Academy of Finland appoints nine new Academy Professors

The Board of the Academy of Finland has appointed nine new Academy Professors. They are Professors Moncef Gabbouj, Markku Kulmala, Markku Laakso, Craig Primmer, Tuija Pulkkinen, Jukka Seppälä, Kaarlo Tuori, Willem de Vos and Seppo Ylä-Herttuala.

The new Academy Professors’ term of office runs from 1 January 2011 to 31 December 2015. Four of the Academy Professors are based at the University of Helsinki, two at the University of Eastern Finland, and one each at Aalto University, Tampere University of Technology and the University of Turku.

At the start of June there were altogether 41 Academy Professors. Appointees shall have demonstrated excellence in research and contributed to the development of their field as a whole. Academy Professors are in the employ of their respective university.

Academy Professors for 2011–2015 term:

Moncef Gabbouj, Signal Processing : Professor Moncef Gabbouj (b. 1962) of Tampere University of Technology is known internationally for his work in the field of nonlinear digital filters. These are computational signal processing methods that can be used for the removal of noise from digitised speech or for the enhancement of digital images. Gabbouj and his colleagues published their first revolutionary innovations in the 1990s, and their publications have been extensively cited. Another area where Gabbouj enjoys considerable international visibility is content-based information retrieval from audio and video databases, where conventional search methods cannot be used.

During his term as Academy Professor, Gabbouj will focus on the processing and transfer of video images and on search services in mobile environments. Two major research problems for Professor Gabbouj are optimised searches and the processing of discrete value signals and images. He is currently working to develop a highly efficient new method that is based on particle swarm optimization. Gabbouj received his PhD from Purdue University in the United States. From Purdue, he moved to a teaching and research position at Tampere University of Technology. He was appointed professor in 1998. Since 2000 Professor Gabbouj has been Vice-Director for the Finnish Centre of Excellence in Signal Processing.

Markku Kulmala, Aerosol Physics and Chemistry: Professor Markku Kulmala (b. 1958) of the University of Helsinki is regarded as one of the world’s leading scientists in the field of aerosol physics and chemistry and has achieved significant breakthroughs in his studies of atmospheric nanoparticles. His research team at the University of Helsinki is world-renowned. Their research interests cover a wide range, including the interaction of aerosols with biospheric processes. During his term as Academy Professor, Kulmala will continue to put to use the results of basic research in physics and chemistry in order to gain a better understanding of climate change and of how the atmosphere and biosphere interact.

Professor Kulmala was appointed Head of the Aerosol and Environmental Physics Laboratory at the University of Helsinki in 1990 and Professor in 1996. As of 2001, he has been in charge of the University of Helsinki Division of Atmospheric Sciences. His previous appointment as Academy Professor was in 2004–2009. Professor Kulmala is Director of the Centre of Excellence for Aerosol and Atmospheric Research. He is also involved in the Nordic Centres of Excellence programme concerned with carbon circulation and is coordinator for a major European ICOS infrastructure project (Integrated Carbon Observation System). He is currently holder of a King Carl XVI Gustaf Visiting Professorship at the Swedish universities of Stockholm and Lund.

Markku Laakso, Clinical Medicine: Academy Professor Markku Laakso (b. 1949) of the University of Eastern Finland is a world-leading specialist in the genetics of type 2 diabetes. He applies a variety of approaches and methods that represent the cutting-edge of gene research. His work is based on numerous population datasets and at least three different animal models. During his forthcoming term as Academy Professor, Laakso will apply state-of-the-art gene research methods in seeking to unravel the pathophysiology of type 2 diabetes. The population dataset collected by Professor Laakso and his team is impressive by any international standards, and will help to shed light on the genetic background of type 2 diabetes. Laakso and his team have been exceptionally successful in linking population data with clinical patient studies and animal models. The information on the aetiology of type 2 diabetes is of great importance not only in scientific but also in public health terms because this type of diabetes is increasing at an alarming rate.

