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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Computationally estimated apolipoproteins B and A1 in predicting cardiovascular risk (2013)

Atherosclerosis
Raitakari OT, Makinen VP, McQueen MJ, Niemi J, Juonala M, Jauhiainen M, Salomaa V, Hannuksela ML, Savolainen MJ, Kesaniemi YA, Kovanen PT, Sundvall J, Solakivi T, Loo BM, Marniemi J, Hernesniemi J, Lehtimaki T, Kahonen M, Peltonen M, Leiviska J, Jula A, Anand SS, Miller R, Yusuf S, Viikari JSA, Ala-Korpela M
(Vertaisarvioitu alkuperäisartikkeli tai data-artikkeli tieteellisessä aikakauslehdessä (A1))

Ideal cardiovascular health in young adult populations from the United States, Finland, and Australia and its association with cIMT: the international childhood cardiovascular cohort consortium. (2013)

Journal of the American Heart Association
Oikonen M, Laitinen TT, Magnussen CG, Steinberger J, Sinaiko AR, Dwyer T, Venn A, Smith KJ, Hutri-Kähönen N, Pahkala K, Mikkilä V, Prineas R, Viikari JS, Morrison JA, Woo JG, Chen W, Nicklas T, Srinivasan SR, Berenson G, Juonala M, Raitakari OT
(Vertaisarvioitu alkuperäisartikkeli tai data-artikkeli tieteellisessä aikakauslehdessä (A1))

Distinct Loci in the CHRNA5/CHRNA3/CHRNB4 Gene Cluster Are Associated With Onset of Regular Smoking (2013)

Genetic Epidemiology
Stephens SH, Hartz SM, Hoft NR, Saccone NL, Corley RC, Hewitt JK, Hopfer CJ, Breslau N, Coon H, Chen XN, Ducci F, Dueker N, Franceschini N, Frank J, Han YH, Hansel NN, Jiang CH, Korhonen T, Lind PA, Liu J, Lyytikainen LP, Michel M, Shaffer JR, Short SE, Sun JZ, Teumer A, Thompson JR, Vogelzangs N, Vink JM, Wenzlaff A, Wheeler W, Yang BZ, Aggen SH, Balmforth AJ, Baumeister SE, Beaty TH, Benjamin DJ, Bergen AW, Broms U, Cesarini D, Chatterjee N, Chen JC, Cheng YC, Cichon S, Couper D, Cucca F, Dick D, Foroud T, Furberg H, Giegling I, Gillespie NA, Gu FY, Hall AS, Haellfors J, Han S, Hartmann AM, Heikkilae K, Hickie IB, Hottenga JJ, Jousilahti P, Kaakinen M, Kaehoenen M, Koellinger PD, Kittner S, Konte B, Landi MT, Laatikainen T, Leppert M, Levy SM, Mathias RA, McNeil DW, Medland SE, Montgomery GW, Murray T, Nauck M, North KE, Pare PD, Pergadia M, Ruczinski I, Salomaa V, Viikari J, Willemsen G, Barnes KC, Boerwinkle E, Boomsma DI, Caporaso N, Edenberg HJ, Francks C, Gelernter J, Grabe HJ, Hops H, Jarvelin MR, Johannesson M, Kendler KS, Lehtimaeki T, Magnusson PKE, Marazita ML, Marchini J, Mitchell BD, Noethen MM, Penninx BW, Raitakari O, Rietschel M, Rujescu D, Samani NJ, Schwartz AG, Shete S, Spitz M, Swan GE, Volzke H, Veijola J, Wei QY, Amos C, Cannon DS, Grucza R, Hatsukami D, Heath A, Johnson EO, Kaprio J, Madden P, Martin NG, Stevens VL, Weiss RB, Kraft P, Bierut LJ, Ehringer MA
(Vertaisarvioitu alkuperäisartikkeli tai data-artikkeli tieteellisessä aikakauslehdessä (A1))

Ideal Cardiovascular Health in Adolescence Effect of Lifestyle Intervention and Association With Vascular Intima-Media Thickness and Elasticity (The Special Turku Coronary Risk Factor Intervention Project for Children [STRIP] Study) (2013)

Circulation
Pahkala K, Hietalampi H, Laitinen TT, Viikari JSA, Ronnemaa T, Niinikoski H, Lagstrom H, Talvia S, Jula A, Heinonen OJ, Juonala M, Simell O, Raitakari OT
(Vertaisarvioitu alkuperäisartikkeli tai data-artikkeli tieteellisessä aikakauslehdessä (A1))

Deletion of TOP3 beta, a component of FMRP-containing mRNPs, contributes to neurodevelopmental disorders (2013)

Nature Neuroscience
Stoll G, Pietilainen OPH, Linder B, Suvisaari J, Brosi C, Hennah W, Leppa V, Torniainen M, Ripatti S, Ala-Mello S, Plottner O, Rehnstrom K, Tuulio-Henriksson A, Varilo T, Tallila J, Kristiansson K, Isohanni M, Kaprio J, Eriksson JG, Raitakari OT, Lehtimaki T, Jarvelin MR, Salomaa V, Hurles M, Stefansson H, Peltonen L, Sullivan PF, Paunio T, Lonnqvist J, Daly MJ, Fischer U, Freimer NB, Palotie A
(Vertaisarvioitu alkuperäisartikkeli tai data-artikkeli tieteellisessä aikakauslehdessä (A1))

