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Research Director HfGoruramHnadenaClGthheaanlnloedmngices:
Aarno Palotie Disease
Professor Aarno Palotie is The increasing capacity to determine the complete genetic and
the Research Director of the molecular makeup of an individual is changing the way we un-
Human Genomics Programme derstand and treat disease. Finland is capitalising on its unique
at FIMM. He is also a faculty opportunity to be at the forefront of this rapidly developing
member at the Center for field.
Human Genome Research at
the Massachusetts General The Finnish population is one of the most studied, genetically, in the world. A rela-
Hospital in Boston and at the tively small number of founder individuals and strong genetic isolation over centuries
Broad Institute of MIT and have shaped the unique genetic makeup across the country that we are now utilising
Harvard. His own research heavily in studies of diseases and traits.
is focused on the genetic
mechanisms underlying The overarching goals of this Grand Challenge programme are two-fold:
common neurological and
neuropsychiatric diseases, 1. Building a platform that integrates genomic and health outcome data from
such as migraine, intellectual
disability and schizophrenia. the Finnish national health registries and biobanks into a globally unique and
He is the Scientific Director of scientifically valuable data resource.
the ambitious FinnGen study.
He has significantly con- 2. Using that platform and innovative, analytic approaches across the data types,
tributed to Finnish biobank
and genome legislation and to identify drivers of human health and disease.
become a devoted spokesper-
son for the value of Finnish Meeting these goals enables better public health recommendations, clinically-useful
health registries and biobanks diagnostics and prediction tools and new genetically-validated targets for therapeu-
in genetics research and drug tic development.
development.
Human genomics researchers at FIMM spearhead the construction of large-scale
6| genetic resources and development and implementation of advanced statistical
methods. Such resources create diverse opportunities for research and clinical trans-
lation in our local community, and help drive gene discovery efforts and the field of
human genetics forward globally.
The disease areas of interest for the human genomics research groups cover common
and rare forms of cardiovascular disease, type 2 diabetes, immune disorders, neu-
rological diseases, neuropsychiatric diseases, and traits of high relevance for public
health such as addiction and substance abuse, obesity, sleep and cognition.
The Finnish SUPER study
The Finnish SUPER study on genetic mechanisms of psychotic disorders is part of the
international Stanley Global Neuropsychiatric Genomics Initiative. The objective of
the study is to better understand the genetic and biological background of psychotic
disorders in order to provide more accurate information for the development of new
therapeutics. Finland was the European pilot country and more than 10,000 genetic
samples from Finnish psychosis patients were collected during the years 2016–2018.
The data, currently being analysed, has already provided interesting clues to the rela-
tionship between rare variants and different psychosis phenotypes.
FIMM – Building a Bridge from Discovery to Medicine
