Juha Mykkänen
Dosentti (Adjunct professor)
Areas of expertise
cardiovascular and metabolic risk factors; metabolic disease; obesity; insulin resistance and type 2 diabetes; molecular genetics and genomics; metabolomics; transcriptomics; omics data analysis; statistics; type 1 diabetes; lysinuric protein intolerance; research project planning
cardiovascular and metabolic risk factors; metabolic disease; obesity; insulin resistance and type 2 diabetes; molecular genetics and genomics; metabolomics; transcriptomics; omics data analysis; statistics; type 1 diabetes; lysinuric protein intolerance; research project planning
Biography
EDUCATION AND DEGREES
2015 Adjunct professor (docent) of Molecular genetics, University of Turku (UTU)
2003 PhD, Medical genetics, UTU
1998 MSc, Genetics, UTU
CURRENT POSITION
Senior scientist, Research Centre of Applied and Preventive Cardiovascular Medicine, Medical Faculty, UTU
PAST POSITIONS
2009 – 2015 Senior scientist, Finnish Type 1 Diabetes Prediction and Prevention (DIPP) study, Department of Paediatrics and Adolescent Medicine, Turku University Hospital (TUH)
2005 – 2008 Academy of Finland Post-doctoral Researcher, Turku Centre for Biotechnology, UTU
2003 – 2008 Post-doctoral researcher, Turku Centre for Biotechnology, UTU
1998 – 2003 Post-graduate (PhD) training, Department of Medical Genetics, UTU
2000 – 2002 Part-time teacher, Department of Biology, UTU
1998 – 1999 Assistant (8 months), Department of Medical Genetics, UTU
1995 – 1997 Part-time research assistant, Department of Medical Genetics, UTU
EDUCATION AND DEGREES
2015 Adjunct professor (docent) of Molecular genetics, University of Turku (UTU)
2003 PhD, Medical genetics, UTU
1998 MSc, Genetics, UTU
CURRENT POSITION
Senior scientist, Research Centre of Applied and Preventive Cardiovascular Medicine, Medical Faculty, UTU
PAST POSITIONS
2009 – 2015 Senior scientist, Finnish Type 1 Diabetes Prediction and Prevention (DIPP) study, Department of Paediatrics and Adolescent Medicine, Turku University Hospital (TUH)
2005 – 2008 Academy of Finland Post-doctoral Researcher, Turku Centre for Biotechnology, UTU
2003 – 2008 Post-doctoral researcher, Turku Centre for Biotechnology, UTU
1998 – 2003 Post-graduate (PhD) training, Department of Medical Genetics, UTU
2000 – 2002 Part-time teacher, Department of Biology, UTU
1998 – 1999 Assistant (8 months), Department of Medical Genetics, UTU
1995 – 1997 Part-time research assistant, Department of Medical Genetics, UTU
Research
I have dedicated my whole career on human health related research. This started already during my pre-graduate stage when I was working in Adjunct professor Jaana Lähdetie's research group at the Department of Medical Genetics (UTU) studying sperm aneuploidy of testicular cancer patients treated with radiotherapy. After my M.Sc., I familiarized with molecular genetics of hereditary diseases in children. In my doctoral dissertation I studied the molecular genetics of hereditary lysinuric protein intolerance (LPI) disease under the guidance Prof. emeritus of Pertti Aula at the Medical Genetics department. During this time I familiarized with various methods of human genomics and the so-called Finnish disease heritage.
During my post-doc studies, I moved to the Turku Centre for Biotechnology (UTU) to study the development of Type 1 diabetes as part of the Finnish DIPP study. During this time, I studied of Type 1 diabetes, molecular immunology and various genomic biomedical research methods such genome-wide microarrays. During the post-doc period I was a post-doctoral researcher of the Academy of Finland, the subject of the Molecular Markers of Type 1 diabetes, where biospecimens collected from DIPP children were analysed using various microarray platforms (in-house cDNA, Affymetrix and Illumina) in order to find genes or gene networks that change early in the course of Type 1 diabetes development.
The third phase of my research career began in 2009 as a senior researcher at the DIPP Research Clinic (Department of Paediatrics and Adolescent Medicine, TUH) led by Prof. emeritus Olli Simell. My research interest was to dissect and identify factors that modulate the risk for Type 1 diabetes related autoimmunity.
The fourth phase of my research career started in March 2015 as a senior researcher in The Cardiovascular Risk in Young Finns Study (YFS) coordinated by Academy Professor Olli Raitakari at the Research Centre of Applied and Preventive Cardiovascular Medicine (UTU), where risk factors for cardiovascular and metabolic diseases are studied in great detail. The main aim of my current research is to dissect the complex interplay of human genome, transcriptome and metabolome with risk factors of cardiovascular and metabolic diseases, both in cross-sectional and longitudinal settings, to increase our understanding of pathophysiology of cardiovascular and metabolic diseases.
I have dedicated my whole career on human health related research. This started already during my pre-graduate stage when I was working in Adjunct professor Jaana Lähdetie's research group at the Department of Medical Genetics (UTU) studying sperm aneuploidy of testicular cancer patients treated with radiotherapy. After my M.Sc., I familiarized with molecular genetics of hereditary diseases in children. In my doctoral dissertation I studied the molecular genetics of hereditary lysinuric protein intolerance (LPI) disease under the guidance Prof. emeritus of Pertti Aula at the Medical Genetics department. During this time I familiarized with various methods of human genomics and the so-called Finnish disease heritage.
