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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The Influence of Age and Sex on Genetic Associations with Adult Body Size and Shape: A Large-Scale Genome-Wide Interaction Study (2015)

PLoS Genetics
Winkler TW, Justice AE, Graff M, Barata L, Feitosa MF, Chu S, Czajkowski J, Esko T, Fall T, Kilpelainen TO, Lu YC, Magi R, Mihailov E, Pers TH, Rueger S, Teumer A, Ehret GB, Ferreira T, Heard-Costa NL, Karjalainen J, Lagou V, Mahajan A, Neinast MD, Prokopenko I, Simino J, Teslovich TM, Jansen R, Westra HJ, White CC, Absher D, Ahluwalia TS, Ahmad S, Albrecht E, Alves AC, Bragg-Gresham JL, de Craen AJM, Bis JC, Bonnefond A, Boucher G, Cadby G, Cheng YC, Chiang CWK, Delgado G, Demirkan A, Dueker N, Eklund N, Eiriksdottir G, Eriksson J, Feenstra B, Fischer K, Frau F, Galesloot TE, Geller F, Goel A, Gorski M, Grammer TB, Gustafsson S, Haitjema S, Hottenga JJ, Huffman JE, Jackson AU, Jacobs KB, Johansson A, Kaakinen M, Kleber ME, Lahti J, Leach IM, Lehne B, Liu YF, Lo KS, Lorentzon M, Luan J, Madden PAF, Mangino M, McKnight B, Medina-Gomez C, Monda KL, Montasser ME, Muller G, Muller-Nurasyid M, Nolte IM, Panoutsopoulou K, Pascoe L, Paternoster L, Rayner NW, Renstrom F, Rizzi F, Rose LM, Ryan KA, Salo P, Sanna S, Scharnagl H, Shi JX, Smith AV, Southam L, Stancakova A, Steinthorsdottir V, Strawbridge RJ, Sung YJ, Tachmazidou I, Tanaka T, Thorleifsson G, Trompet S, Pervjakova N, Tyrer JP, Vandenput L, van der Laan SW, van der Velde N, van Setten J, van Vliet-Ostaptchouk JV, Verweij N, Vlachopoulou E, Waite LL, Wang SR, Wang ZM, Wild SH, Willenborg C, Wilson JF, Wong A, Yang J, Yengo L, Yerges-Armstrong LM, Yu L, Zhang WH, Zhao JH, Andersson EA, Bakker SJL, Baldassarre D, Banasik K, Barcella M, Barlassina C, Bellis C, Benaglio P, Blangero J, Bluher M, Bonnet F, Bonnycastle LL, Boyd HA, Bruinenberg M, Buchman AS, Campbell H, Chen YDI, Chines PS, Claudi-Boehm S, Cole J, Collins FS, de Geus EJC, de Groot LCPGM, Dimitriou M, Duan J, Enroth S, Eury E, Farmaki AE, Forouhi NG, Friedrich N, Gejman PV, Gigante B, Glorioso N, Go AS, Gottesman O, Grassler J, Grallert H, Grarup N, Gu YM, Broer L, Ham AC, Hansen T, Harris TB, Hartman CA, Hassinen M, Hastie N, Hattersley AT, Heath AC, Henders AK, Hernandez D, Hillege H, Holmen O, Hovingh KG, Hui J, Husemoen LL, Hutri-Kahonen N, Hysi PG, Illig T, De Jager PL, Jalilzadeh S, Jorgensen T, Jukema JW, Juonala M, Kanoni S, Karaleftheri M, Khaw KT, Kinnunen L, Kittner SJ, Koenig W, Kolcic I, Kovacs P, Krarup NT, Kratzer W, Kruger J, Kuh D, Kumari M, Kyriakou T, Langenberg C, Lannfelt L, Lanzani C, Lotay V, Launer LJ, Leander K, Lindstrom J, Linneberg A, Liu YP, Lobbens S, Luben R, Lyssenko V, Mannisto S, Magnusson