Page 12 - FIMM_Brochure_2022

Research Director
Jaakko Kaprio
Academy Professor, M.D.
Ph.D. Jaakko Kaprio is an in-
ternationally-recognised and
distinguished researcher who
has played a key role both in
collecting several Finnish twin addiction, obesity, mental well-being, physical activity, sleep,
cohorts for the University of
Helsinki and in planning the
long-term follow-up studies of
the twins. In addition, he has
contributed to multiple other
epidemiological projects. He
has served as a Professor of
Genetic Epidemiology in the
Department of Public Health,
University of Helsinki from
2001 to 2020. He has worked
as a Visiting Scientist in the
USA and Canada in several
universities. During 2007–2011
he was the Director of the
Academy of Finland Centre of
Excellence in Complex Disease
Genetics and during 2015–2017
the Director of FIMM. From
2013 to 2017, he held a Profes- his team aim to revolutionise the existing methods of primary prevention. They will
sorship of the Academy of
Finland. In 2022, he was
awarded the Finnish Cultural
Foundation Annual Prize and
elected to Academia Euro-
paea.
12 |
GDPorapataunldSactCiioehnnaclHeleefnaoglrteh:
This Grand Challenge programme examines genetic and environ-
mental determinants of common, complex diseases and their
behavioural risk factors with modern ‘omics approaches. At the
centre of this Grand Challenge programme is a drive to resolve
the causality for observed associations with key outcomes,
highly relevant for public health, such as substance use and
and cognition are the primary focus in this programme.
The primary datasets used are Finnish population-based cohorts, particularly those
cohorts with follow-up of outcomes and repeated measures through longitudinal
studies. In these datasets phenotypes are richly annotated with detailed exposure and
risk information.
Examples of datasets used include GeneRisk, Finnrisk, Health2000/2011 and Finnish
Twin Cohorts. Secondary datasets from comparable studies outside of Finland,
such as UK Biobank, HUNT, ALSPAC and others, allow for replication studies and
meta-analyses. Whole population analyses, without genetic information, linking
register-based exposures and disease outcomes provide context and generate new
hypotheses.
Andrea Ganna’s ERC Starting Grant
Cardiovascular diseases are the leading cause of death in Finland and in Europe. Given
that effective pharmacological and lifestyle interventions are available, it is impor-
tant to identify high-risk individuals at an early stage. With this grant, Dr. Ganna and
use AI approaches to integrate nationwide health data and genetic information with
the goal to predict cardiometabolic diseases before an individual even steps into the
doctor’s office for a visit. The project leverages the latest developments in AI and high-
quality national Finnish health data to deliver a paradigm shift with important public
health consequences by changing the way cardiometabolic disease risk is assessed.
FIMM – Building a Bridge from Discovery to Medicine