Olli Raitakari profile picture
Olli
Raitakari
InFLAMES Flagship
Professor, Cardiovascular Medicine (CAPC)
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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Genome-wide meta-analysis uncovers novel loci influencing circulating leptin levels (2016)

Nature Communications
Kilpelainen TO, Carli JFM, Skowronski AA, Sun Q, Kriebel J, Feitosa MF, Hedman AK, Drong AW, Hayes JE, Zhao JH, Pers TH, Schick U, Grarup N, Kutalik Z, Trompet S, Mangino M, Kristiansson K, Beekman M, Lyytikainen LP, Eriksson J, Henneman P, Lahti J, Tanaka T, Luan JA, Del Greco F, Pasko D, Renstrom F, Willems SM, Mahajan A, Rose LM, Guo XQ, Liu YM, Kleber ME, Perusse L, Gaunt T, Ahluwalia TS, Sung YJ, Ramos YF, Amin N, Amuzu A, Barroso I, Bellis C, Blangero J, Buckley BM, Bohringer S, Chen YDI, de Craen AJN, Crosslin DR, Dale CE, Dastani Z, Day FR, Deelen J, Delgado GE, Demirkan A, Finucane FM, Ford I, Garcia ME, Gieger C, Gustafsson S, Hallmans G, Hankinson SE, Havulinna AS, Herder C, Hernandez D, Hicks AA, Hunter DJ, Illig T, Ingelsson E, Ioan-Facsinay A, Jansson JO, Jenny NS, Jorgensen ME, Jorgensen T, Karlsson M, Koenig W, Kraft P, Kwekkeboom J, Laatikainen T, Ladwig KH, LeDuc CA, Lowe G, Lu YC, Marques-Vidal P, Meisinger C, Menni C, Morris AP, Myers RH, Mannisto S, Nalls MA, Paternoster L, Peters A, Pradhan AD, Rankinen T, Rasmussen-Torvik LJ, Rathmann W, Rice TK, Richards JB, Ridker PM, Sattar N, Savage DB, Soderberg S, Timpson NJ, Vandenput L, van Heemst D, Uh HW, Vohl MC, Walker M, Wichmann HE, Widen E, Wood AR, Yao J, Zeller T, Zhang YY, Meulenbelt I, Kloppenburg M, Astrup A, Sorensen TIA, Sarzynski MA, Rao DC, Jousilahti P, Vartiainen E, Hofman A, Rivadeneira F, Uitterlinden AG, Kajantie E, Osmond C, Palotie A, Eriksson JG, Heliovaara M, Knekt PB, Koskinen S, Jula A, Perola M, Huupponen RK, Viikari JS, Kahonen M, Lehtimaki T, Raitakari OT, Mellstrom D, Lorentzon M, Casas JP, Bandinelli S, Marz W, Isaacs A, van Dijk KW, van Duijn CM, Harris TB, Bouchard C, Allison MA, Chasman DI, Ohlsson C, Lind L, Scott RA, Langenberg C, Wareham NJ, Ferrucci L, Frayling TM, Pramstaller PP, Borecki IB, Waterworth DM, Bergmann S, Waeber G, Vollenweider P, Vestergaard H, Hansen T, Pedersen O, Hu FB, Slagboom PE, Grallert H, Spector TD, Jukema JW, Klein RJ, Schadt EE, Franks PW, Lindgren CM, Leibel RL, Loos RJF
(Vertaisarvioitu alkuperäisartikkeli tai data-artikkeli tieteellisessä aikakauslehdessä (A1))

Genome-Wide Meta-Analysis of Sciatica in Finnish Population (2016)

PLoS ONE
Lemmela S, Solovieva S, Shiri R, Benner C, Heliovaara M, Kettunen J, Anttila V, Ripatti S, Perola M, Seppala I, Juonala M, Kahonen M, Salomaa V, Viikari J, Raitakari OT, Lehtimaki T, Palotie A, Viikari-Juntura E, Husgafvel-Pursiainen K
(Vertaisarvioitu alkuperäisartikkeli tai data-artikkeli tieteellisessä aikakauslehdessä (A1))