PK, McArdle WL, Menni C, Merger S, Milani L, Montgomery GW, Morris AP, Narisu N, Nelis M, Ong KK, Palotie A, Perusse L, Pichler I, Pilia MG, Pouta A, Rheinberger M, Ribel-Madsen R, Richards M, Rice KM, Rice TK, Rivolta C, Salomaa V, Sanders AR, Sarzynski MA, Scholtens S, Scott RA, Scott WR, Sebert S, Sengupta S, Sennblad B, Seufferlein T, Silveira A, Slagboom PE, Smit JH, Sparso TH, Stirrups K, Stolk RP, Stringham HM, Swertz MA, Swift AJ, Syvanen AC, Tan ST, Thorand B, Tonjes A, Tremblay A, Tsafantakis E, van der Most PJ, Volker U, Vohl MC, Vonk JM, Waldenberger M, Walker RW, Wennauer R, Widen E, Willemsen G, Wilsgaard T, Wright AF, Zillikens MC, van Dijk SC, van Schoor NM, Asselbergs FW, de Bakker PIW, Beckmann JS, Beilby J, Bennett DA, Bergman RN, Bergmann S, Boger CA, Boehm BO, Boerwinkle E, Boomsma DI, Bornstein SR, Bottinger EP, Bouchard C, Chambers JC, Chanock SJ, Chasman DI, Cucca F, Cusi D, Dedoussis G, Erdmann J, Eriksson JG, Evans DA, de Faire U, Farrall M, Ferrucci L, Ford I, Franke L, Franks PW, Froguel P, Gansevoort RT, Gieger C, Gronberg H, Gudnason V, Gyllensten U, Hall P, Hamsten A, van der Harst P, Hayward C, Heliovaara M, Hengstenberg C, Hicks AA, Hingorani A, Hofman A, Hu F, Huikuri HV, Hveem K, James AL, Jordan JM, Jula A, Kahonen M, Kajantie E, Kathiresan S, Kiemeney LALM, Kivimaki M, Knekt PB, Koistinen HA, Kooner JS, Koskinen S, Kuusisto J, Maerz W, Martin NG, Laakso M, Lakka TA, Lehtimaki T, Lettre G, Levinson DF, Lind L, Lokki ML, Mantyselka P, Melbye M, Metspalu A, Mitchell BD, Moll FL, Murray JC, Musk AW, Nieminen MS, Njolstad I, Ohlsson C, Oldehinkel AJ, Oostra BA, Palmer LJ, Pankow JS, Pasterkamp G, Pedersen NL, Pedersen O, Penninx BW, Perola M, Peters A, Polasek O, Pramstaller PP, Psaty BM, Qi L, Quertermous T, Raitakari OT, Rankinen T, Rauramaa R, Ridker PM, Rioux JD, Rivadeneira F, Rotter JI, Rudan I, den Ruijter HM, Saltevo J, Sattar N, Schunkert H, Schwarz PEH, Shuldiner AR, Sinisalo J, Snieder H, Sorensen TIA, Spector TD, Staessen JA, Stefania B, Thorsteinsdottir U, Stumvoll M, Tardif JC, Tremoli E, Tuomilehto J, Uitterlinden AG, Uusitupa M, Verbeek ALM, Vermeulen SH, Viikari JS, Vitart V, Volzke H, Vollenweider P, Waeber G, Walker M, Wallaschofski H, Wareham NJ, Watkins H, Zeggini E, Chakravarti A, Clegg DJ, Cupples LA, Gordon-Larsen P, Jaquish CE, Rao DC, Abecasis GR, Assimes TL, Barroso I, Berndt SI, Boehnke M, Deloukas P, Fox CS, Groop LC, Hunter DJ, Ingelsson E, Kaplan RC, McCarthy MI, Mohlke KL, O'Connell JR, Schlessinger D, Strachan DP, Stefansson K, van Duijn CM, Hirschhorn JN, Lindgren CM, Heid IM, North KE, Borecki IB, Kutalik Z, Loos RJF
(Vertaisarvioitu alkuperäisartikkeli tai data-artikkeli tieteellisessä aikakauslehdessä (A1))

