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Andrew  Agbaje

Andrew Agbaje

Visiting Researcher

MD, MPH, PhD, FESC, FAHA, Cert. Clinical Researcher (Harvard),

Professor (associate) of Clinical Epidemiology and Child Health

Honorary Research Fellow (Univ. of Exeter, UK),

Editorial Board (ATVB & PES journals)

Institute of Public Health and Clinical Nutrition, School of Medicine, Faculty of Health Sciences

andrew.agbaje@uef.fi

Prof. Agbaje is an award-winning physician and professor (associate) of clinical epidemiology and child health who currently investigates causal relationships of aerobic fitness, physical activity, sedentary behaviour, body composition, insulin resistance, dyslipidaemia, and metabolic syndrome with arterial, cardiac, liver, and kidney structure and function from childhood through young adulthood.

He discovered arterial stiffness as a novel risk factor for paediatric obesity and insulin resistance, identified adolescence as the critical time to interrupt fat mass-insulin resistance pathologic cycle, and demonstrated light-intensity physical activity as a highly effective antidote for reversing excessive fat deposit induced by childhood sedentariness. Recently, he discovered waist-to-height ratio as a specific surrogate for fat mass but not muscle mass that could replace BMI in assessing childhood obesity. Subsequently, he was interviewed LIVE on BBC World News TV to discuss the novel findings.

As of September/October 2023, two of Prof. Agbaje’s publications were placed in the Top 1% highly cited paper in the academic field of Clinical Medicine, while a third publication was placed in the Top 1% highly cited paper in the academic field of Biology & Biochemistry by Clarivate’s Web of Science.

He has a first authored paper in Nature Communications and was interviewed LIVE on BBC World Service Radio Newsday programme on 15th Dec 2023, BBC Radio Devon on 16th Jan 2024, and BBC World News LIVE TV programme on 14th March 2024. The University of Eastern Finland recently recorded a podcast interview of his latest findings as well as a video.

The Endocrine Society in US, recently recorded a podcast interview of his research and discussed his research in the prestigious Endocrine Magazine March 2024 edition. He was recently interviewed by the European Association for the Study of Obesity, a federation of 36 European countries’ professional associations.

His research has received extensive press coverage, with over 2,000 media mentions in 2022 and 2023 in outlets such as BBC, CNN, The Telegraph, Daily Mail, Mirror, BILD, Infobae, Yahoo Lifestyle, Yahoo Sport, US News & World report, DocCheck, MSN, WebMD, Medscape, The Conversation, Jerusalem Post, Helsingin Sanomat, etc, potentially reaching a global audience of more than 4.5 billion. The equivalent advertising value of these news articles is more than 30 million US dollars.

He is the principal investigator of the urFIT-child research group and has strong collaboration with world-renowned pediatricians, exercise physiologists, epidemiologists, and adult clinicians in Canada, US, UK, Germany, Australia, Saudi Arabia, Nigeria, etc.

He has received several scientific excellence awards including the prestigious EASO-Novo Nordisk Foundation for New Investigator Award in Childhood Obesity with a 300,000 Danish Kroner (~40,000 euro) prize. Other awards are the American Heart Association’s Elizabeth Barrett-Connor Research Award in Epidemiology and Prevention (once), Jeremiah and Rose Stamler Research Award (twice), and Paul Dudley White International Scholar Award (thrice).

He is a member of the scientific writing group of the Atherosclerosis, Hypertension, and Obesity in Youth subcommittee of the American Heart Association. He was an invited guest speaker to the largest mother and child center in Canada – CHU Sainte-Justine Mother and Child University Hospital Center, Canada in March 2023 to speak on the determinants of carotid intima-media thickness and arterial stiffness in pediatrics.

He is an Honorary Research Fellow at the Children’s Health and Exercise Research Centre (CHERC), Department of Public Health and Sports Sciences, Faculty of Health and Life Sciences, University of Exeter, Exeter, UK.