Meta-analysis of rare and common exome chip variants identifies S1PR4 and other loci influencing blood cell traits (2016)

Nature Genetics
Pankratz N, Schick UM, Zhou Y, Zhou W, Ahluwalia TS, Allende ML, Auer PL, Bork-Jensen J, Brody JA, Chen MH, Clavo V, Eicher JD, Grarup N, Hagedorn EJ, Hu B, Hunker K, Johnson AD, Leusink M, Lu Y, Lyytikäinen LP, Manichaikul A, Marioni RE, Nalls MA, Pazoki R, Smith AV, van Rooij FJ, Yang ML, Zhang X, Zhang Y, Asselbergs FW, Boerwinkle E, Borecki IB, Bottinger EP, Cushman M, de Bakker PI, Deary IJ, Dong L, Feitosa MF, Floyd JS, Franceschini N, Franco OH, Garcia ME, Grove ML, Gudnason V, Hansen T, Harris TB, Hofman A, Jackson RD, Jia J, Kähönen M, Launer LJ, Lehtimäki T, Liewald DC, Linneberg A, Liu Y, Loos RJ, Nguyen VM, Numans ME, Pedersen O, Psaty BM, Raitakari OT, Rich SS, Rivadeneira F, Di Sant AM, Rotter JI, Starr JM, Taylor KD, Thuesen BH, Tracy RP, Uitterlinden AG, Wang J, Wang J, Dehghan A, Huo Y, Cupples LA, Wilson JG, Proia RL, Zon LI, O'Donnell CJ, Reiner AP, Ganesh SK
(Vertaisarvioitu alkuperäisartikkeli tai data-artikkeli tieteellisessä aikakauslehdessä (A1))

Genome-wide study for circulating metabolites identifies 62 loci and reveals novel systemic effects of LPA (2016)

Nature Communications
Kettunen J, Demirkan A, Wurtz P, Draisma HHM, Haller T, Rawal R, Vaarhorst A, Kangas AJ, Lyytikainen LP, Pirinen M, Pool R, Sarin AP, Soininen P, Tukiainen T, Wang Q, Tiainen M, Tynkkynen T, Amin N, Zeller T, Beekman M, Deelen J, van Dijk KW, Esko T, Hottenga JJ, van Leeuwen EM, Lehtimaki T, Mihailov E, Rose RJ, de Craen AJM, Gieger C, Kahonen M, Perola M, Blankenberg S, Savolainen MJ, Verhoeven A, Viikari J, Willemsen G, Boomsma DI, van Duijn CM, Eriksson J, Jula A, Jarvelin MR, Kaprio J, Metspalu A, Raitakari O, Salomaa V, Slagboom PE, Waldenberger M, Ripatti S, Ala-Korpela M
(Vertaisarvioitu alkuperäisartikkeli tai data-artikkeli tieteellisessä aikakauslehdessä (A1))

Prolonged sleep restriction induces changes in pathways involved in cholesterol metabolism and inflammatory responses (2016)

Scientific Reports
Aho V, Ollila HM, Kronholm E, Bondia-Pons I, Soininen P, Kangas AJ, Hilvo M, Seppala I, Kettunen J, Oikonen M, Raitoharju E, Hyotylainen T, Kahonen M, Viikari JSA, Harma M, Sallinen M, Olkkonen VM, Alenius H, Jauhiainen M, Paunio T, Lehtimaki T, Salomaa V, Oresic M, Raitakari OT, Ala-Korpela M, Porkka-Heiskanen T
(Vertaisarvioitu alkuperäisartikkeli tai data-artikkeli tieteellisessä aikakauslehdessä (A1))

Genome-wide association study identifies 74 loci associated with educational attainment (2016)

