M.D., Ph.D., Associate Professor (Docent). Principal Investigator of FinnBrain Neuroimaging Lab Jetro Tuulari - UTU Research Portal

Jetro Tuulari
M.D., Ph.D., Associate Professor (Docent). Principal Investigator of FinnBrain Neuroimaging Lab

- Senior Research Fellow,
Centre for Population Health Research (POP Centre) (Faculty of Medicine)
- 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

+358 29 450 2864

+358 40 828 3978

Kiinamyllynkatu 10

Turku

: 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

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.

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

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.

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.

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Aperiodic parameters of the fMRI power spectrum associate with preterm birth and neonatal age (2026)
- Communications BiologyPediatric Research
Suuronen, Ilkka; Luotonen, Silja; Railo, Henry; Airola, Antti; Bano, Wajiha; Merisaari, Harri; Pulli, Elmo P.; Mariani Wigley, Isabella L. C.; Vartiainen, Elena; Hashempour, Niloofar; Karlsson, Hasse; Karlsson, Linnea; Kringelbach, Morten L.; Batalle, Dafnis; Tuulari, Jetro J.
Investigating the influence of maternal prenatal BMI and perinatal depressive symptoms on neonatal brain network dynamics (2026)
- Pediatric Research
Mariani Wigley, Isabella L. C.; Lautarescu, Alexandra; Vartiainen, Elena; Pulli, Elmo P.; Hashempour, Niloofar; Merisaari, Harri; Bano, Wajiha; Luotonen, Silja; Jolly, Ashmeet; Suuronen, Ilkka; Karlsson, Linnea; Karlsson, Hasse; Cabral, Joana; Kringelbach, Morten L.; Batalle, Dafnis; Edwards, A. David; Tuulari, Jetro J.
Predicting and Explaining Parenting Stress 3 Months After Birth Using Generalized Additive Model (2026)
- CIN: Computers Informatics Nursing
Niela-Vilen, Hannakaisa; Suuronen, Ilkka; Tervahartiala, Katja; Tuulari, Jetro J.; Airola, Antti; Korja, Riikka; Karlsson, Linnea; Karlsson, Hasse
Prenatal Parental Psychosocial Determinants of Neonatal Brain Structure: A Latent Variable Approach in the FinnBrain Birth Cohort (2026)
- Biological Psychiatry: Cognitive Neuroscience and NeuroimagingJournal of Experimental Child Psychology
Kovacs, Boglarka Zsofia; Neumann, Alexander; Pulli, Elmo P.; Kataja, Eeva-Leena; Hashempour, Niloofar; van Houtum, Lisanne A.E.M.; van Uum, Fin; Bijma, Hilmar H.; Merisaari, Harri; Scheinin, Noora M.; Karlsson, Hasse; Karlsson, Linnea; Tuulari, Jetro J.; van Haren, Neeltje E.M.; Nolvi, Saara
Associations between maternal pre-pregnancy BMI and mean diffusivity of the hippocampus and amygdala in infants (2025)
- International Journal of Obesity
Rosberg, Aylin; Merisaari, Harri; Lewis, John D.; Hashempour, Niloofar; Lukkarinen, Minna; Rasmussen, Jerod M.; Scheinin, Noora M.; Karlsson, Linnea; Karlsson, Hasse; Tuulari, Jetro J.
Associations of Leukocyte Telomere Length With Trait Resilience, Adverse Childhood Experiences, and Psychological Distress Among Expecting Parents in the FinnBrain Birth Cohort (2025)