He serves on the editorial board of Arteriosclerosis, Thrombosis, and Vascular Biology (ATVB), a prestigious American Heart Association Journal, and on the editorial board of Pediatric Exercise Science, the official Journal of the North American Society for Pediatric Exercise Medicine.

In November 2023, he was elected Fellow of the European Society of Cardiology (FESC) and in March 2024 he was elected Fellow of the American Heart Association (FAHA). These titles of honour, symbol of excellence and lifetime achievement recognizes his significant contribution to cardiovascular field in Europe and America.

He is an expert advisor to the World Health Organization’s task force on preventing childhood obesity.

His primary email is andrew.agbaje@uef.fi

His secondary email is a.agbaje@exeter.ac.uk

  • Photo by © Novo Nordisk Foundation/Christian Als 2023

    Photo by © AHA/Zach Boyden-Holmes 2023
    Photo by © AHA/Todd Buchanan 2023
    1. EASO-Novo Nordisk Foundation New Investigator Award in Childhood Obesity 2024. The prestigious award prize is 300,000 Danish Kroner (~40,000 euro)
    2. Docent in Clinical Epidemiology and Child Health, Faculty of Health Sciences, University of Eastern Finland, March 2024.
    3. Fellow of the American Heart Association (FAHA) 2024. The FAHA title is an honorific designation that recognizes scientific and professional accomplishments and contributions, volunteer leadership and service supporting the overall AHA mission: To be a relentless force for a world of longer, healthier lives.
    4. Fellow of the European Society of Cardiology (FESC) 2023. The FESC title honours individuals who have distinguished themselves in the cardiovascular field. A unique and prestigious title, recognising excellence and lifetime achievement.
    5. Elizabeth Barrett-Connor Research Award 2023 for Early Career Investigators of the American Heart Association’s Council on Epidemiology and Prevention
    6. Paul Dudley White International Scholar 2023 Award of the American Heart Association
    7. Best Poster Prize Award 2023 in Post-Doctoral Research by Novo Nordisk Foundation Scientific Conference on Prevention of Childhood Obesity
    8. Reviewer of the Year Award 2022/2023 of the European Journal of Preventive Cardiology / Oxford University Press
    9. Communicator of the Year Award 2022 of the University of Eastern Finland
    10. Reviewer of the Year Award 2021/2022 of the European Journal of Preventive Cardiology
    11. Young Investigator Fellowship Award 2022 of the European Atherosclerosis Society
    12. Paul Dudley White International Scholar 2022 Award of the American Heart Association
    13. Jeremiah and Rose Stamler Research 2022 Award for New Investigators at the Epi Lifestyle Annual Scientific Sessions of the American Heart Association
    14. Paul Dudley White International Scholar 2021 Award of the American Heart Association
    15. Jeremiah and Rose Stamler Research 2021 Award for New Investigators at the Epi Lifestyle Annual Scientific Sessions of the American Heart Association
    16. Distinction (1000/1000 points) in Clinical Research 2020, Harvard University, Boston, US
    1. European Heart Journal (EHJ)
    2. Journal of the American College of Cardiology (JACC)
    3. Diabetes Care
    4. Circulation Research
    5. Arteriosclerosis, Thrombosis, and Vascular Biology (ATVB)
    6. Hypertension
    7. Pediatrics
    8. Sports Medicine
    9. European Journal of Preventive Cardiology (EJPC)
    10. Atherosclerosis
    11. International Journal of Obesity
    12. The Journal of Clinical Endocrinology & Metabolism (JCEM)
    13. Circulation: Genomic and Precision Medicine
    14. Metabolism: Clinical and Experimental
    15. BMC Medicine
    16. Journal of Cachexia, Sacropenia, and Muscle (JCSM)
    17. Journal of the American Heart Association (JAHA)
    18. Medicine & Science in Sports & Exercise (MSSE)
    19. Scandinavian Journal of Medicine & Science in Sports
    20. Journal of Hypertension
    21. Journal of the Endocrine Society
    22. Pediatric Exercise Science
    23. Annals of Epidemiology
    24. Acta Pediatrica
    25. Pediatric Cardiology
    26. European Journal of Sports Science
    27. Clinical Physiology and Functional Imaging
    28. Nutrition, Metabolism and Cardiovascular Diseases
    29. High Blood Pressure & Cardiovascular Prevention
    30. BMJ Open
    31. Plos One
    32. BMC Pediatrics
    33. Clinical Epidemiology
    34. Frontiers in Pediatrics
    35. BMJ Open Respiratory Research
    36. Vascular Medicine
    37. Frontiers in Sports and Active Living
    38. Annals of Medicine
  • Clinical Epidemiology: TL00BN63-3001 (3 ECTS) (Advanced course for Masters and PhD candidates)

    Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis: (3 ECTS) (Advanced course for Masters and PhD candidates), taught from 2018 – 2023.

  • Agbaje AO, Barker AR, Lewandowski AJ, Leeson P, Tuomainen TP. Accelerometer-based sedentary time, light physical activity, and moderate-to-vigorous physical activity from childhood with arterial stiffness and carotid IMT progression: A 13-year longitudinal study of 1339 children. Acta Physiol (Oxf). 2024 Mar 21:e14132. https://doi.org/10.1111/apha.14132 Epub ahead of print. PMID: 38509836.

    Agbaje AO. The Interactive Effects of Sedentary Time, Physical Activity, and Fat Mass on Insulin Resistance in the Young Population. J Clin Endocrinol Metab. 2024 Mar 5:dgae135. https://doi.org/10.1210/clinem/dgae135. Epub ahead of print. PMID: 38441224.

    Agbaje AO. Waist-circumference-to-height-ratio had better longitudinal agreement with DEXA-measured fat mass than BMI in 7237 children. Pediatr Res. 2024 Mar 5. Epub ahead of print. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41390-024-03112-8. PMID: 38443520.

    Agbaje AO. Mediating effect of fat mass, lean mass, blood pressure and insulin resistance on the associations of accelerometer-based sedentary time and physical activity with arterial stiffness, carotid IMT and carotid elasticity in 1574 adolescents. J Hum Hypertens. 2024 Feb 26. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41371-024-00905-6

    Agbaje AO, Saner C, Zhang J, Henderson M, Tuomainen TP. DEXA-based Fat Mass with the Risk of Worsening Insulin Resistance in Adolescents: A 9-Year Temporal and Mediation Study. J Clin Endocrinol Metab. 2024 Jan 4:dgae004. https://doi.org/10.1210/clinem/dgae004 Epub ahead of print. PMID: 38173399.

    Agbaje AO. Increasing lipids with risk of worsening cardiac damage in 1595 adolescents: A 7-year longitudinal and mediation study. Atherosclerosis. 2024 Feb 1:389;117440. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.atherosclerosis.2023.117440

  • Agbaje AO, Perng W, Tuomainen TP. Effects of accelerometer-based sedentary time and physical activity on DEXA-measured fat mass in 6059 children. Nature Communications. 2023 Dec 12;14(1):8232. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41467-023-43316-w

    Agbaje AO. Associations of Sedentary Time and Physical Activity From Childhood With Lipids: A 13-Year Mediation and Temporal Study. J Clin Endocrinol Metab. 2023 Dec 14:dgad688. https://doi.org/10.1210/clinem/dgad688 Epub ahead of print. PMID: 38097375.

    A O Agbaje, A R Barker, A J Lewandowski, P Leeson, T P Tuomainen. Cumulative accelerometer-based sedentary time from childhood through young adulthood with increased arterial stiffness and carotid intima-media thickness in youth: a 13-year longitudinal study. European Heart Journal 2023 Nov 2;44(Supplement_2):ehad655.2077. https://doi.org/10.1093/eurheartj/ehad655.2077

    A O Agbaje, A R Barker, A J Lewandowski, P Leeson, T P Tomi-Pekka. Cumulative accelerometer-based light physical activity from childhood through young adulthood with arterial stiffness and carotid intima-media thickness progression: a 13-year longitudinal study. European Heart Journal 2023 Nov 2;44(Supplement_2):ehad655.2338. https://doi.org/10.1093/eurheartj/ehad655.2338