During my post-doc studies, I moved to the Turku Centre for Biotechnology (UTU) to study the development of Type 1 diabetes as part of the Finnish DIPP study. During this time, I studied of Type 1 diabetes, molecular immunology and various genomic biomedical research methods such genome-wide microarrays. During the post-doc period I was a post-doctoral researcher of the Academy of Finland, the subject of the Molecular Markers of Type 1 diabetes, where biospecimens collected from DIPP children were analysed using various microarray platforms (in-house cDNA, Affymetrix and Illumina) in order to find genes or gene networks that change early in the course of Type 1 diabetes development.
The third phase of my research career began in 2009 as a senior researcher at the DIPP Research Clinic (Department of Paediatrics and Adolescent Medicine, TUH) led by Prof. emeritus Olli Simell. My research interest was to dissect and identify factors that modulate the risk for Type 1 diabetes related autoimmunity.
The fourth phase of my research career started in March 2015 as a senior researcher in The Cardiovascular Risk in Young Finns Study (YFS) coordinated by Academy Professor Olli Raitakari at the Research Centre of Applied and Preventive Cardiovascular Medicine (UTU), where risk factors for cardiovascular and metabolic diseases are studied in great detail. The main aim of my current research is to dissect the complex interplay of human genome, transcriptome and metabolome with risk factors of cardiovascular and metabolic diseases, both in cross-sectional and longitudinal settings, to increase our understanding of pathophysiology of cardiovascular and metabolic diseases.
Teaching
Currently I supervise advanced studies or thesis in (bio)medicine.
Publications 
4 of 5
- (2014)
- Journal of Clinical Endocrinology and MetabolismInternational Journal of ObesityPublic Health Nutrition
(A1 Refereed original research article in a scientific journal) - Bacteroides dorei dominates gut microbiome prior to autoimmunity in Finnish children at high risk for type 1 diabetesCord Serum Lipidome in Prediction of Islet Autoimmunity and Type 1 Diabetes (2014)
- Frontiers in microbiologyDiabetes
(A1 Refereed original research article in a scientific journal) - Biomarker discovery study design for type 1 diabetes in The Environmental Determinants of Diabetes in the Young (TEDDY) study.Genome-wide comparison of two RNA-stabilizing reagents for transcriptional profiling of peripheral blood2014
- Diabetes/Metabolism Research and ReviewsTranslational Research
(A1 Refereed original research article in a scientific journal) - Children followed in the TEDDY study are diagnosed with type 1 diabetes at an early stage of disease. (2014)
- Pediatric Diabetes
(A1 Refereed original research article in a scientific journal) - Factors Associated With Maternal-Reported Actions to Prevent Type 1 Diabetes in the First Year of the TEDDY StudyInteractions of y+LAT1 and 4F2hc in the y+L amino acid transporter complex – consequences of lysinuric protein intolerance-causing mutations (2014)
- Diabetes CareGeneral Physiology and Biophysics
(A1 Refereed original research article in a scientific journal) - Innate immune activity is detected prior to seroconversion in children with HLA-conferred type 1 diabetes susceptibility.Transcriptomic Changes Detected Prior to Seroconversion in Children with HLA-Conferred Type 1 Diabetes Susceptibility2014
- Diabetes
(A1 Refereed original research article in a scientific journal) - Prevalence of obesity was related to HLA-DQ in 2-4-year-old children at genetic risk for type 1 diabetes (2014)
(A1 Refereed original research article in a scientific journal) - Risk of pediatric celiac disease according to HLA haplotype and country. (2014)
- New England Journal of MedicineEmerging Infectious Diseases
(A1 Refereed original research article in a scientific journal) - (2013)
(A1 Refereed original research article in a scientific journal) - (2013)
(A1 Refereed original research article in a scientific journal) - Insulin resistance, beta cell function and the effect of non-HLA genetic variants in Finnish DIPP study children with HLA-conferred risk for type 1 diabetes (2013)
- Diabetologia
(Other publication) - (2013)
(A1 Refereed original research article in a scientific journal) - (2013)
- Scandinavian Journal of ImmunologyBiochemical and Biophysical Research Communications
(Other publication) - Use of dietary supplements in pregnant women in relation to sociodemographic factors - a report from The Environmental Determinants of Diabetes in the Young (TEDDY) study (2013)
(A1 Refereed original research article in a scientific journal) - Association of Human Bocavirus 1 Infection with Respiratory Disease in Childhood Follow-up Study, Finland (2012)
(A1 Refereed original research article in a scientific journal) - Exploring the transcriptomic variation caused by the Finnish founder mutation of lysinuric protein intolerance (LPI) (2012)
- Molecular Genetics and Metabolism
(A1 Refereed original research article in a scientific journal) - Early suppression of immune response pathways characterizes children with prediabetes in genome-wide gene expression profiling (2010)
- Journal of Autoimmunity
(A1 Refereed original research article in a scientific journal) - Heterodimerization of y(+)LAT-1 and 4F2hc visualized by acceptor photobleaching FRET microscopy (2007)
- BBA - Biomembranes
(A1 Refereed original research article in a scientific journal) - Two alternative promoters regulate the expression of lysinuric protein intolerance gene SLC7A7 (2007)
- Molecular Genetics and Metabolism
(A1 Refereed original research article in a scientific journal) - Promoter analysis of the human SLC7A7 gene encoding y(+)L amino acid transporter-1 (y(+)LAT-1) (2003)
(A1 Refereed original research article in a scientific journal)
UTU Research Portal