Laura Toivonen
MD, MSc, PhD, Adjunct Professor
Department of Paediatrics and Adolescent Medicine ljheik@utu.fi ORCID identifier: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-6183-9860(external) |
Pediatrics; Respiratory infections; Bronchiolitis; Asthma; Airway microbiome, Microbiome; Metabolome; Rhinovirus; RSV
Laura Toivonen, MD, MSc, PhD, is an Academy of Finland Clinical Researcher and pediatrician at the Department of Paediatrics and Adolescent Medicine at Turku University Hospital and University of Turku. She received her MD and PhD from University of Turku and MSc in Epidemiology (Clinical Epidemiology) degree from Harvard University. She completed her residency in pediatrics at Turku University Hospital. She completed her postdoctoral research fellowship at Massachusetts General Hospital and Harvard Medical School in Boston (2017-2020).
Dr. Toivonen is an active clinician-scientist and works currently in the Finnish prospective birth-cohort study, the STEPS Study. The main focus of her research is to investigate early-life risk factors for respiratory infections, allergies and asthma. The current projects focus especially on respiratory and fecal microbiome and metabolome and the risk of respiratory infections and development of asthma. The aim is to improve public health through clinical and translational research projects in pediatrics.
Ten most important publications:
van Meel ER, Mensink-Bout SM, den Dekker HT,..., Toivonen L, Uphoff E, Usemann J, Vafeidi M,Wright J, de Jongste JC, Jaddoe VWV, Duijits L. Early-life respiratory tract infections and the risk of school-age lower lung function and asthma: a meta-analysis of 150,000 European children. Eur Respir J. 2022, In press.
Toivonen L, Schuez-Havupalo L, Karppinen S, et al. Antibiotic treatments during infancy, changes in nasal microbiota, and asthma development: Population-based cohort study. Clin Infect Dis. 2021;72(9):1546-54.
Raita Y*, Toivonen L*, Schuez-Havupalo L, Karppinen S, Waris M, Hoffman K, Camargo CA Jr., Peltola V, Hasegawa K. Maturation of nasal microbiota and antibiotic exposures during early childhood: Population-based cohort study. Clin Microbiol Infect. 2021;27(2):283.e1-283.e7. *First authors
Toivonen L, Karppinen S, Schuez-Havupalo L, Waris M, He Q, Hoffman KL, Petrosino JF, Dumas O, Camargo CA Jr., Hasegawa K, Peltola V. Longitudinal changes in early nasal microbiota and the risk of childhood asthma. Pediatrics.2020;146(4):e20200421
Toivonen L, Karppinen S, Schuez-Havupalo L, Teros-Jaakkola T, Mertsola J, Waris M, Peltola V. Respiratory syncytial virus infections in children 0-24 months of age in the community. J Infect. 2020;80(1):69-75.
Toivonen L, Camargo CA Jr., Gern JE, Bochkov YA, Mansbach JM, Piedra PA, Hasegawa K. Association between rhinovirus species and nasopharyngeal microbiota in infants with severe bronchiolitis. J Allergy Clin Immunol. 2019;143(5):1925-1928.e7.
Toivonen L, Forsström V, Waris M, Peltola V. Acute respiratory infections in early childhood and risk of asthma at 7 years of age. J Allergy Clin Immunol. 2019;143:407-410.e6.
Toivonen L, Hasegawa, K, Waris M, Ajami NJ, Petrosino JF, Camargo CA Jr., Peltola V. Early nasal microbiota and acute respiratory infections during the first years of life. Thorax. 2019;74(6):592-599.
Toivonen L, Hasegawa K, Ajami NJ, Celedón JC, Mansbach JM, Petrosino JF, Camargo CA Jr. Circulating 25-hydroxyvitamin D, nasopharyngeal microbiota, and bronchiolitis severity. Pediatr Allergy Immunol. 2018;29(8):877-880.
