MD/PhD Olli Raitakari - UTU Research Portal

Olli Raitakari
MD/PhD

- Professor,
Centre for Population Health Research (POP Centre) (Faculty of Medicine)
- ,
InFLAMES Flagship (Faculty of Medicine)

olli.raitakari@utu.fi

+358 29 450 2304

Kiinamyllynkatu 10

Turku

ORCID identifier: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-9365-3702

10_representative_publications.pdf

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

78 of 106

Childhood and adult socio-economic position and social mobility as determinants of low back pain outcomes (2014)
- European Journal of Pain
Lallukka T, Viikari-Juntura E, Raitakari OT, Kahonen M, Lehtimaki T, Viikari J, Solovieva S
(A1 Refereed original research article in a scientific journal)
Chromosome X-Wide Association Study Identifies Loci for Fasting Insulin and Height and Evidence for Incomplete Dosage Compensation (2014)
- PLoS Genetics
Tukiainen T, Pirinen M, Sarin AP, Ladenvall C, Kettunen J, Lehtimaki T, Lokki ML, Perola M, Sinisalo J, Vlachopoulou E, Eriksson JG, Groop L, Jula A, Jarvelin MR, Raitakari OT, Salomaa V, Ripatti S
(A1 Refereed original research article in a scientific journal)
Defining the role of common variation in the genomic and biological architecture of adult human height (2014)
- Nature Genetics
Wood A., Esko T., Yang J., Vedantam S., Pers T., Gustafsson S., Chu A., Estrada K., Luan J., Kutalik Z., Amin N., Buchkovich M., Croteau-Chonka D., Day F., Duan Y., Fall T., Fehrmann R., Ferreira T., Jackson A., Karjalainen J., Lo K., Locke A., Mägi R., Mihailov E., Porcu E., Randall J., Scherag A., Vinkhuyzen A., Westra H., Winkler T., Workalemahu T., Zhao J., Absher D., Albrecht E., Anderson D., Baron J., Beekman M., Demirkan A., Ehret G., Feenstra B., Feitosa M., Fischer K., Fraser R., Goel A., Gong J., Justice A., Kanoni S., Kleber M., Kristiansson K., Lim U., Lotay V., Lui J., Mangino M., Leach I., Medina-Gomez C., Nalls M., Nyholt D., Palmer C., Pasko D., Pechlivanis S., Prokopenko I., Ried J., Ripke S., Shungin D., Stancáková A., Strawbridge R., Sung Y., Tanaka T., Teumer A., Trompet S., Van Der Laan S., Van Setten J., Van Vliet-Ostaptchouk J., Wang Z., Yengo L., Zhang W., Afzal U., Ärnlöv J., Arscott G., Bandinelli S., Barrett A., Bellis C., Bennett A., Berne C., Blüher M., Bolton J., Böttcher Y., Boyd H., Bruinenberg M., Buckley B., Buyske S., Caspersen I., Chines P., Clarke R., Claudi-Boehm S., Cooper M., Daw E., De Jong P., Deelen J., Delgado G., Denny J., Dhonukshe-Rutten R., Dimitriou M., Doney A., Dörr M., Eklund N., Eury E., Folkersen L., Garcia M., Geller F., Giedraitis V., Go A., Grallert H., Grammer T., Gräßler J., Grönberg H., De Groot L., Groves C., Haessler J., Hall P., Haller T., Hallmans G., Hannemann A., Hartman C., Hassinen M., Hayward C., Heard-Costa N., Helmer Q., Hemani G., Henders A., Hillege H., Hlatky M., Hoffmann W., Hoffmann P., Holmen O., Houwing-Duistermaat J., Illig T., Isaacs A., James A., Jeff J., Johansen B., Johansson Å., Jolley J., Juliusdottir T., Junttila J., Kho A., Kinnunen L., Klopp N., Kocher T., Kratzer W., Lichtner P., Lind L., Lindström J., Lobbens S., Lorentzon M., Lu Y., Lyssenko V., Magnusson P., Mahajan A., Maillard M., McArdle W., McKenzie C., McLachlan S., McLaren P., Menni C., Merger S., Milani L., Moayyeri A., Monda K., Morken M., Müller G., Müller-Nurasyid M., Musk