Discovery and Fine-Mapping of Glycaemic and Obesity-Related Trait Loci Using High-Density Imputation (2015)

PLoS Genetics
Horikoshi M, Magi R, van de Bunt M, Surakka I, Sarin AP, Mahajan A, Marullo L, Thorleifsson G, Hagg S, Hottenga JJ, Ladenvall C, Ried JS, Winkler TW, Willems SM, Pervjakova N, Esko T, Beekman M, Nelson CP, Willenborg C, Wiltshire S, Ferreira T, Fernandez J, Gaulton KJ, Steinthorsdottir V, Hamsten A, Magnusson PKE, Willemsen G, Milaneschi Y, Robertson NR, Groves CJ, Bennett AJ, Lehtimaki T, Viikari JS, Rung J, Lyssenko V, Perola M, Heid IM, Herder C, Grallert H, Muller-Nurasyid M, Roden M, Hypponen E, Isaacs A, van Leeuwen EM, Karssen LC, Mihailov E, Houwing-Duistermaat JJ, de Craen AJM, Deelen J, Havulinna AS, Blades M, Hengstenberg C, Erdmann J, Schunkert H, Kaprio J, Tobin MD, Samani NJ, Lind L, Salomaa V, Lindgren CM, Slagboom PE, Metspalu A, van Duijn CM, Eriksson JG, Peters A, Gieger C, Jula A, Groop L, Raitakari OT, Power C, Penninx BWJH, de Geus E, Smit JH, Boomsma DI, Pedersen NL, Ingelsson E, Thorsteinsdottir U, Stefansson K, Ripatti S, Prokopenko I, McCarthy MI, Morris AP; ENGAGE Consortium
(Vertaisarvioitu alkuperäisartikkeli tai data-artikkeli tieteellisessä aikakauslehdessä (A1))

Directional dominance on stature and cognition in diverse human populations (2015)