    A O Agbaje. Cumulative accelerometer-based sedentary time from childhood through young adulthood with progressive left ventricular remodelling in British youth: a 13-year longitudinal study. European Heart Journal 2023 Nov 2;44(Supplement_2):ehad655.2393. https://doi.org/10.1093/eurheartj/ehad655.2393

    A O Agbaje. Prospective associations of non-HDL cholesterol with premature structural and functional cardiac damage progression in British youth: the ALSPAC study. European Heart Journal 2023 Nov 2;44(Supplement_2):ehad655.3017. https://doi.org/10.1093/eurheartj/ehad655.3017

    A O Agbaje. Cumulative accelerometer-based light physical activity from childhood through young adulthood progressively decreases left ventricular mass in British youth: a 13-year longitudinal study. European Heart Journal 2023 Nov 2;44(Supplement_2):ehad655.1139. https://doi.org/10.1093/eurheartj/ehad655.1139

    A O Agbaje. Increased triglyceride independently associates with premature structural and functional cardiac damage progression in asymptomatic adolescents: a 7-year longitudinal study. European Heart Journal 2023 Nov 2;44(Supplement_2):ehad655.2502. https://doi.org/10.1093/eurheartj/ehad655.2502

    A O Agbaje. A 7-year longitudinal association of total cholesterol with premature structural and functional cardiac damage progression in youth: the ALSPAC birth cohort study. European Heart Journal 2023 Nov 2;44(Supplement_2):ehad655.1138. https://doi.org/10.1093/eurheartj/ehad655.1138

    A O Agbaje. An average of 60mins/day of moderate to vigorous physical activity from childhood through young adulthood was associated with worsening cardiac structural damage in youth: A 13-year longitudinal study. European Heart Journal 2023 Nov 2;44(Supplement_2):ehad655.2602. https://doi.org/10.1093/eurheartj/ehad655.2602

    A O Agbaje. Longitudinal Associations of Accelerometer-Based Sedentary Time and Physical Activity With Blood Pressure Progression From Childhood Through Young Adulthood: A 13-year Mediation and Isotemporal Substitution Study of 2513 Children. Circulation. 2023 Nov 6;148:A16549. https://www.ahajournals.org/doi/10.1161/circ.148.suppl_1.16549

    Agbaje AO, Zachariah JP, Tuomainen TP. Arterial Stiffness but not Carotid Intima-Media Thickness Progression Precede Premature Structural and Functional Cardiac Damage in Youth: A 7-Year Temporal and Mediation Longitudinal Study. Atherosclerosis 2023 Sep;380:117197. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.atherosclerosis.2023.117197

    Agbaje AO. Associations of accelerometer-based sedentary time, light physical activity and moderate-to-vigorous physical activity with resting cardiac structure and function in adolescents according to sex, fat mass, lean mass, BMI, and hypertensive status. Scand J Med Sci Sports. 2023 Aug;33(8):1399-1411. doi: 10.1111/sms.14365.

    Agbaje AO. Adolescents Cholesterol Passport: A Universal Pediatric Lipid Screening Tool to Combat Atherosclerosis – the World’s Deadliest Scourge. Front Pediatr. 2023 June 19;11. doi: 10.3389/fped.2023.1228483

    Agbaje AO. Longitudinal Mediating effect of Fatmass and Lipids on Sedentary Time, Light PA, and MVPA with Inflammation in Youth. J Clin Endocrinol Metab. 2023 Jun 13:dgad354. doi: 10.1210/clinem/dgad354. Epub ahead of print. PMID: 37310686.

    Agbaje AO. Arterial stiffness preceding metabolic syndrome in 3,862 adolescents: a mediation and temporal causal longitudinal birth cohort study. Am J Physiol Heart Circ Physiol. 2023 Jun 1;324(6):H905-H911. doi: 10.1152/ajpheart.00126.2023.

    Agbaje AO. Does arterial stiffness mediate or suppress the associations of blood pressure with cardiac structure and function in adolescents?. Am J Physiol Heart Circ Physiol. June 1 2023;324(6):H776-H781. doi: 10.1152/ajpheart.00094.2023.

