Professor Harri Niinikoski graduated from the Medical School at the University of Turku
in 1991, where he also specialized in Pediatrics in 2000 and received
subspecialty in Pediatric Endocrinology in 2006. He defended his thesis on prevention
of cardiovascular risk factors in childhood in 1997 (The STRIP study). He did
his post-doc training at the Childhood Nutrition Research Center at the Baylor
School of Medicine, Houston, Texas, in 2001-2003. Subsequently, he worked as a
Senior Clinical Researcher and Clinical Lecturer at the Department of Pediatrics,
University of Turku, and in 2011-2015 as the Head of the Division of Pediatric
Care in Turku University Hospital. From 2015, he has been Professor of Nutrition
in Medicine

Professor Harri Niinikoski’s research interest focus on primary prevention of
cardiovascular disease, and childhood nutrition, endocrinology and metabolism.
Moreover, he has been closely involved in launching the neonatal metabolic
screening program which started in Finland in 2015.

Main research projects are 1) The STRIP study (The Special Turku coronary risk
factor Intervention Project) which started in 1990 and involved 1062 infants
which were randomized into nutrition an intervention or a control group. He is deputy P.I. in STRIP; 2) DIARA2 study which involves 317 children (217 in
Turku, 100 in Oulu) whose mothers were treated with either metformin or insulin
due to gestational diabetes. The children are now thoroughly investigated at 9
years of age; 3) LPI study. Lysinuric protein intolerance (LPI) is a rare
metabolic disease which belongs to the Finnish disease heritage. There are
approx. 50 Finnish patients who are annually studied at the Turku University
Hospital pediatric metabolic outpatient clinic; 4) Congenital
hypothyroidism study. CH has been screened in Finland since 1980, affects
1:2000 newborns and is treated with thyroxine. The outcome of the treatment of
CH is investigated in national CH study which is launched in 2018.

In 2006-2010, Harri Niinikoski worked as a full-time teacher of pediatrics at the
Department of Pediatrics, University of Turku.