Laura Ekblad
MD, PhD
llekbl@utu.fi ORCID identifier: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-5863-8088 |
Areas of expertise
positron emission tomography; Alzheimer´s Disease; Insulin resistance; cognition; memory disorders
positron emission tomography; Alzheimer´s Disease; Insulin resistance; cognition; memory disorders
Research community or research topic
Specialist in Geriatrics and Family Medicine. Senior researcher, Turku Alzheimer Imaging Group, Turku PET Centre.
Specialist in Geriatrics and Family Medicine. Senior researcher, Turku Alzheimer Imaging Group, Turku PET Centre.
Research
My research focuses on early risk factors for memory disorders, especially Alzheimer´s disease. I am particularly interested in the associations between metabolic risk factors (insulin resistance, glucose intolerance, obesity) and cognitive decline.
Our lab uses multimodal neuroimaging (PET-imaging, MRI) combined with blood and CSF biomarkers and cognitive testing to explore the association between different risk factors and early cerebral changes of memory disorders.
I also run a project that examines possible cardiac side effects of anti-dementia agents in elderly memory clinic patients.
Teaching
Publications
- The Obesity Risk SNP (rs17782313) near the MC4R Gene Is Not Associated with Brain Glucose Uptake during Insulin Clamp-A Study in Finns (2021)
- Journal of Clinical Medicine
(A1 Refereed original research article in a scientific journal) - Effects of age, BMI and sex on the glial cell marker TSPO - a multicentre [C-11]PBR28 HRRT PET study (2019)
- European Journal of Nuclear Medicine and Molecular Imaging
(A1 Refereed original research article in a scientific journal) - Insuliiniresistenssi, aivot ja muistisairausriski (2019)
- Duodecim
(A2 Refereed review article in a scientific journal ) - Intranasal naloxone rapidly occupies brain mu-opioid receptors in human subjects (2019)
- Neuropsychopharmacology
(A1 Refereed original research article in a scientific journal) - Midlife Insulin Resistance as a Predictor for Late-Life Cognitive Function and Cerebrovascular Lesions (2019)
- Journal of Alzheimer's Disease
(A1 Refereed original research article in a scientific journal) - Albuminuria and Microalbuminuria as Predictors of Cognitive Performance in a General Population: An 11-Year Follow-Up Study (2018)
- Journal of Alzheimer's Disease
(Other publication) - Albuminuria and Microalbuminuria as Predictors of Cognitive Performance in a General Population: An 11-Year Follow-Up Study (2018)
- Journal of Alzheimer's Disease
(A1 Refereed original research article in a scientific journal) - Insulin resistance, cognition, and brain amyloid accumulation : an epidemiological and a positron emission tomography study (2018) Ekblad Laura
(G5 Article dissertation ) - Keski-iän elämäntavat - ikkuna muistisairauden kehittymiselle? (2018)
- Erikoislääkäri
(D1 Article in a professional journal) - Midlife insulin resistance, APOE genotype, and late-life brain amyloid accumulation (2018)
- Neurology
(A1 Refereed original research article in a scientific journal)