Nature
Okbay A, Beauchamp JP, Fontana MA, Lee JJ, Pers TH, Rietveld CA, Turley P, Chen GB, Emilsson V, Meddens SFW, Oskarsson S, Pickrell JK, Thom K, Timshel P, de Vlaming R, Abdellaoui A, Ahluwalia TS, Bacelis J, Baumbach C, Bjornsdottir G, Brandsma JH, Concas MP, Derringer J, Furlotte NA, Galesloot TE, Girotto G, Gupta R, Hall LM, Harris SE, Hofer E, Horikoshi M, Huffman JE, Kaasik K, Kalafati IP, Karlsson R, Kong A, Lahti J, van der Lee SJ, de Leeuw C, Lind PA, Lindgren KO, Liu T, Mangino M, Marten J, Mihailov E, Miller MB, van der Most PJ, Oldmeadow C, Payton A, Pervjakova N, Peyrot WJ, Qian Y, Raitakari O, Rueedi R, Salvi E, Schmidt B, Schraut KE, Shi JX, Smith AV, Poot RA, St Pourcain B, Teumer A, Thorleifsson G, Verweij N, Vuckovic D, Wellmann J, Westra HJ, Yang JY, Zhao W, Zhu ZH, Alizadeh BZ, Amin N, Bakshi A, Baumeister SE, Biino G, Bonnelykke K, Boyle PA, Campbell H, Cappuccio FP, Davies G, De Neve JE, Deloukas P, Demuth I, Ding J, Eibich P, Eisele L, Eklund N, Evans DM, Faul JD, Feitosa MF, Forstner AJ, Gandin I, Gunnarsson B, Halldorsson BV, Harris TB, Heath AC, Hocking LJ, Holliday EG, Homuth G, Horan MA, Hottenga JJ, de Jager PL, Joshi PK, Jugessur A, Kaakinen MA, Kahonen M, Kanoni S, Keltigangas-Jarvinen L, Kiemeney LALM, Kolcic I, Koskinen S, Kraja AT, Kroh M, Kutalik Z, Latvala A, Launer LJ, Lebreton MP, Levinson DF, Lichtenstein P, Lichtner P, Liewald DCM, Loukola A, Madden PA, Magi R, Maki-Opas T, Marioni RE, Marques-Vidal P, Meddens GA, McMahon G, Meisinger C, Meitinger T, Milaneschi Y, Milani L, Montgomery GW, Myhre R, Nelson CP, Nyholt DR, Ollier WER, Palotie A, Paternoster L, Pedersen NL, Petrovic KE, Porteous DJ, Raikkonen K, Ring SM, Robino A, Rostapshova O, Rudan I, Rustichini A, Salomaa V, Sanders AR, Sarin AP, Schmidt H, Scott RJ, Smith BH, Smith JA, Staessen JA, Steinhagen-Thiessen E, Strauch K, Terracciano A, Tobin MD, Ulivi S, Vaccargiu S, Quaye L, van Rooij FJA, Venturini C, Vinkhuyzen AAE, Volker U, Volzke H, Vonk JM, Vozzi D, Waage J, Ware EB, Willemsen G, Attia JR, Bennett DA, Berger K, Bertram L, Bisgaard H, Boomsma DI, Borecki IB, Bultmann U, Chabris CF, Cucca F, Cusi D, Deary IJ, Dedoussis GV, van Duijn CM, Eriksson JG, Franke B, Franke L, Gasparini P, Gejman PV, Gieger C, Grabe HJ, Gratten J, Groenen PJF, Gudnason V, van der Harst P, Hayward C, Hinds DA, Hoffmann W, Hyppnen E, Iacono WG, Jacobsson B, Jarvelin MR, Jockel KH, Kaprio J, Kardia SLR, Lehtimaki T, Lehrer SF, Magnusson PKE, Martin NG, McGue M, Metspalu A, Pendleton N, Penninx BWJH, Perola M, Pirastu N, Pirastu M, Polasek O, Posthuma D, Power C, Province MA, Samani NJ, Schlessinger D, Schmidt R, Sorensen TIA, Spector TD, Stefansson K, Thorsteinsdottir U, Thurik AR, Timpson NJ, Tiemeier H, Tung JY, Uitterlinden AG, Vitart V, Vollenweider P, Weir DR, Wilson JF, Wright AF, Conley DC, Krueger RF, Smith GD, Hofman A, Laibson DI, Medland SE, Meyer MN, Yang J, Johannesson M, Visscher PM, Esko T, Koellinger PD, Cesarini D, Benjamin DJ
(Vertaisarvioitu alkuperäisartikkeli tai data-artikkeli tieteellisessä aikakauslehdessä (A1))