    Agbaje AO. Longitudinal Left Ventricular Mass Indexing for DEXA-Measured Lean Mass and Fat Mass: Novel Normative Reference Centiles in Post-Pubertal Adolescents and Young Adults. American Journal of Physiology-Heart and Circulatory Physiology 2023, Apr 1;324(4):H571-H577. https://doi.org/10.1152/ajpheart.00045.2023

    Agbaje AO, Barker AR, Tuomainen TP. Cumulative muscle mass and blood pressure but not fat mass drives arterial stiffness and carotid intima-media thickness progression in the young population and is unrelated to vascular organ damage. Hypertension Research April 1 2023;46:984–999. doi: 10.1038/s41440-022-01065-1.

    Agbaje AO. Elevated Blood Pressure and Worsening Cardiac Damage During Adolescence. The Journal of Pediatrics. 2023 Mar 3:S0022-3476(23)00132-4. doi: 10.1016/j.jpeds.2023.02.018.

    Agbaje AO, Zachariah JP, Bamsa O, Odili AN, and Tuomainen T-P. Cumulative insulin resistance and hyperglycaemia with arterial stiffness and carotid IMT progression in 1779 adolescents: A 9-Year Longitudinal Cohort Study. American Journal of Physiology-Endocrinology and Metabolism 2023 Mar 1;324(3):E268-E278. https://doi.org/10.1152/ajpendo.00008.2023

    Agbaje AO, Barmi S, Sansum KM, Baynard T, Barker AR, and Tuomainen T-P. Temporal longitudinal associations of carotid-femoral pulse wave velocity and carotid intima-media thickness with resting heart rate and inflammation in youth. Journal of Applied Physiology 2023 Mar 1;134(3):657-666. https://doi.org/10.1152/japplphysiol.00701.2022

    Agbaje AO, Lloyd-Jones DM, Magnussen CG, Tuomainen T-P. Cumulative Dyslipidemia with Arterial Stiffness and Carotid IMT Progression in Asymptomatic Adolescents: A Simulated Intervention Longitudinal Study Using Temporal Inverse Allocation Model. Atherosclerosis Jan 1 2023;364:39-48. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.atherosclerosis.2022.11.011

  • Agbaje AO. Cardiorespiratory Fitness in Adolescence: A Telescope into Future Cardiovascular Health. Eur J Prev Cardiol. 2022 Dec 13:zwac298. doi: 10.1093/eurjpc/zwac298.

    Andrew O Agbaje, Justin P Zachariah, and Tomi-Pekka Tuomainen. Arterial Stiffness and Carotid Intima-Media Thickness Progression Preceding Worsening Left Ventricular Hypertrophy and Diastolic Dysfunction in Youth: A Temporal Causal Longitudinal Study. Circulation 2022, Oct 30. doi/10.1161/circ.146.suppl_1.13679

    Agbaje AO. To prevent hypertension in Africans: do we need to eat more vegetables? Eur J Prev Cardiol. 2022 Oct 10:zwac233. doi: 10.1093/eurjpc/zwac233.

    A O Agbaje, D M Lloyd-Jones, C G Magnussen, T P Tuomainen. Cumulative dyslipidaemia from mid-adolescence through young adulthood with carotid intima-media thickness progression: a 9-year longitudinal study. European Heart Journal, 2022 Oct 2:43(Supplement_2,); ehac544.2350, https://doi.org/10.1093/eurheartj/ehac544.2350

    A O Agbaje, S Barmi, K M Sansum, T Baynard, A R Barker, T P Tuomainen. Does arterial stiffness progression temporally precede higher low-grade inflammation in adolescents? Causal longitudinal evidence using auto-regressive cross-lagged structural equation models. European Heart Journal, 2022 Oct 2:43(Supplement_2,);ehac544.2247. https://doi.org/10.1093/eurheartj/ehac544.2247

