The study is aiming to develop dietary counseling on maternity clinics for promoting the current and future health of both the mother and the child and reduce the risks caused by obesity and GDM. The study is conducted in collaboration with researchers in nursing science and clinical nutrition.
Iman Zarei (iman.zarei@uef.fi)
I completed my PhD in Human Nutrition, minor in Molecular Biology & Biotechnology at the University of the Philippines joined with Colorado State University, USA. My PhD research focused on identification of dietary biomarkers in cereal bran using metabolomics from two human intervention studies in adults and children and determination of cereal bran property in inhibiting bacterial pathogenicity in mouse cell line. As my cognate was Molecular Biology & Biotechnology, during my PhD program, I also worked over three years as lar at the Grain Quality and Nutrition Center as well as the Genetic Transformation Laboratory of the International Rice Research Institute (IRRI) in the Philippines, the most renowned rice research organization in the world. My work at IRRI included rice metabolomics, identification rice varieties with high protein content, and genetic modifications of rice for vitamin A (Golder Rice project) and iron and zinc bio-fortification. I currently work within the LongITools project (https://longitools.org) to study the effects physical activity and diet exposures on human health in determining the risks of chronic cardiovascular and metabolic diseases.
Jyrki Virtanen (jyrki.virtanen@uef.fi)
I am a licensed nutritionist and an associate professor of nutrition and public health, especially nutritional epidemiology. My main topics of interest involve the role of dietary factors in development of chronic diseases, mainly cardiovascular diseases, type 2 diabetes and memory disorders. The study methods include both observational cohort studies and clinical trials.
Kirsikka Aittola (kirsikka.aittola@uef.fi)
I am an early stage researcher, nutritionist and expert of food sciences. I currently work at the Stop Diabetes (StopDia) project in the Department of Clinical Nutrition in Kuopio. The StopDia study was set to create and implement evidence-based and digitally supported strategies for the prevention of type 2 diabetes at population level in three regions in Finland. It is funded by the Strategic Research Council and lasts until year 2019. I take care of practical issues of the StopDia randomized controlled trial and handle the RCT data.
I am interested in eating behavior and eating competence of the StopDia study participants, who are at increased risk for type 2 diabetes. With my study I hope to enhance knowledge on eating-related behavior and it’s association with obesity and type 2 diabetes. My goal is to find more efficient ways to make long-lasting healthy lifestyle changes and to conduct effective lifestyle interventions in healthcare and thus, preventing type 2 diabetes.
I’d like to build a research network. I am also active in social media and write nutrition-related blog posts.
I am a PhD researcher in nutrition science, a licensed dietitian and an expert in food science. I am currently working on the Kuopio campus in the Unit of Public Health and Clinical Nutrition in the Stop Diabetes (StopDia) project. The goal of the StopDia study was to create and implement ways to prevent type 2 diabetes in Finland based on scientific evidence and utilize digital tools. The study was funded by the Academy of Finland, Strategic Research. I take care of the practical matters of the randomized controlled trial StopDia, communication and analyse data. I also work in the T2D-Data project, which aims to find out who will benefit from using the BitHabit app in terms of type 2 diabetes prevention.
I also work as a nutrition expert in the national FOODNUTRI project, where we develop a measure of diet quality, the Healthy Diet Index, as a digital app for health promotion and health care services. The goal of the Healthy Diet Index app is to improve the effectiveness of nutritional counselling.
In my dissertation, I study the quality of the diet, the Healthy Diet Index, and eating behavior, more specifically the Satter Eating competence, and their connection to risk factors for type 2 diabetes in the StopDia data. With my research, I hope to increase knowledge on eating-related behavior and its connection to obesity and type 2 diabetes. My goal is to find more effective ways to make long-term health-promoting lifestyle changes, implement effective lifestyle interventions in healthcare and municipalities, and thereby prevent type 2 diabetes.
I would like to build my research network. I am also active on Twitter and I like to participate in nutrition communication.
Maija Ylilauri (maija.ylilauri@uef.fi)
I am a registered dietitian and a Master of Health Sciences from the University of Eastern Finland and the University of Jyväskylä. I am writing a doctoral thesis in the field on nutrition epidemiology about dietary factors that are related to cognitive performance and the risk of memory disorders.
Maria Lankinen (maria.lankinen@uef.fi)
I am an authorized clinical nutritionist, and docent in nutrition, with specialization in lipid metabolism working at the Institute of Public Health and Clinical Nutrition. I have an over 10 years’ experience of randomized controlled clinical trials studying health effects of diet. Last years I have focused on gene-diet interactions related to fatty acid metabolism and prevention of type 2 diabetes. I also have an active role in the Fatty Acids and Outcomes Research Consortium, which goal is to understand the relationships between fatty acids from our diet and metabolic processes on chronic disease outcomes.
Projects: T2D-GENE, FADSDIET1&2, LIDIGE
Marjukka Kolehmainen (marjukka.kolehmainen@uef.fi)
My research concerns about the health effects of foods and their components that I have been studying in acute, short and long term clinical dietary interventions for more than 20 years. Regarding foods, main scientific interest has been in the impact of whole grain cereals and berries and more recently also in other plant based foods and their bioactive components from the molecular level to whole body physiology. The recent research focus has been in the effects mediated by the gut microbiota and related gut barrier function. Thus, we have been setting up in vitro model for studying gut microbiota activity and will continue developing it further with modular gut barrier interaction modelling. Gut related activities are of great interest since its strong interaction with high fibre and protein foods and contribution to the development of inflammation, but also its contribution to both physical and mental health and wellbeing. In addition, I am interested in gut-liver axis and gut barrier permeability in this context, if we can find diet related factors to support healthy gut barrier and to prevent liver disease.
Retu Haikonen (retu.haikonen@uef.fi)
Current research projects revolves around betainized compounds. In order to reveal metabolic role of the compounds related to diet, health and gut various modern omic techniques are used. For example metabolomics and transcriptomics are utilized to clarify bioactivity of these novel compounds. The ultimate goal is better health and well-being.
Stefania Noerman (stefania.noerman@uef.fi)
Current research projects revolves around application of non-targeted metabolic profiling on human blood samples to understand molecular mechanisms linking lifestyle factors (including diet, stress, and physical activity) and the risk of developing cardiovascular diseases. Would be interested in application of multi-omics approaches to reveal mechanisms underlying interindividual variation in dietary responses. Final goal includes designing personalized approaches for optimized health and well-being.