- Biological psychiatry global open science
Mondolin, Viivi; Karlsson, Hasse; Perasto, Laura; Paunio, Tiina; Vitikainen, Emma; Martens, Dries S.; Karlsson, Linnea; Tuulari, Jetro J.; Kataja, Eeva-Leena
Consortium profile: the methylation, imaging and NeuroDevelopment (MIND) consortium (2025)
- Molecular PsychiatryEuropean Psychiatry
Schuurmans, Isabel K.; Mulder, Rosa H.; Baltramonaityte, Vilte; Lahtinen, Alexandra; Qiuyu, Fan; Rothmann, Leonardo Melo; Staginnus, Marlene; Tuulari, Jetro J.; Burt, S. Alexandra; Buss, Claudia; Craig, Jeffrey M.; Donald, Kirsten A.; Eriksson, Johan G.; Felix, Janine F.; Freeman, Tom P.; Grassi-Oliveira, Rodrigo; Huels, Anke; Hyde, Luke W.; Jones, Scott A.; Karlsson, Hasse; Karlsson, Linnea; Koen, Nastassja; Lawn, Will; Mitchell, Colter; Monk, Christopher S.; Mooney, Michael A.; Muetzel, Ryan; Nigg, Joel T.; Belangero, Síntia Iole Nogueira; Notterman, Daniel; Ong, Yi Ying; O’Connor, Tom; O’Donnell, Kieran J.; Pan, Pedro Mario; Paunio, Tiina; Ryabinin, Peter; Saffery, Richard; Salum, Giovanni A.; Seal, Marc; Silk, Tim J.; Stein, Dan J.; Tan, Ai Peng; Teh, Ai Ling; Wang, Dennis; Zar, Heather; Walton, Esther; Cecil, Charlotte A. M.
Exposure to childhood maltreatment is associated with specific epigenetic patterns in sperm (2025)
- Molecular Psychiatry
Tuulari, Jetro J.; Bourgery, Matthieu; Iversen, Jo; Koefoed, Thomas Gade; Ahonen, Annukka; Ahmedani, Ammar; Kataja, Eeva-Leena; Karlsson, Linnea; Barrès, Romain; Karlsson, Hasse; Kotaja, Noora
Gestational diabetes mellitus and children's social-emotional development, behavioral problems, and psychological adjustment (2025)
Mattila, Inka; Nolvi, Saara; Kataja, Eeva-Leena; Tuulari, Jetro J.; Korja, Riikka; Scheinin, Noora M.; Kaaja, Risto; Karlsson, Hasse; Ekholm, Eeva; Karlsson, Linnea
Gestational Duration and Postnatal Age-Related Changes in Aperiodic and Periodic Parameters in Neonatal and Toddler Electroencephalogram (EEG) (2025)
- Human Brain Mapping
Luotonen, Silja; Railo, Henry; Acosta, Henriette; Huotilainen, Minna; Lavonius, Maria; Karlsson, Linnea; Karlsson, Hasse; Tuulari, Jetro J.
Measuring adverse childhood experiences by interviewing children at 9 and 10 years of age : Prevalence, concordance with mother-reports, posttraumatic stress disorder symptoms, and subjective experience of being asked about adverse childhood experiences in FinnBrain Birth cohort study (2025)
Kataja, Eeva-Leena; Tuulari, Jetro J.; Karlsson, Linnea; Sinisalo, Susanne; Autere, Tuomo-Artturi; Perasto, Laura; Juusola, Aino; Salama, Essi; Aatsinki, Anna-Katariina; Karlsson, Hasse
Paternal adverse childhood experiences and offspring’s attentional disengagement from faces at 8 months—Results from the FinnBrain Birth Cohort StudyThe FinnBrain multimodal neonatal template and atlas collection (2025)
- PLoS ONECommunications Biology
Klimek, Magdalena; Karlsson, Hasse; Karlsson, Linnea; Korja, Riikka; Nolvi, Saara; Häikiö, Tuomo; Tuulari, Jetro J.; Kataja, Eeva-Leena