    A O Agbaje, D M Lloyd-Jones, C G Magnussen, T P Tuomainen. Simulated intervention and optimal timing for attenuating dyslipidaemia-related atherosclerotic progression in the young: a temporal inverse allocation analysis of the ALSPAC cohort. European Heart Journal, 2022 Oct 2:43(Supplement_2,); ehac544.2352, https://doi.org/10.1093/eurheartj/ehac544.2352

    A O Agbaje, S Barmi, K M Sansum, T Baynard, A R Barker, T P Tuomainen. Temporal causal longitudinal associations of high-sensitivity C-reactive protein with carotid intima-media thickness progression in adolescents: the ALSPAC birth cohort study. European Heart Journal, 2022 Oct 2:43(Supplement_2,); ehac544.2246, https://doi.org/10.1093/eurheartj/ehac544.2246

    A O Agbaje, J P Zachariah, O Bamsa, A N Odili, T P Tuomainen. Cumulative hyperinsulinemia, hyperglycaemia, and insulin resistance from mid-adolescence through young adulthood with carotid intima-media thickness progression: a 9-year longitudinal study. European Heart Journal, 2022 Oct 2:43(Supplement_2,);ehac544.2414, https://doi.org/10.1093/eurheartj/ehac544.2414

    A O Agbaje, D M Lloyd-Jones, C G Magnussen, T P Tuomainen. Longitudinal associations of cumulative dyslipidaemia from mid-adolescence through young adulthood with arterial stiffness progression: the ALSPAC study. European Heart Journal, 2022 Oct 2:43(Supplement_2,);ehac544.2351, https://doi.org/10.1093/eurheartj/ehac544.2351

    Agbaje AO. Mediating role of body composition and insulin resistance on the association of arterial stiffness with blood pressure among adolescents: The ALSPAC study. Front. Cardiovasc. Med. 2022: 9:939125. doi: 10.3389/fcvm.2022.939125

    Agbaje AO. Arterial stiffness precedes hypertension and metabolic risks in youth: a review. J Hypertens. 2022 Oct 1;40(10):1887-1896. . doi: 10.1097/HJH.0000000000003239.

    Agbaje AO, Barker AR, Mitchell GF, Tuomainen TP. Effect of Arterial Stiffness and Carotid Intima-Media Thickness Progression on the Risk of Dysglycemia, Insulin Resistance, and Dyslipidemia: a Temporal Causal Longitudinal Study. Hypertension. 2022 Mar;79(3):667-678. doi: 10.1161/HYPERTENSIONAHA.121.18754.

    Agbaje AO, Barker AR, Tuomainen TP. Effects of Arterial Stiffness and Carotid Intima-Media Thickness Progression on the Risk of Overweight/Obesity and Elevated Blood Pressure/Hypertension: a Cross-Lagged Cohort Study. Hypertension. 2022 Jan;79(1):159-169. doi: 10.1161/HYPERTENSIONAHA.121.18449.

    Agbaje AO, Barker AR, Tuomainen TP. Cardiorespiratory Fitness, Fat Mass, and Cardiometabolic Health with Endothelial Function, Arterial Elasticity, and Stiffness. Med Sci Sports Exerc. 2022 Jan 1;54(1):141-152. doi: 10.1249/MSS.0000000000002757.

    1. European Society of Cardiology (ESC), France
    2. American Heart Association (AHA), Dallas, US
    3. European Atherosclerosis Society (EAS), Sweden
    4. Association for Research into Arterial Structure and Physiology (Artery Society), UK
    5. American Physiology Society (APS), US
    6. American College of Sports Medicine (ACSM), Indianapolis, US
    7. North American Society for Pediatric Exercise Medicine (NASPEM), Canada/US
    8. International Epidemiology Association (IEA), US
    9. International Society of Behavioral Nutrition and Physical Activity (ISBNPA), Sweden
    10. Finnish Epidemiology Society (FES), Finland
    11. European Association of Preventive Cardiology (EAPC), France
    12. Endocrine Society, US
    13. Finnish Association for the Study of Obesity (FASO)
    14. European Association for the Study of Obesity (EASO)

Publications

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