Grants 2023
This year we received 84 grant applications for funding in excess of 2.4 million Euros. Almost a third of the applications were received from researchers employed at the University of Helsinki, and over half of the applications were focused on type 2 diabetes research.
Based on a proposal submitted by our scientific committee, our administration awarded grant funding to 22 researchers. The total amount of awarded grant funding came to 550 000 Euros.
The two-year venture grants of 100 000 Euros were awarded to docents Niina Matikainen and Kirsi Virtanen. At the University of Helsinki, Matikainen and her research group study the possibilities for early detection and prevention of fatty liver disease that has become one of our national diseases. Virtanen and her research group are working at the University of Turku to determine the advantages brown adipose tissue may have in the prevention of obesity and type 2 diabetes.
The two-year grants of 100 000 Euros
Matikainen Niina, M.D., docent, the University of Helsinki
The grant awarded Matikainen and her research group also contains the following personal grant: Kullamaa Liisa, 8 200 Euros.
Search for novel metabolic risk factors and the effect of web-based lifestyle intervention to prevent progression of radiologic fatty liver disease
Virtanen Kirsi, M.D., docent, the University of Turku
Human brown adipose tissue, central obesity and immune system
The one-year grants
Ekblad Laura, M.D., the University of Turku, 27 000 Euros
Cognitive impairment and brain Insulin resistance
Heinonen Seppo, M.D., professor, the University of Helsinki, Aalto University, The Finnish institute for health and welfare, The University of Tampere, 27 000 Euros
eHealth in treatment of gestational diabetes –the eMOM GDM study
Huvinen Emilia, M.D., the University of Helsinki, 27 000 Euros
The grant awarded Huvinen and her research group also contains the following personal grant: Huvinen Emilia, 10 000 Euros.
Genetics and metabolomics for identifying women at highest risk of diabetes and benefitting most from targeted preventive lifestyle interventions
Karaman Sinem, PhD, docent, the University of Helsinki and Wihuri Research Institute, 27 000 Euros
Promoting adipose tissue browning to combat cardiometabolic diseases (comBAT)
Kinnunen Tuure, M.D., docent, the University of Eastern Finland / Kuopio, 27 000 Euros
From genotype to phenotype: how a type 1 diabetes-associated genetic polymorphism in the CTLA4 gene affects immune cell function
Lehto Markku, M.D., docent, Folkhälsan Research Center, 27 000 Euros
The relationship between gut disorders and diabetic kidney disease in individuals with type 1 diabetes
Rebelos Eleni, M.D., PhD, docent, the University of Turku, 27 000 Euros
The grant awarded Rebelos and her research group also contains the following personal grant: Rebelos Eleni, 14 000 Euros.
Is there brain inflammation in human obesity? – a positron emission tomography study
Reunanen Justus, PhD, docent, the University of Oulu, 27 000 Euros
Gut microbiota derived bacterial extracellular vesicles in type 2 diabetes
Tuomaala Anna-Kaisa, M.D., the University of Helsinki and HUS, 21 500 Euros
The grant awarded Tuomaala and her research group also contains the following personal grants: Tuomaala Anna-Kaisa, 2 450 Euros, Pulkkinen Mari, 4 900 Euros and Kiilavuori Maria, 4 100 Euros.
Diabetes technology in the treatment of type 1 diabetes in children and adolescents: The effects on diabetes care balance, perceived care capacity and a cost impact analysis.
Vaittinen Maija, PhD, the University of Eastern Finland / Kuopio, 27 000 Euros
The grant awarded Vaittinen and her research group also contains the following personal grant: Vaittinen Maija, 27 000 Euros.
The interaction of FADS1 and n-3 PUFAs in stimulating mitochondrial function in white adipose tissue – tool for personalized treatment therapy against obesity and type 2 diabetes
The personal working grants
Hentilä Jaakko, M.D., the University of Turku, 10 000 Euros
The effects of regular exercise on obesity-related changes in skeletal muscle and adipose tissue epigenome and insulin sensitivity – the brains role in glucose metabolism alterations throughout the entire body.
Ibrahim Hazem, M.Sc., the University of Helsinki, 6 000 Euros
Depletion of the type 1 diabetes gene IFIH1 diminishes the viral immune response of human stem-cell-derived islets
Jouppila Niila, M.Sc., the University of Tampere, 8 200 Euros
Host response to enterovirus as a determinant of beta-cell damage – single cell and spatial analyses of pancreas tissues and cell models
Kyläheiko Iiris, PsM, the University of Helsinki, 10 000 Euros
Determinants and clinical significance of cognitive impairment in working aged adults with type 1 diabetes
Maldonado Sartori Rocio, M.Sc., the University of Helsinki, 10 000 Euros
CRISPR/Cas9 genome engineering to generate a metabolic safety mechanism for cell-based therapies
Muralidharan Sachin, M.Sc., the University of Helsinki, 6 000 Euros
Primate-Specific ZNF808 is essential for human pancreatic development
Parviainen Anna, M.D., the University of Helsinki, 10 000 Euros
The epidemiology of type 1 diabetes in children: new discoveries
Rehn Johanna, M.Sc., the University of Helsinki, 7 100 Euros
Navigating a medical breakthrough: Insulin, the Finnish scientific community, and the transnational efforts to treat diabetes in the 1920s and 1930s
Saros Lotta, M.Sc., the University of Turku, 8 200 Euros
Maternal obesity, gestational diabetes and nutrition: the connection to child growth and nervous system development up to the age of six
Starskaia Inna, M.Sc., the University of Turku, 10 000 Euros
Early immune response in children en route to type 1 diabetes to provide insights into the heterogeneity of the disease