A., Narisu N., Nauck M., Nolte I., Nöthen M., Oozageer L., Pilz S., Rayner N., Renstrom F., Robertson N., Rose L., Roussel R., Sanna S., Scharnagl H., Scholtens S., Schumacher F., Schunkert H., Scott R., Sehmi J., Seufferlein T., Shi J., Silventoinen K., Smit J., Smith A., Smolonska J., Stanton A., Stirrups K., Stott D., Stringham H., Sundström J., Swertz M., Syvänen A., Tayo B., Thorleifsson G., Tyrer J., Van Dijk S., Van Schoor N., Van Der Velde N., Van Heemst D., Van Oort F., Vermeulen S., Verweij N., Vonk J., Waite L., Waldenberger M., Wennauer R., Wilkens L., Willenborg C., Wilsgaard T., Wojczynski M., Wong A., Wright A., Zhang Q., Arveiler D., Bakker S., Beilby J., Bergman R., Bergmann S., Biffar R., Blangero J., Boomsma D., Bornstein S., Bovet P., Brambilla P., Brown M., Campbell H., Caulfield M., Chakravarti A., Collins R., Collins F., Crawford D., Cupples L., Danesh J., De Faire U., Den Ruijter H., Erbel R., Erdmann J., Eriksson J., Farrall M., Ferrannini E., Ferrières J., Ford I., Forouhi N., Forrester T., Gansevoort R., Gejman P., Gieger C., Golay A., Gottesman O., Gudnason V., Gyllensten U., Haas D., Hall A., Harris T., Hattersley A., Heath A., Hengstenberg C., Hicks A., Hindorff L., Hingorani A., Hofman A., Hovingh G., Humphries S., Hunt S., Hypponen E., Jacobs K., Jarvelin M., Jousilahti P., Jula A., Kaprio J., Kastelein J., Kayser M., Kee F., Keinanen-Kiukaanniemi S., Kiemeney L., Kooner J., Kooperberg C., Koskinen S., Kovacs P., Kraja A., Kumari M., Kuusisto J., Lakka T., Langenberg C., Le Marchand L., Lehtimäki T., Lupoli S., Madden P., Männistö S., Manunta P., Marette A., Matise T., McKnight B., Meitinger T., Moll F., Montgomery G., Morris A., Morris A., Murray J., Nelis M., Ohlsson C., Oldehinkel A., Ong K., Ouwehand W., Pasterkamp G., Peters A., Pramstaller P., Price J., Qi L., Raitakari O., Rankinen T., Rao D., Rice T., Ritchie M., Rudan I., Salomaa V., Samani N., Saramies J., Sarzynski M., Schwarz P., Sebert S., Sever P., Shuldiner A., Sinisalo J., Steinthorsdottir V., Stolk R., Tardif J., Tönjes A., Tremblay A., Tremoli E., Virtamo J., Vohl M., Amouyel P., Asselbergs F., Assimes T., Bochud M., Boehm B., Boerwinkle E., Bottinger E., Bouchard C., Cauchi S., Chambers J., Chanock S., Cooper R., De Bakker P., Dedoussis G., Ferrucci L., Franks P., Froguel P., Groop L., Haiman C., Hamsten A., Hayes M., Hui J., Hunter D., Hveem K., Jukema J., Kaplan R., Kivimaki M., Kuh D., Laakso M., Liu Y., Martin N., März W., Melbye M., Moebus S., Munroe P., Njølstad I., Oostra B., Palmer C., Pedersen N., Perola M., Pérusse L., Peters U., Powell J., Power C., Quertermous T., Rauramaa R., Reinmaa E., Ridker P., Rivadeneira F., Rotter J., Saaristo T., Saleheen D., Schlessinger D., Slagboom P., Snieder H., Spector T., Strauch K., Stumvoll M., Tuomilehto J., Uusitupa M., Van Der Harst P., Völzke H., Walker M., Wareham N., Watkins H., Wichmann H., Wilson J., Zanen P., Deloukas P., Heid I., Lindgren C., Mohlke K., Speliotes E., Thorsteinsdottir U., Barroso I., Fox C., North K., Strachan D., Beckmann J., Berndt S., Boehnke M., Borecki I., McCarthy M., Metspalu A., Stefansson K., Uitterlinden A., Van Duijn C., Franke L., Willer C., Price A., Lettre G., Loos R., Weedon M., Ingelsson E., O'Connell J., Abecasis G., Chasman D., Goddard M., Visscher P., Hirschhorn J., Frayling T.
