CoE in Cardiovascular Diseases and Type 2 Diabetes Research

The CoE’s main research interests are cardiovascular diseases and type 2 diabetes: their pathogenic mechanisms, genetic background, new clinical treatments and methods of prevention.

Cardiovascular diseases and type 2 diabetes as well as the related problem of obesity are a major and ever-growing health concern in Finland. The CoE represents the international cutting edge in this line of work: its greatest strengths are its expertise in molecular biology and genetics combined with unique patient datasets and clinical intervention studies.

Research aims
The CoE’s aim is to elucidate the pathogenesis of type 2 diabetes, myocardial ischaemia, heart failure, obesity and atherosclerosis. Furthermore, scientists at the CoE are working to develop new approaches to the diagnosis, treatment and prevention of these diseases. They apply state-of-the-art methods of gene technology, gene therapy and genome analysis, linked with data obtained from patient records.

It is expected that the results will help to improve the effectiveness of existing methods of treatment and possibly lead to the development of entirely new types of treatments.

CoE organisation
The CoE is headed by Academy Professor Seppo Ylä-Herttuala from the University of Kuopio. It is based at the universities of Kuopio and Oulu, combining the research work that is done here in cardiovascular diseases. It also enhances the cooperation in the fields of research and education between two biocentres, i.e. the A.I. Virtanen Institute and Biocenter Oulu.

The CoE has a staff of 95, including 38 PhD researchers.

Contact information
Academy Professori Seppo Ylä-Herttuala, University of Kuopio, A. I. Virtanen Institute for Molecular Sciences, tel. +358 17 162 075, seppo.ylaherttuala@uku.fi