A principal component meta-analysis on multiple anthropometric traits identifies novel loci for body shape (2016)

Nature Communications
Ried JS, Jeff JM, Chu AY, Bragg-Gresham JL, van Dongen J, Huffman JE, Ahluwalia TS, Cadby G, Eklund N, Eriksson J, Esko T, Feitosa MF, Goel A, Gorski M, Hayward C, Heard-Costa NL, Jackson AU, Jokinen E, Kanoni S, Kristiansson K, Kutalik Z, Lahti J, Luan JA, Magi R, Mahajan A, Mangino M, Medina-Gomez C, Monda KL, Nolte IM, Perusse L, Prokopenko I, Qi L, Rose LM, Salvi E, Smith MT, Snieder H, Stancakova A, Sung YJ, Tachmazidou I, Teumer A, Thorleifsson G, van der Harst P, Walker RW, Wang SR, Wild SH, Willems SM, Wong A, Zhang WH, Albrecht E, Alves AC, Bakker SJL, Barlassina C, Bartz TM, Beilby J, Bellis C, Bergman RN, Bergmann S, Blangero J, Bluher M, Boerwinkle E, Bonnycastle LL, Bornstein SR, Bruinenberg M, Campbell H, Chen YDI, Chiang CWK, Chines PS, Collins FS, Cucca F, Cupples LA, D'Avila F, de Geus EJC, Dedoussis G, Dimitriou M, Doring A, Eriksson JG, Farmaki AE, Farrall M, Ferreira T, Fischer K, Forouhi NG, Friedrich N, Gjesing AP, Glorioso N, Graff M, Grallert H, Grarup N, Grassler J, Grewal J, Hamsten A, Harder MN, Hartman CA, Hassinen M, Hastie N, Hattersley AT, Havulinna AS, Heliovaara M, Hillege H, Hofman A, Holmen O, Homuth G, Hottenga JJ, Hui JN, Husemoen LL, Hysi PG, Isaacs A, Ittermann T, Jalilzadeh S, James AL, Jorgensen T, Jousilahti P, Jula A, Justesen JM, Justice AE, Kahonen M, Karaleftheri M, Khaw KT, Keinanen-Kiukaanniemi SM, Kinnunen L, Knekt PB, Koistinen HA, Kolcic I, Kooner IK, Koskinen S, Kovacs P, Kyriakou T, Laitinen T, Langenberg C, Lewin AM, Lichtner P, Lindgren CM, Lindstrom J, Linneberg A, Lorbeer R, Lorentzon M, Luben R, Lyssenko V, Mannisto S, Manunta P, Leach IM, McArdle WL, Mcknight B, Mohlke KL, Mihailov E, Milani L, Mills R, Montasser ME, Morris AP, Muller G, Musk AW, Narisu N, Ong KK, Oostra BA, Osmond C, Palotie A, Pankow JS, Paternoster L, Penninx BW, Pichler I, Pilia MG, Polasek O, Pramstaller PP, Raitakari OT, Rankinen T, Rao DC, Rayner NW, Ribel-Madsen R, Rice TK, Richards M, Ridker PM, Rivadeneira F, Ryan KA, Sanna S, Sarzynski MA, Scholtens S, Scott RA, Sebert S, Southam L, Sparso TH, Steinthorsdottir V, Stirrups K, Stolk RP, Strauch K, Stringham HM, Swertz MA, Swift AJ, Tonjes A, Tsafantakis E, van der Most PJ, Van Vliet-Ostaptchouk JV, Vandenput L, Vartiainen E, Venturini C, Verweij N, Viikari JS, Vitart V, Vohl MC, Vonk JM, Waeber G, Widen E, Willemsen G, Wilsgaard T, Winkler TW, Wright AF, Yerges-Armstrong LM, Zhao JH, Zillikens MC, Boomsma DI, Bouchard C, Chambers JC, Chasman DI, Cusi D, Gansevoort RT, Gieger C, Hansen T, Hicks AA, Hu F, Hveem K, Jarvelin MR, Kajantie E, Kooner JS, Kuh D, Kuusisto J, Laakso M, Lakka TA, Lehtimaki T, Metspalu A, Njolstad I, Ohlsson C, Oldehinkel AJ, Palmer LJ, Pedersen O, Perola M, Peters A, Psaty BM, Puolijoki H, Rauramaa R, Rudan I, Salomaa V, Schwarz PEH, Shudiner AR, Smit JH, Sorensen TIA, Spector TD, Stefansson K, Stumvoll M, Tremblay A, Tuomilehto J, Uitterlinden AG, Uusitupa M, Volker U, Vollenweider P, Wareham NJ, Watkins H, Wilson JF, Zeggini E, Abecasis GR, Boehnke M, Borecki IB, Deloukas P, van Duijn CM, Fox C, Groop LC, Heid IM, Hunter DJ, Kaplan RC, McCarthy MI, North KE, O'Connell JR, Schlessinger D, Thorsteinsdottir U, Strachan DP, Frayling T, Hirschhorn JN, Muller-Nurasyid M, Loos RJF
(Vertaisarvioitu alkuperäisartikkeli tai data-artikkeli tieteellisessä aikakauslehdessä (A1))