Nature
Joshi PK, Esko T, Mattsson H, Eklund N, Gandin I, Nutile T, Jackson AU, Schurmann C, Smith AV, Zhang WH, Okada Y, Stancakova A, Faul JD, Zhao W, Bartz TM, Concas MP, Franceschini N, Enroth S, Vitart V, Trompet S, Guo XQ, Chasman DI, O'Connel JR, Corre T, Nongmaithem SS, Chen Y, Mangino M, Ruggiero D, Michela T, Farmaki AE, Kacprowski T, Bjonnes A, van der Spek A, Wu Y, Giri AK, Yanek LR, Wang LH, Hofer E, Rietveld CA, McLeod O, Cornelis MC, Pattaro C, Verweij N, Baumbach C, Abdellaoui A, Warren HR, Vuckovic D, Mei H, Bouchard C, Perry JRB, Cappellani S, Mirza SS, Benton MC, Broeckel U, Medland SE, Lind P, Malerba G, Drong A, Yengo L, Bielak LF, Zhi DG, van der Most PJ, Shriner D, Magi R, Hemani G, Karaderi T, Wang ZM, Liu T, Demuth I, Zhao JH, Meng WH, Lataniotis L, van der Laan SW, Bradfield JP, Wood AR, Bonnefond A, Ahluwalia TS, Hall L, Salvi E, Yazar S, Carstensen L, de Haan HG, Abney M, Afzal U, Allison MA, Amin N, Asselbergs FW, Bakker SJL, Barr RG, Baumeister SE, Benjamin DJ, Bergmann S, Boerwinkle E, Bottinger EP, Campbell A, Chakravarti A, Chan YL, Chanock SJ, Chen C, Chen YDI, Collins FS, Connell J, Correa A, Cupples LA, Smith GD, Davies G, Dorr M, Ehret G, Ellis SB, Feenstra B, Feitosa MF, Ford I, Fox CS, Frayling TM, Friedrich N, Geller F, Scotland G, Gillham-Nasenya I, Gottesman O, Graff M, Grodstein F, Gu C, Haley C, Hammond CJ, Harris SE, Harris TB, Hastie ND, Heard-Costa NL, Heikkila K, Hocking LJ, Homuth G, Hottenga JJ, Huang JY, Huffman JE, Hysi PG, Ikram MA, Ingelsson E, Joensuu A, Johansson A, Jousilahti P, Jukema JW, Kahonen M, Kamatani Y, Kanoni S, Kerr SM, Khan NM, Koellinger P, Koistinen HA, Kooner MK, Kubo M, Kuusisto J, Lahti J, Launer LJ, Lea RA, Lehne B, Lehtimaki T, Liewald DCM, Lind L, Loh M, Lokki ML, London SJ, Loomis SJ, Loukola A, Lu YC, Lumley T, Lundqvist A, Mannisto S, Marques-Vidal P, Masciullo C, Matchan A, Mathias RA, Matsuda K, Meigs JB, Meisinger C, Meitinger T, Menni C, Mentch FD, Mihailov E, Milani L, Montasser ME, Montgomery G, Morrison A, Myers RH, Nadukuru R, Navarro P, Nelis M, Nieminen MS, Nolte IM, O'Connor GT, Ogunniyi A, Padmanabhan S, Palmas WR, Pankow JS, Patarcic I, Pavani F, Peyser PA, Pietilainen K, Poulter N, Prokopenko I, Ralhan S, Redmond P, Rich SS, Rissanen H, Robino A, Rose LM, Rose R, Sala C, Salako B, Salomaa V, Sarin AP, Saxena R, Schmidt H, Scott LJ, Scott WR, Sennblad B, Seshadri S, Sever P, Shrestha S, Smith BH, Smith JA, Soranzo N, Sotoodehnia N, Southam L, Stanton AV, Stathopoulou MG, Strauch K, Strawbridge RJ, Suderman MJ, Tandon N, Tang ST, Taylor KD, Tayo BO, Toglhofer AM, Tomaszewski M, Tsernikova N, Tuomilehto J, Uitterlinden AG, Vaidya D, Vlieg AV, van Setten J, Vasankari T, Vedantam S, Vlachopoulou E, Vozzi D, Vuoksimaa E, Waldenberger M, Ware EB, Wentworth-Shields W, Whitfield JB, Wild S, Willemsen G, Yajnik CS, Yao J, Zaza G, Zhu XF, Salem RM, Melbye M, Bisgaard H, Samani NJ, Cusi D, Mackey DA, Cooper RS, Froguel P, Pasterkamp G, Grant SFA, Hakonarson H, Ferrucci L, Scott RA, Morris AD, Palmer CNA, Dedoussis G, Deloukas P, Bertram L, Lindenberger U, Berndt SI, Lindgren CM, Timpson NJ, Tonjes A, Munroe PB, Sorensen TIA, Rotimi CN, Arnett DK, Oldehinkel AJ, Kardia SLR, Balkau B, Gambaro G, Morris AP, Eriksson JG, Wright MJ, Martin NG, Hunt SC, Starr JM, Deary IJ, Griffiths LR, Tiemeier H, Pirastu N, Kaprio J, Wareham NJ, Peerusse L, Wilson JG, Girotto G, Caulfield MJ, Raitakari O, Boomsma DI, Gieger C, van der Harst P, Hicks AA, Kraft P, Sinisalo J, Knekt P, Johannesson M, Magnusson PKE, Hamsten A, Schmidt R, Borecki IB, Vartiainen E, Becker DM, Bharadwaj D, Mohlke KL, Boehnke M, van Duijn CM, Sanghera DK, Teumer A, Zeggini E, Metspalu A, Gasparini P, Ulivi S, Ober C, Toniolo D, Rudan I, Porteous DJ, Ciullo M, Spector TD, Hayward C, Dupuis J, Loos RJF, Wright AF, Chandak GR, Vollenweider P, Shuldiner AR, Ridker PM, Rotter JI, Sattar N, Gyllensten U, North KE, Pirastu M, Psaty BM, Weir DR, Laakso M, Gudnason V, Takahashi A, Chambers JC, Kooner JS, Strachan DP, Campbell H, Hirschhorn JN, Perola M, Polasek O, Wilson JF
(Vertaisarvioitu alkuperäisartikkeli tai data-artikkeli tieteellisessä aikakauslehdessä (A1))

Coronary heart disease risk factors, coronary artery calcification and epicardial fat volume in the Young Finns Study (2015)

EHJ Cardiovascular Imaging / European Heart Journal - Cardiovascular Imaging
Hartiala O, Magnussen CG, Bucci M, Kajander S, Knuuti J, Ukkonen H, Saraste A, Rinta-Kiikka I, Kainulainen S, Kähönen M, Hutri-Kähönen N, Laitinen T, Lehtimäki T, Viikari JS, Hartiala J, Juonala M, Raitakari OT
(Vertaisarvioitu alkuperäisartikkeli tai data-artikkeli tieteellisessä aikakauslehdessä (A1))