved in launching the neonatal metabolic screening program which started in Finland in 2015.

Main research projects are 1) The STRIP study (The Special Turku coronary risk factor Intervention Project) which started in 1990 and involved 1062 infants which were randomized into nutrition an intervention or a control group. He is deputy P.I. in STRIP; 2) DIARA2 study which involves 317 children (217 in Turku, 100 in Oulu) whose mothers were treated with either metformin or insulin due to gestational diabetes. The children are now thoroughly investigated at 9 years of age; 3) LPI study. Lysinuric protein intolerance (LPI) is a rare metabolic disease which belongs to the Finnish disease heritage. There are approx. 50 Finnish patients who are annually studied at the Turku University Hospital pediatric metabolic outpatient clinic; 4) Congenital hypothyroidism study. CH has been screened in Finland since 1980, affects 1:2000 newborns and is treated with thyroxine. The outcome of the treatment of CH is investigated in national CH study which is launched in 2018.


Publications

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Tehohoitopotilaan ravitsemushoito (2021)

Ala-Kokko Tero, Bäcklund Minna, Schwab Ursula, Niinikoski Harri, Uusitupa Matti
(Artikkeli ammatillisessa kokoomateoksessa (D2))

Effects of 20-year infancy-onset dietary counselling on cardiometabolic risk factors in the Special Turku Coronary Risk Factor Intervention Project (STRIP): 6-year post-intervention follow-up (2020)

The Lancet Child & Adolescent Health
Katja Pahkala, Tomi T. Laitinen, Harri Niinikoski, Noora Kartiosuo, Suvi P. Rovio, Hanna Lagström, Britt-Marie Loo, Pia Salo, Eero Jokinen, Costan G. Magnussen, Markus Juonala, Olli Simell, Antti Jula, Tapani Rönnemaa, Jorma Viikari, Olli T. Raitakari
(Vertaisarvioitu alkuperäisartikkeli tai data-artikkeli tieteellisessä aikakauslehdessä (A1))

Novel loci for childhood body mass index and shared heritability with adult cardiometabolic traits (2020)

PLoS Genetics
Vogelezang S, Bradfield JP, Ahluwalia TS, Curtin JA, Lakka TA, Grarup N, Scholz M, van der Most PJ, Monnereau C, Stergiakouli E, Heiskala A, Horikoshi M, Fedko IO, Vilor-Tejedor N, Cousminer DL, Standl M, Wang CRA, Viikari J, Geller F, Iniguez C, Pitkanen N, Chesi A, Bacelis J, Yengo L, Torrent M, Ntalla I, Helgeland O, Selzam S, Vonk JM, Zafarmand MH, Heude B, Farooqi IS, Alyass A, Beaumont RN, Have CT, Rzehak P, Bilbao JR, Schnurr TM, Barroso I, Bonnelykke K, Beilin LJ, Carstensen L, Charles MA, Chawes B, Clement K, Closa-Monasterolo R, Custovic A, Eriksson JG, Escribano J, Groen-Blokhuis M, Grote V, Gruszfeld D, Hakonarson H, Hansen T, Hattersley AT, Hollensted M, Hottenga JJ, Hypponen E, Johansson S, Joro R, Kahonen M, Karhunen V, Kiess W, Knight BA, Koletzko B, Kuhnapfel A, Landgraf K, Langhendries JP, Lehtimaki T, Leinonen JT, Li AHL, Lindi V, Lowry E, Bustamante M, Medina-Gomez C, Melbye M, Michaelsen KF, Morgen CS, Mori TA, Nielsen TRH, Niinikoski H, Oldehinkel AJ, Pahkala K, Panoutsopoulou K, Pedersen O, Pennell CE, Power C, Reijneveld SA, Rivadeneira F, Simpson A, Sly PD, Stokholm J, Teo KK, Thiering E, Timpson NJ, Uitterlinden AG, van Beijsterveldt CEM, van Schaik BDC, Vaudel M, Verduci E, Vinding RK, Vogel M, Zeggini E, Sebert S, Lind MV, Brown CD, Santa-Marina L, Reischl E, Frithioff-Bojsoe C, Meyre D, Wheeler E, Ong K, Nohr EA, Vrijkotte TGM, Koppelman GH, Plomin R, Njolstad PR, Dedoussis GD, Froguel P, Sorensen TIA, Jacobsson B, Freathy RM, Zemel BS, Raitakari O, Vrijheid M, Feenstra B, Lyytikainen LP, Snieder H, Kirsten H, Holt PG, Heinrich J, Widen E, Sunyer J, Boomsma DI, Jarvelin MR, Korner A, Smith GD, Holm JC, Atalay M, Murray C, Bisgaard H, McCarthy MI, Jaddoe VWV, Grant SFA, Felix JF
(Vertaisarvioitu alkuperäisartikkeli tai data-artikkeli tieteellisessä aikakauslehdessä (A1))