(A1 Refereed original research article in a scientific journal)
Depressive Symptoms are Associated with Lower Bone Mineral Density in Young Adults with High Job Strain. The Cardiovascular Risk in Young Finns Study. (2014)
- International Journal of Behavioral Medicine
Oikonen M, Hintsanen M, Laaksonen M, Mikkilä V, Kähönen M, Lehtimäki T, Pulkki-Råback L, Viikari JS, Keltikangas-Järvinen L, Raitakari OT
(A1 Refereed original research article in a scientific journal)
Determinants of exercise peak arterial blood pressure, circulatory power, and exercise cardiac power in a population based sample of Finnish male and female aged 30 to 47 years: the Cardiovascular Risk in Young Finns Study (2014)
- BMC Cardiovascular Disorders
Hulkkonen J, Aatola H, Palve K, Lehtimaki T, Hutri-Kahonen N, Viikari JSA, Raitakari OT, Kahonen M
(A1 Refereed original research article in a scientific journal)
Distribution and medical impact of loss-of-function variants in the Finnish founder population. (2014)
- PLoS Genetics
Lim, Würtz, Havulinna, Palta, Tukiainen, Rehnström, Esko, Mägi, Inouye, Lappalainen, Chan, Salem, Lek, Flannick, Sim, Manning, Ladenvall, Bumpstead, Hämäläinen, Aalto, Maksimow, Salmi, Blankenberg, Ardissino, Shah, Horne, McPherson, Hovingh, Reilly, Watkins, Goel, Farrall, Girelli, Reiner, Stitziel, Kathiresan, Gabriel, Barrett, Lehtimäki, Laakso, Groop, Kaprio, Perola, McCarthy, Boehnke, Altshuler, Lindgren, Hirschhorn, Metspalu, Freimer, Zeller, Jalkanen, Koskinen, Raitakari, Durbin, MacArthur, Salomaa, Ripatti, Daly, Palotie, Sequencing Initiative Suomi (SISu) Project
(A1 Refereed original research article in a scientific journal)
Does Bone Resorption Stimulate Periosteal Expansion? A Cross-Sectional Analysis of b-C-telopeptides of Type I Collagen ( CTX),Genetic Markers of the RANKL Pathway, and Periosteal Circumference as Measured by pQCT (2014)
- Journal of Bone and Mineral Research
Kemp JP, Sayers A, Paternoster L, Evans DM, Deere K, St Pourcain B, Timpson NJ, Ring SM, Lorentzon M, Lehtimaki T, Eriksson J, Kahonen M, Raitakari O, Laaksonen M, Sievanen H, Viikari J, Lyytikainen LP, Smith GD, Fraser WD, Vandenput L, Ohlsson C, Tobias JH
(A1 Refereed original research article in a scientific journal)
Exploring Causality between TV Viewing and Weight Change in Young and Middle-Aged Adults. The Cardiovascular Risk in Young Finns Study (2014)
- PLoS ONE
Helajarvi H, Rosenstrom T, Pahkala K, Kahonen M, Lehtimaki T, Heinonen OJ, Oikonen M, Tammelin T, Viikari JSA, Raitakari OT
(A1 Refereed original research article in a scientific journal)
Exposure to parental smoking in childhood or adolescence is associated with increased carotid intima-media thickness in young adults: evidence from the Cardiovascular Risk in Young Finns study and the Childhood Determinants of Adult Health Study (2014)
- European Heart Journal
Gall S, Huynh QL, Magnussen CG, Juonala M, Viikari JSA, Kahonen M, Dwyer T, Raitakari OT, Venn A
(A1 Refereed original research article in a scientific journal)
Five-Factor Personality Traits and Sleep: Evidence From Two Population-Based Cohort Studies (2014)
- Health Psychology
Hintsanen M., Puttonen S., Smith K., Törnroos M., Jokela M., Pulkki-Råback L., Hintsa T., Merjonen P., Dwyer T., Raitakari O., Venn A., Keltikangas-Järvinen L.
(A1 Refereed original research article in a scientific journal)