M.D., Ph.D., Associate Professor (Docent) Jetro Tuulari - UTU Research Portal

Jetro Tuulari
M.D., Ph.D., Associate Professor (Docent)

- Doctoral Researcher,
Department of Computing (Faculty of Technology)
- Docent,
Department of Clinical Medicine (Faculty of Medicine)

Turku Collegium for science and medicine

jjtuul@utu.fi

ORCID identifier: https://orcid.org/https://orcid.org/0000-0002-1797-8000

Web page of me and our research group

FinnBrain Birth Cohort study

InterLearn Center of Excellence

Areas of expertise

Neuroscience, Brain development, Obesity, Pleasure in the brain, Eating, Exercise, Social touch, Neuroimaging, Magnetic resonance imaging (MRI, fMRI, dMRI), Positron emission tomography (PET). Connectomics, Whole brain modelling. Emerging expertise in population neuroscience.

Research community or research topic

We study how early life exposures, genes and environment shape the brain structure, brain function and how these relate to health and wellbeing.

Biography

After getting an M.D. degree in 2014, I defended my awarded PhD thesis on the brain changes of morbid obesity and weight loss surgery in 2015 and received Associate professorship (Title of Docent) in Cognitive Neuroscience in 2018. I am currently Principal Investigator of the FinnBrain Neuroimaging Lab and the work is related to solving the mysteries of the developing brain. I was the director of Turku Brain and Mind Center 2023 - 2025. As of May 2026 my research continues in the Auria Biobank, but I maintain close ties to UTU through FinnBrain and I take part as a senior consultant for InterLearn CoE, Right2Belong project, Turku Brain and Mind Center, and many other parties.

Research

Teaching

I am an enthusiastic techer and teaching development is close to my heard. I have taken part in multiple awarded pedagogical development projects relating to learning material development, student feedback, and peer-assisted learning. I have wide mentoring and tutoring expertise from undergraduate students to post doctoral fellows.

I have had seminal role in the launch of Human Neuroscience Master's Programme at the Turku Brain and Mind Center, and I served as the head of the programme 2023-2025.

Publications

9 of 13

A Novel Approach for Manual Segmentation of the Amygdala and Hippocampus in Neonate MRI (2019)
- Frontiers in Neuroscience
Niloofar Hashempour, Jetro J. Tuulari, Harri Merisaari, Kristian Lidauer, Iiris Luukkonen, Jani Saunavaara, Riitta Parkkola, Tuire Lähdesmäki, Satu J. Lehtola, Maria Keskinen, John D. Lewis, Noora M. Scheinin, Linnea Karlsson, Hasse Karlsson
(A1 Refereed original research article in a scientific journal)
Associations of age and sex with brain volumes and asymmetry in 2–5-week-old infants (2019)
- Brain Structure and Function
S. J. Lehtola, J. J. Tuulari, L. Karlsson, R. Parkkola, H. Merisaari, J. Saunavaara, T. Lähdesmäki, N. M. Scheinin, H. Karlsson
(A1 Refereed original research article in a scientific journal)
Hemodynamic responses to emotional speech in two-month-old infants imaged using diffuse optical tomography (2019)
- Scientific Reports
Shekhar S, Maria A, Kotilahti K, Huotilainen M, Heiskala J, Tuulari JT, Hirvi P, Karlsson L, Karlsson H, Nissilä I
(A1 Refereed original research article in a scientific journal)
Larger Newborn Left Amygdala Volume Predicts Poorer Working Memory in Toddlerhood (2019)
- Biological Psychiatry
Nolvi S, Tuulari JJ, Eskola E, Scheinin NM, Lehtola S, Keskinen M, Merisaari H, Saunavaara J, Korja R, Bridgett DJ, Parkkola R, Karlsson L, Karlsson H
(Other publication)
Maternal Pregnancy-Related Anxiety Is Associated With Sexually Dimorphic Alterations in Amygdala Volume in 4-Year-Old Children (2019)
- Frontiers in Behavioral Neuroscience
Henriette Acosta, Jetro J. Tuulari, Noora M. Scheinin, Niloofar Hashempour, Olli Rajasilta, Tuomas I. Lavonius, Juho Pelto, Virva Saunavaara, Riitta Parkkola, Tuire Lähdesmäki, Linnea Karlsson, Hasse Karlsson
(A1 Refereed original research article in a scientific journal)
Neural correlates of gentle skin stroking in early infancy (2019)
- Developmental Cognitive Neuroscience
Jetro J.Tuulari, Noora M.Scheinin, Satu Lehtola, Harri Merisaari, Jani Saunavaara, Riitta Parkkola, Isac Sehlstedt, Linnea Karlsson, Hasse Karlsson, Malin Björnsdotter
(A1 Refereed original research article in a scientific journal)
Paternal early life stress and newborn brain development (2019)
- Psychotherapy and Psychosomatics
Karlsson H, Merisaari H, Karlsson L, Scheinin NM, Parkkola R, Saunavaara J, Lahdesmaki T, Lehtola SJ, Keskinen M, Pelto J, Lewis JD, Tuulari JJ
(Other publication)
Prenatal exposures and infant brain: Review of magnetic resonance imaging studies and a population description analysis (2019)
- Human Brain Mapping
Pulli E.P., Kumpulainen V., Kasurinen J.H., Korja R., Merisaari H., Karlsson L., Parkkola R., Saunavaara J., Lähdesmäki T., Scheinin N.M., Karlsson H., Tuulari J.J.
(A2 Refereed review article in a scientific journal )
Prenatal maternal distress associates with a blunted cortisol response in rhinovirus-positive infants (2019)
- Psychoneuroendocrinology
Korhonen L., Kortesluoma S., Lukkarinen M., Peltola V., Pesonen H., Pelto J., Tuulari J., Lukkarinen H., Vuorinen T., Karlsson H., Karlsson L.
(A1 Refereed original research article in a scientific journal)
Test-retest reliability of Diffusion Tensor Imaging metrics in neonates (2019)
- NeuroImage
Merisaari H., Tuulari J.J., Karlsson L., Scheinin N.M., Parkkola R., Saunavaara J., Lähdesmäki T., Lehtola S.J., Keskinen M., Lewis J.D., Evans A.C., Karlsson H.
(A1 Refereed original research article in a scientific journal)