Childhood exposure to parental smoking and life-course overweight and central obesity (2020)

Annals of Medicine
Jaakkola Johanna M, Rovio Suvi P, Pahkala Katja, Viikari Jorma, Rönnemaa Tapani, Jula Antti, Niinikoski Harri, Mykkänen Juha, Juonala Markus, Hutri-Kähönen Nina, Kähönen Mika, Lehtimäki Terho, Raitakari Olli T
(Vertaisarvioitu alkuperäisartikkeli tai data-artikkeli tieteellisessä aikakauslehdessä (A1))

Dietary Fats and Atherosclerosis From Childhood to Adulthood (2020)

Pediatrics
Tomi T. Laitinen, Joel Nuotio, Suvi P. Rovio, Harri Niinikoski, Markus Juonala, Costan G. Magnussen, Eero Jokinen, Hanna Lagström, Antti Jula, Jorma S.A. Viikari, Tapani Rönnemaa, Olli Simell, Olli T. Raitakari, Katja Pahkala
(Vertaisarvioitu alkuperäisartikkeli tai data-artikkeli tieteellisessä aikakauslehdessä (A1))

Mendelian randomization analysis does not support causal associations of birth weight with hypertension risk and blood pressure in adulthood (2020)

European Journal of Epidemiology
Zheng Y., Huang T., Wang T., Mei Z., Sun Z., Zhang T., Ellervik C., Chai J.-F., Sim X., van Dam R.M., Tai E.-S., Koh W.-P., Dorajoo R., Saw S.-M., Sabanayagam C., Wong T.Y., Gupta P., Rossing P., Ahluwalia T.S., Vinding R.K., Bisgaard H., Bønnelykke K., Wang Y., Graff M., Voortman T., van Rooij F.J.A., Hofman A., van Heemst D., Noordam R., Estampador A.C., Varga T.V., Enzenbach C., Scholz M., Thiery J., Burkhardt R., Orho-Melander M., Schulz C.-A., Ericson U., Sonestedt E., Kubo M., Akiyama M., Zhou A., Kilpeläinen T.O., Hansen T., Kleber M.E., Delgado G., McCarthy M., Lemaitre R.N., Felix J.F., Jaddoe V.W.V., Wu Y., Mohlke K.L., Lehtimäki T., Wang C.A., Pennell C.E., Schunkert H., Kessler T., Zeng L., Willenborg C., Peters A., Lieb W., Grote V., Rzehak P., Koletzko B., Erdmann J., Munz M., Wu T., He M., Yu C., Lecoeur C., Froguel P., Corella D., Moreno L.A., Lai C.-Q., Pitkänen N., Boreham C.A., Ridker P.M., Rosendaal F.R., de Mutsert R., Power C., Paternoster L., Sørensen T.I.A., Tjønneland A., Overvad K., Djousse L., Rivadeneira F., Lee N.R., Raitakari O.T., Kähönen M., Viikari J., Langhendries J.-P., Escribano J., Verduci E., Dedoussis G., König I., Balkau B., Coltell O., Dallongeville J., Meirhaeghe A., Amouyel P., Gottrand F., Pahkala K., Niinikoski H., Hyppönen E., März W., Mackey D.A., Gruszfeld D., Tucker K.L., Fumeron F., Estruch R., Ordovas J.M., Arnett D.K., Mook-Kanamori D.O., Mozaffarian D., Psaty B.M., North K.E., Chasman D.I., Qi L.
(Vertaisarvioitu alkuperäisartikkeli tai data-artikkeli tieteellisessä aikakauslehdessä (A1))