Laakso’s current term as Academy Professor expires at the end of July 2010. Professor Laakso earned a doctorate in social sciences from the University of Helsinki in 1975, and in 1986 he graduated as Doctor of Medicine from the University of Kuopio. He was appointed Professor at the University of Kuopio Department of Medicine in 1995. He is Vice-Director of the Finnish Centre of Excellence for Research in Cardiovascular Diseases and Type 2 Diabetes.

Craig Primmer, Evolutionary Genetics: Professor Craig Primmer (b. 1970) of the University of Turku is known as one of the world’s top three scientists in his field, i.e. the use of genomics for fish conservation. Professor Primmer’s research plan for his forthcoming term as Academy Professor represents the absolute cutting edge in evolutionary conservation biology. Recently the focus of conservation biology has been shifting from attempts to halt environmental change towards understanding the nature of change and predicting its future course. Primmer’s project is designed to study how different species respond to environmental changes, what kind of diversity should be protected in order to ensure the adaptation of different species, and how quickly that process of adaptation can be expected to happen. Professor Primmer hopes to answer many of these questions by applying the tools of evolutionary conservation genetics. His model species include different species of salmon, grayling and sticklebacks in their natural habitats and in laboratory situations.

Primmer graduated as Bachelor of Science from the University of Melbourne and Latrobe University, Melbourne, Australia, and received his doctorate in molecular genetics at the Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences in 1997. Following his PhD, Primmer joined the University of Helsinki, where he worked as a postdoc researcher at the Department of Ecology and Systematics, Adjunct Professor in Ecological Genetics and as Senior Research Fellow for the Academy of Finland. In 2005, he moved to become Professor of Genetics at the University of Turku. His research team is part of the Finnish Centre of Excellence in Evolutionary Genetics and Physiology, of which Primmer is Vice-Director.

Tuija Pulkkinen, Philosophy and Political Science: Tuija Pulkkinen (b. 1956) is Professor of Women’s Studies at the University of Helsinki. Pulkkinen is in charge of a research project called The Politics of Philosophy and Gender, which is conducted as part of the Finnish Centre of Excellence in Political Thought and Conceptual Change. Professor Pulkkinen is Vice-Director of the Centre of Excellence. She has excellent international network contacts and is highly respected in the science community.

During her term as Academy Professor Tuija Pulkkinen will continue to explore the field of feminist theory by analysing the implications of major ontological approaches to gender theorization and feminist politics. Her project is interdisciplinary and is situated at the interface between philosophy and politology. It explores the philosophical contest between prominent theoreticians such as Judith Butler, Luce Irigaray, Elizabeth Grosz, Rosi Braidotti and Adriana Cavarero, turning the spotlight on what Pulkkinen calls the ‘politics of philosophy’. The project’s interface with the Centre of Excellence in Political Thought and Conceptual Change serves to strengthen the link between feminist theory and political thought.

Jukka Seppälä, Polymer Technology: The focus of Professor Jukka Seppälä’s (b. 1955) research has evolved from the polymerisation and copolymerisation of olefins to polymer compounds and subsequently to bioactive and biodegradable compounds. He has shown extraordinary innovation in developing new polymerisation methods and searched for applications for the new materials developed in his laboratory. Based at the newly formed Aalto University, Professor Seppälä’s research is deeply interdisciplinary and highly productive. He has turned his focus to materials that have application in the targeted delivery of medical drugs and in surgical procedures, for instance as bioactive tissue growth matrices. During his term of Academy Professor, his main research interests will lie in the manufacture of new polymers with biomedical applications and in the use of new 3D techniques in the manufacture of bioactive matrices.

Seppälä worked in research at Neste Oy from 1979 to 1986, when he was appointed Associate Professor at Helsinki University of Technology (TKK). Since 1991, he has served as Professor of Polymer Technology at TKK. He was Director of the Finnish Centre of Excellence in Bio and Nanopolymers from 2002 to 2007.

