Olli Raitakari
MD/PhD
olli.raitakari@utu.fi +358 29 450 2304 Kiinamyllynkatu 10 Turku ORCID identifier: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-9365-3702 |
cardiovascular and metabolic diseases; risk factors; vascular epidemiology; genetic epidemiology; epidemiology; dietary intervention; cohort studies; follow-up studies
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
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.
- Fasting glucose and the risk of depressive symptoms: Instrumental-variable regression in the Cardiovascular Risk in Young Finns Study (2017)
- International Journal of Behavioral Medicine
(A1 Refereed original research article in a scientific journal) - Gene-environment interactions between education and body mass: Evidence from the UK and Finland (2017)
- Social Science and Medicine
(A1 Refereed original research article in a scientific journal) - Genetic endowments, parental resources and adult health: Evidence from the Young Finns Study (2017)
- Social Science and Medicine
(A1 Refereed original research article in a scientific journal) - Genetic loci associated with heart rate variability and their effects on cardiac disease risk (2017)
- Nature Communications
(A1 Refereed original research article in a scientific journal) - Genome-wide association analyses for lung function and chronic obstructive pulmonary disease identify new loci and potential druggable targets (2017)
- Nature Genetics
(A1 Refereed original research article in a scientific journal) - Genome-wide association analysis identifies novel blood pressure loci and offers biological insights into cardiovascular risk (2017)
- Nature Genetics
(A1 Refereed original research article in a scientific journal) - Genome-wide association meta-analysis of fish and EPA+DHA consumption in 17 US and European cohorts (2017)
- PLoS ONE
(A1 Refereed original research article in a scientific journal) - Genome-wide Association Study Identifies 27 Loci Influencing Concentrations of Circulating Cytokines and Growth Factors (2017)
- American Journal of Human Genetics
(A1 Refereed original research article in a scientific journal) - Genome-Wide Association Study Implicates Atrial Natriuretic Peptide Rather Than B-Type Natriuretic Peptide in the Regulation of Blood Pressure in the General Population (2017)
- Circulation: Cardiovascular Genetics
(A1 Refereed original research article in a scientific journal) - Genome-wide meta-analysis of 241,258 adults accounting for smoking behaviour identifies novel loci for obesity traits (2017)
- Nature Communications
(A1 Refereed original research article in a scientific journal) - Genome-wide physical activity interactions in adiposity. A meta-analysis of 200,452 adults (2017)
- PLoS Genetics
(A1 Refereed original research article in a scientific journal) - Hostile parenting, parental psychopathology, and depressive symptoms in the offspring: a 32-year follow-up in the Young Finns study (2017)
- Journal of Affective Disorders
(A1 Refereed original research article in a scientific journal) - Ideal cardiovascular health in childhood-Longitudinal associations with cardiac structure and function: The Special Turku Coronary Risk Factor Intervention Project (STRIP) and the Cardiovascular Risk in Young Finns Study (YFS) (2017)
- International Journal of Cardiology
(A1 Refereed original research article in a scientific journal) - Indicators of fetal growth and adult liver enzymes: the Bogalusa Heart Study and the Cardiovascular Risk in Young Finns Study (2017)
- Journal of Developmental Origins of Health and Disease
(A1 Refereed original research article in a scientific journal) - Influence of Child and Adult Elevated Blood Pressure on Adult Arterial Stiffness The Cardiovascular Risk in Young Finns Study (2017)
- Hypertension
(A1 Refereed original research article in a scientific journal) - Intergenerational Continuity in Qualities of the Parent-Child Relationship: Mediating and Moderating Mechanisms (2017)
- Journal of Child and Family Studies
(A1 Refereed original research article in a scientific journal) - Intergenerational transmission of qualities of the parent-child relationship in the population-based Young Finns Study (2017)
- European Journal of Developmental Psychology
(A1 Refereed original research article in a scientific journal) - Intergenerational transmission of socioeconomic position and ideal cardiovascular health: 32-year follow-up study (2017)
- Health Psychology
(A1 Refereed original research article in a scientific journal) - Interrelationships between indices of longitudinal movement of the common carotid artery wall and the conventional measures of subclinical arteriosclerosis (2017)
- Clinical Physiology and Functional Imaging
(A1 Refereed original research article in a scientific journal) - Keski-ikäinen tarvitsee lisää askeleita arkeensa (2017)
- Liikunta ja tiede
(D1 Article in a professional journal)