Toivonen L, Schuez-Havupalo L, Karppinen S, Teros-Jaakkola T, Rulli M, Mertsola J, Waris M, and Peltola V. Rhinovirus infections in the first 2 years of life. Pediatrics. 2016;138:e20161309.
- Acute respiratory infections in early childhood and risk of asthma at age 7 years (2019)
- Journal of Allergy and Clinical ImmunologyVaccine
(A1 Refereed original research article in a scientific journal) - Association between rhinovirus species and nasopharyngeal microbiota in infants with severe bronchiolitis (2019)
- Journal of Allergy and Clinical Immunology
(B1 Non-refereed article in a scientific journal) - Early nasal microbiota and acute respiratory infections during the first years of life (2019)
- Thorax
(A1 Refereed original research article in a scientific journal) - Effectiveness of the ten-valent pneumococcal Haemophilus influenzae protein D conjugate vaccine (PHiD-CV10) against all respiratory tract infections in children under two years of age (2019)
(A1 Refereed original research article in a scientific journal) - Influenza virus infections from 0 to 2 years of age: A birth cohort studyRespiratory Tract Infections and Voice Quality in 4-Year-old Children in the STEPS Study (2019)
- Journal of Microbiology, Immunology and InfectionJournal of Voice
(A1 Refereed original research article in a scientific journal) - Recurrent respiratory tract infections or acute otitis media were not a risk factor for vocabulary development in children at 13 and 24 months of ageRhinovirus Species in Children With Severe Bronchiolitis Multicenter Cohort Studies in the United States and Finland (2019)
- Acta PaediatricaPediatric Infectious Disease Journal
(A1 Refereed original research article in a scientific journal) - (2019)
(A1 Refereed original research article in a scientific journal) - (2019)
(A1 Refereed original research article in a scientific journal) - Circulating 25-hydroxyvitamin D, nasopharyngeal microbiota, and bronchiolitis severity (2018)
- Pediatric Allergy and Immunology
(B1 Non-refereed article in a scientific journal) - Parents' depression and loneliness during pregnancy and respiratory infections in the offspring: A prospective birth cohort study. (2018)
- PLoS ONE
(A1 Refereed original research article in a scientific journal) - Relapse Among Infants Hospitalized for Bronchiolitis in Finland (2018)
- Pediatric Infectious Disease Journal
(A1 Refereed original research article in a scientific journal) - Daycare attendance and respiratory tract infections: A prospective birth cohort study (2017)
- BMJ Open
(A1 Refereed original research article in a scientific journal) - Detection of Host Response to Viral Respiratory Infection by Measurement of Messenger RNA for MxA, TRIM21, and Viperin in Nasal Swabs (2017)
- Journal of Infectious Diseases
(A1 Refereed original research article in a scientific journal) - Polymorphisms of Mannose-Binding Lectin and Toll-Like Receptors 2, 3, 4, 7, and 8 and the Risk of Respiratory Infections and Acute Otitis Media in Children (2017)
- Pediatric Infectious Disease Journal
(A1 Refereed original research article in a scientific journal) - Burden of Recurrent Respiratory Tract Infections in Children: A Prospective Cohort Study (2016)
- Pediatric Infectious Disease Journal
(A1 Refereed original research article in a scientific journal) - Can stored MariPOC test swabs be used for culture purpose? (2016)
- APMIS
(B1 Non-refereed article in a scientific journal) - Interference between respiratory syncytial virus and rhinovirus in respiratory tract infections in children (2016)
- Clinical Microbiology and Infection
(A1 Refereed original research article in a scientific journal) - Prospective clinical and serological follow-up in early childhood reveals a high rate of subclinical RSV infection and a relatively high reinfection rate within the first 3 years of life (2016)
- Epidemiology and Infection
(A1 Refereed original research article in a scientific journal) - Rhinovirus Infections in the First 2 Years of Life (2016)
- Pediatrics
(A1 Refereed original research article in a scientific journal) - Rhinovirus infections in young children: Clinical manifestations, susceptibility, and host response (2016) Toivonen Laura
(G5 Article dissertation )