Kaarlo Tuori, Law: Professor Kaarlo Tuori (b. 1948) of the University of Helsinki is in charge of the Finnish Centre of Excellence in the Foundations of European Law and Polity Research and a research project called Legal Constructions of Reality. Tuori is an internationally renowned researcher who has excellent international contacts, and he holds honorary doctorates from the universities of Lund, Copenhagen and Turku. He has been a Jean Monnet Fellow and a Fernand Braudel Fellow at the European University Institute, Florence, and worked as a visiting researcher at the University of Pavia. He was Professor of Administrative Law at the University of Helsinki from 1991 to 2003, when he was appointed Professor of Jurisprudence.

Professor Tuori’s work is characterised by a sound understanding of comparative law and philosophy of law, and he has a deep knowledge of the constitutions of different countries. His publications meet the highest scientific standards and have won him international recognition. During his term as Academy Professor, Tuori will focus on researching the diversity of European constitutions. He is particularly interested in how the professional and institutional affiliations, cultural backgrounds and political and ideological commitments of scientific contributors impact the interpretation of constitutional concepts, how the concept of constitution varies and how the diversity of European constitutions is reflected in the relationship between the European Constitution and national constitutions.

Willem de Vos, Microbiology: Willem de Vos (b. 1954) has been Professor of Molecular Microbiology at the University of Helsinki Faculty of Veterinary Medicine and FiDiPro Professor with funding from Tekes, the Finnish Funding Agency for Technology and Innovations, since 2007. He is also visiting professor at the University of Turku. In Finland he has formed his own research team that is part of the Finnish Centre of Excellence in Microbiological Food Safety Research. The research project conducted as part of his Academy Professorship will shed light on the diversity and functions of the human intestinal microbial flora and specifically on the significance of both naturally occurring microbes in the intestines and those that enter the intestinal system with food to the well-being of the intestinal tract. The research is an interdisciplinary effort, which is crucial to understanding the complex interplay between host and microbe. Another research interest in this project concerns the properties of the probiotic Lactobacillus rhamnosus GG (LGG), which is commonly used in dairy products.

De Vos completed his doctorate in molecular genetics at the University of Groningen, Netherlands, in 1983. He has served as Professor of Bacterial Genetics, Professor of Microbiology and Chair of Microbiology at the University of Wageningen. In his native Holland he has also served as Director of the Department of Biomolecular Sciences and Programme Director on Microbial Functionality and Safety at the Wageningen Centre for Food Sciences (WCFS).

Seppo Ylä-Herttuala, Biomedicine: Academy Professor Seppo Ylä-Herttuala (b. 1957) of the University of Eastern Finland is one of the world’s leading gene therapy researchers. He is one of the few scientists who have been able to put his results to the test in late stage clinical trials. Ylä-Herttuala’s studies are aimed at discovering new treatments for severe cardiac ischemia and malignant brain tumours. They are based on completely novel methods, i.e. epigene therapy, vectors that are target-integrated into the genome, and antibody-producing gene transfer constructs that may have application in other medical fields, too.

Ylä-Herttuala earned his doctorate from the University of Tampere in 1987. He was appointed Professor of Molecular Medicine at the University of Kuopio in 1995, and Director of Biocenter Kuopio in 2008. He is Director of the Finnish Centre of Excellence in Cardiovascular Diseases and Type 2 Diabetes. Ylä-Herttuala’s current term as Academy Professor expires at the end of July 2010.

For further information, contact: Academy of Finland President Markku Mattila, tel. +358 9 7748 8210 or Vice President, Research, Riitta Mustonen, tel. +358 9 7748 8220.

Academy of Finland Communications
Maj-Lis Tanner, Communications Director
tel. +358 9 7748 8347, +358 40 729 6736
maj-lis.tanner(at)aka.fi