Pre- and postnatal maternal depressive symptoms associated with local connectivity of the left amygdala in 5-year-olds (2025)
Vartiainen, Elena; Copeland, Anni; Pulli, Elmo P.; Kumpulainen, Venla; Silver, Eero; Rajasilta, Olli; Jolly, Ashmeet; Luotonen, Silja; Audah, Hilyatushalihah K.; Hashempour, Niloofar; Bano, Wajiha; Suuronen, Ilkka; Saukko, Ekaterina; Häkkinen, Suvi; Karlsson, Hasse; Karlsson, Linnea; Tuulari, Jetro J.
Prenatal exposure to perfluoroalkyl substances predicts multimodal brain structural and functional outcomes in children aged 5 years: a birth cohort studyAssociations Between Prenatal Exposure to Maternal Diabetes and Obesity and Newborn Subcortical Volumes (2025)
- The Lancet Planetary Health
Barron, Aaron; Dickens, Alex M; Tuulari, Jetro J; Hyötylainen, Tuulia; Kortesluoma, Susanna; Merisaari, Harri; Pulli, Elmo P; Silver, Eero; Kumpulainen, Venla; Copeland, Anni; Saukko, Ekaterina; Lewis, John D; Karlsson, Linnea; Orešič, Matej; Karlsson, Hasse
Prenatal Substance Exposure and Obesity: Trajectories of Tri-Ponderal Mass Index in Early Adolescence (2025)
- American Journal of Preventive Medicine
Li, Ru; Wigley, Isabella Mariani; Suuronen, Ilkka; Jolly, Ashmeet; Tuulari, Jetro J
Sex-specific associations between maternal prenatal inflammation and offspring cortical morphology in youth: A harmonised study across four birth cohorts (2025)
- Brain, Behavior, and Immunity
Niskanen, Anni; Barron, Aaron; Azaryah, Hatim; Kerkelä, Martta; Pulli, Elmo; Tuulari, Jetro J.; Lukkarinen, Minna; Karlsson, Linnea; Muetzel, Ryan L.; Campoy, Cristina; Catena, Andrés; Tiemeier, Henning; Khandaker, Golam M.; Karlsson, Hasse; Veijola, Juha; Björnholm, Lassi
(2025)
Tuulari Jetro J.; Rosberg Aylin; Pulli Elmo P.; Hashempour Niloofar; Ukharova Elena; Lidauer Kristian; Jolly Ashmeet; Luotonen Silja; Audah Hilyatushalihah K.; Vartiainen Elena; Bano Wajiha; Suuronen Ilkka; Mariani Wigley Isabella L. C.; Fonov Vladimir S.; Collins D. Louis; Merisaari Harri; Karlsson Linnea; Karlsson Hasse; Lewis John D.
Associations between maternal pre-pregnancy BMI and infant striatal mean diffusivity (2024)
- BMC Medicine
Rosberg, Aylin; Merisaari, Harri; Lewis, John D.; Hashempour, Niloofar; Lukkarinen, Minna; Rasmussen, Jerod M.; Scheinin, Noora M.; Karlsson, Linnea; Karlsson, Hasse; Tuulari, Jetro J.
(2024)
- Biological Psychiatry
Luo, Shan; Alex, Ann; Rasmussen, Jerod; Tuulari, Jetro J.; Sigurdardottir, Julie; Buss, Claudia; Donald, Kirsten A.; Edwards, David; Gilmore, John; Karlsson, Hasse; Stein, Dan J.; Styner, Martin; de los Campos, Gustavo; Thompson, Paul M.; Knickmeyer, Rebecca; On behalf of the ENIGMA-ORIGINs Working Group
Implementing ABCD study ® MRI sequences for multi-site cohort studies: practical guide to necessary steps, preprocessing methods, and challenges (2024)
- MethodsX
Bano, Wajiha; Pulli, Elmo; Cantonas, Lucia; Sorsa, Aino; Hämäläinen, Jarmo; Karlsson, Hasse; Karlsson,
Linnea; Saukko, Ekaterina; Sainio, Teija; Peuna, Arttu; Korja, Riikka; Aro, Mikko; Leppänen, Paavo H.T.; Tuulari, Jetro J.; Merisaari, Harri