Exome Genotyping Identifies Pleiotropic Variants Associated with Red Blood Cell Traits (2016)

American Journal of Human Genetics
Chami N, Chen MH, Slater AJ, Eicher JD, Evangelou E, Tajuddin SM, Love-Gregory L, Kacprowski T, Schick UM, Nomura A, Giri A, Lessard S, Brody JA, Schurmann C, Pankratz N, Yanek LR, Manichaikul A, Pazoki R, Mihailov E, Hill WD, Raffield LM, Burt A, Bartz TM, Becker DM, Becker LC, Boerwinkle E, Bork-Jensen J, Bottinger EP, O'Donoghue ML, Crosslin DR, de Denus S, Dube MP, Elliott P, Engstrom G, Evans MK, Floyd JS, Fornage M, Gao H, Greinacher A, Gudnason V, Hansen T, Harris TB, Hayward C, Hernesniemi J, Highland HM, Hirschhorn JN, Hofman A, Irvin MR, Kahonen M, Lange E, Launer LJ, Lehtimaki T, Li J, Liewald DCM, Linneberg A, Liu YM, Lu YC, Lyytikainen LP, Magi R, Mathias RA, Melander O, Metspalu A, Mononen N, Nalls MA, Nickerson DA, Nikus K, O'Donnell CJ, Orho-Melander M, Pedersen O, Petersmann A, Polfus L, Psaty BM, Raitakari OT, Raitoharju E, Richard M, Rice KM, Rivadeneira F, Rotter JI, Schmidt F, Smith AV, Starr JM, Taylor KD, Teumer A, Thuesen BH, Torstenson ES, Tracy RP, Tzoulaki I, Zakai NA, Vacchi-Suzzi C, van Duijn CM, van Rooij FJA, Cushman M, Deary IJ, Edwards DRV, Vergnaud AC, Wallentin L, Waterworth DM, White HD, Wilson JG, Zonderman AB, Kathiresan S, Grarup N, Esko T, Loos RJF, Lange LA, Faraday N, Abumrad NA, Edwards TL, Ganesh SK, Auer PL, Johnson AD, Reiner AP, Lettre G
(Vertaisarvioitu alkuperäisartikkeli tai data-artikkeli tieteellisessä aikakauslehdessä (A1))

Childhood Physical Activity and Adulthood Earnings (2016)

Medicine and Science in Sports and Exercise
Kari JT, Tammelin TH, Viinikainen J, Hutri-Kähönen N, Raitakari OT, Pehkonen J
(Vertaisarvioitu alkuperäisartikkeli tai data-artikkeli tieteellisessä aikakauslehdessä (A1))