Sex-stratified Genome-wide Association Studies Including 270,000 Individuals Show Sexual Dimorphism in Genetic Loci for Anthropometric Traits (2013)

PLoS Genetics
Randall JC, Winkler TW, Kutalik Z, Berndt SI, Jackson AU, Monda KL, Kilpelainen TO, Esko T, Magi R, Li SX, Workalemahu T, Feitosa MF, Croteau-Chonka DC, Day FR, Fall T, Ferreira T, Gustafsson S, Locke AE, Mathieson I, Scherag A, Vedantam S, Wood AR, Liang LM, Steinthorsdottir V, Thorleifsson G, Dermitzakis ET, Dimas AS, Karpe F, Min JL, Nicholson G, Clegg DJ, Person T, Krohn JP, Bauer S, Buechler C, Eisinger K, Bonnefond A, Froguel P, Hottenga JJ, Prokopenko I, Waite LL, Harris TB, Smith AV, Shuldiner AR, McArdle WL, Caulfield MJ, Munroe PB, Gronberg H, Chen YDI, Li G, Beckmann JS, Johnson T, Thorsteinsdottir U, Teder-Laving M, Khaw KT, Wareham NJ, Zhao JH, Amin N, Oostra BA, Kraja AT, Province MA, Cupples LA, Heard-Costa NL, Kaprio J, Ripatti S, Surakka I, Collins FS, Saramies J, Tuomilehto J, Jula A, Salomaa V, Erdmann J, Hengstenberg C, Loley C, Schunkert H, Lamina C, Wichmann HE, Albrecht E, Gieger C, Hicks AA, Johansson A, Pramstaller PP, Kathiresan S, Speliotes EK, Penninx B, Hartikainen AL, Jarvelin MR, Gyllensten U, Boomsma DI, Campbell H, Wilson JF, Chanock SJ, Farrall M, Goel A, Medina-Gomez C, Rivadeneira F, Estrada K, Uitterlinden AG, Hofman A, Zillikens MC, den Heijer M, Kiemeney LA, Maschio A, Hall P, Tyrer J, Teumer A, Volzke H, Kovacs P, Tonjes A, Mangino M, Spector TD, Hayward C, Rudan I, Hall AS, Samani NJ, Attwood AP, Sambrook JG, Hung J, Palmer LJ, Lokki ML, Sinisalo J, Boucher G, Huikuri H, Lorentzon M, Ohlsson C, Eklund N, Eriksson JG, Barlassina C, Rivolta C, Nolte IM, Snieder H, Van der Klauw MM, Van Vliet-Ostaptchouk JV, Gejman PV, Shi JX, Jacobs KB, Wang ZM, Bakker SJL, Leach IM, Navis G, van der Harst P, Martin NG, Medland SE, Montgomery GW, Yang J, Chasman DI, Ridker PM, Rose LM, Lehtimaki T, Raitakari O, Absher D, Iribarren C, Basart H, Hovingh KG, Hypponen E, Power C, Anderson D, Beilby JP, Hui JN, Jolley J, Sager H, Bornstein SR, Schwarz PEH, Kristiansson K, Perola M, Lindstrom J, Swift AJ, Uusitupa M, Atalay M, Lakka TA, Rauramaa R, Bolton JL, Fowkes G, Fraser RM, Price JF, Fischer K, KrjutAikov K, Metspalu A, Mihailov E, Langenberg C, Luan JA, Ong KK, Chines PS, Keinanen-Kiukaanniemi SM, Saaristo TE, Edkins S, Franks PW, Hallmans G, Shungin D, Morris AD, Palmer CNA, Erbel R, Moebus S, Nothen MM, Pechlivanis S, Hveem K, Narisu N, Hamsten A, Humphries SE, Strawbridge RJ, Tremoli E, Grallert H, Thorand B, Illig T, Koenig W, Muller-Nurasyid M, Peters A, Boehm BO, Kleber ME, Marz W, Winkelmann BR, Kuusisto J, Laakso M, Arveiler D, Cesana G, Kuulasmaa K, Virtamo J, Yarnell JWG, Kuh D, Wong A, Lind L, de Faire U, Gigante B, Magnusson PKE, Pedersen NL, Dedoussis G, Dimitriou M, Kolovou G, Kanoni S, Stirrups K, Bonnycastle LL, Njolstad I, Wilsgaard T, Ganna A, Rehnberg E, Hingorani A, Kivimaki M, Kumari M, Assimes TL, Barroso IS, Boehnke M, Borecki IB, Deloukas P, Fox CS, Frayling T, Groop LC, Haritunians T, Hunter D, Ingelsson E, Kaplan R, Mohlke KL, O'Connell JR, Schlessinger D, Strachan DP, Stefansson K, van Duijn CM, Abecasis GR, McCarthy MI, Hirschhorn JN, Qi L, Loos RJF, Lindgren CM, North KE, Heid IM
(Vertaisarvioitu alkuperäisartikkeli tai data-artikkeli tieteellisessä aikakauslehdessä (A1))