Our team

Hannele Laivuori MD, PhD, is the Professor of Obstetrics and Gynecology at the Faculty of Medicine and Health Technology, Tampere University. She holds a title of docent in Medical Genetics at the University of Helsinki (2007). She has a specialist degree in obstetrics and gynecology (1998) and in clinical genetics (2005).  She did her postdoctoral fellowship at the University of Pittsburgh, Magee Women’s Research Institute, which is one of the largest institutes dedicated to reproductive biology and women’s health in the Unites States, and at the Karolinska Institutet, Sweden.

Her main research interest is hypertensive pregnancy disorders. The impact of these disorders is not limited to obstetric and pediatric domains. They are also associated with increased risk of cardiometabolic disorders in later life of the mother and the child. Her group investigates genetic susceptibility, molecular mechanisms, risk factors, and implications for later life of these disorders and performs intervention studies. She is a chair of the Women’s health and reproduction expert group in the FinnGen project and participates in the research of its Task Forces (polycystic ovary syndrome, fatty liver disease, primary ovarian failure, endometriosis, cervical dysplasia and ovarian cancer).

She is the director of the Tampere Center for Child, Adolescent and Maternal Health Research (TamCAM).

She leads the group preparing national Current Care Guideline for hypertension in pregnancy and pre-eclampsia.

She is funded by the Academy of Finland (EraPerMed  funding under Horizon 2020),  Jane and Aatos Erkko Foundation, Finska Läkaresällskapet, The Competitive State Research Financing of the Expert Responsibility area of Tampere University Hospital and Tampere University Foundation.

Senior researcher (PhD, adj. professor in nutrigenetics), university lecturer and clinical nutritionist working at the University of Helsinki. Co-PI in the ongoing FINNCARE Study which explores  the impact of pre-eclampsia on long-term cardiovascular health not only in women with a history of pre-eclampsia but also in their children and partners.

Venla Kurra has graduated as a Licentiate of Medicine from the University of Tampere in 2008, and as a specialist in Obstetrics and Gynecology in 2018. Since then she has been doing her second specialization in Clinical genetics. Aside from her clinical work, she is currently finalizing her thesis on the vascular and renal effects of hyperuricemia. Venla Kurra has been working as an expert secretary of Women´s Health and Reproduction clinical expert group in FinnGen research project since fall 2020.

Dr. Jaakko Leinonen is a geneticist and Postdoctoral Research Fellow. He earned his Ph.D. in 2019 from the Finnish Institute for Molecular Medicine (FIMM), University of Helsinki. His doctoral research explored the biology of pubertal timing by integrating human genetic data with zebrafish models. Following his Ph.D., Jaakko conducted postdoctoral research at FIMM. His work focused on the role of sex hormones in sex-specific diseases and traits, with a particular emphasis on analyzing genotype and phenotype data from mother-child pairs within the FinnGen project. Jaakko currently focuses on understanding the fetal and paternal contributions to pre-eclampsia using statistical genetics methods.

Tanja Saarela (MD, PhD) is a clinical geneticist working as a member of the Obstetrics and Clinical Genetics-research group of the Faculty of Medicine and Health Technology at Tampere University. She is the head of the Department of Clinical Genetics at Kuopio University Hospital. She has a specialist degree in clinical genetics (2015). Her PhD thesis on obstetrics and gynaecology (2004) concerned susceptibility genes of preeclampsia. Yet, her main research interests are hypertensive pregnancy disorders, their aetiology, genetics and long-term effects on cardiovascular risks and women’s health. She is also interested in research of foetal diagnostics and rare diseases.

Elli Toivonen received her Medical Degree (MD) in 2012 and graduated as a specialist in obstetrics and gynecology in 2021 from Tampere University. Her PhD thesis was completed in 2018 and focused on vaginal breech delivery. She is currently working as a clinical instructor teaching obstetrics to medical students in Tampere University, and as a specialist in Tampere University Hospital. Her main research projects focus on preeclampsia as well as maternal iron deficiency.

Jaakko Tyrmi is a geneticist with a background in bioinformatics and evolutionary biology. He has a doctoral degree from University of Oulu (2020). He is currently apostdoctoral fellow in Obstetrics and Clinical Genetics research group (Prof. Hannele Laivuori) in University of Tampere and in Computational Medicine group (Prof. Johannes Kettunen) in University of Oulu. Most of his research projects are related to uncovering genetic risk factors to women’s health related disorders, such as polycystic ovary syndrome and pre-eclampsia.

Pia Villa has a Medical Degree (MD) from the University of Helsinki (1997) and she has specialised in Obstetrics and Gynecology in the University of Helsinki (2014). She was involved in the collection of the Predo cohort and her PhD thesis (2017, University of Helsinki) in Obstetrics and Gynecology concerned prediction and prevention of pre-eclampsia. She is a docent in Obstetrics and Gynecology (2021, University of Helsinki). She is a member of current care guidelines group involved with updating the national recommendations for treatment and follow-up of hypertension in pregnancy.

Jutta Sikkinen has a Medical Degree (MD) from the University of Tampere (1990). She has worked as a clinician both in Primary Health Care and Obstetrics and Gynecology. She specialized in Obstetrics and Gynecology (2003) and Perinatology (2006) in Tampere University. Currently she works as a clinical lecturer and specialist obstetrician in Tampere University and Tampere University Hospital. She is a researcher in PREMIuM project. Contact: jutta.sikkinen@tuni.fi

Dr. Anita Virtanen has graduated from Tampere University in 2004. She has first specialized in obstetrics and gynecology (2013), and later she has made subspeciality in maternal-fetal medicine. Currently, she is working as an obstetrician at Department of Gynecology and Obstetrics in Tampere University Hospital. Additionally, she is employed at Tampere University of Applied Sciences as a lecturer of obstetrics. She is finalizing her PhD thesis on angiogenesis in pre-eclampsia. Contact: anita.virtanen@fimnet.fi

Dr. Clémentine Denis has graduated from Medical School at the University of Nancy (France) in 2015. She is specializing in Gynecology and Obstetrics and works as a resident in Tampere University Hospital. She recently started her PhD research focusing on the use of metabolomics in preeclampsia.

Dr. Hanski has a Medical Degree (MD) from the University of Tampere (2015). She has worked in Medical Genetics Department in Tampere University Hospital since 2017. She is specializing in Clinical Genetics. She has started her PhD work on pregnancies of women with rare diseases.

Nina Keitaanpää began her medical studies at Tampere University in 2022. She has started her PhD project focusing on the impact of pre-eclampsia and genetic risk factors on maternal cardiovascular morbidity after pregnancy.

Anni Kivelä holds a Master of Science in nutrition, and is a registered nurse, contributing to the FINNCARE study. Since 2020, her main focus has been counseling families with a history of pre-eclampsia through a web-based lifestyle intervention. She is currently pursuing a PhD under the supervision of Hannele Laivuori and Tiina Jääskeläinen, focusing on how pre-eclampsia impacts women’s long-term health and the feasibility of a web-based lifestyle intervention for families where the mother had pre-eclampsia.

Anna Kivioja has a Medical Degree from University of Tampere (2019). Since then, she has worked in Primary Health Care and recently initiated her specializing in Obstetrics and Gynecology. Currently, she is on a maternity leave and has started her PhD thesis focusing on cardiovascular morbidity in women with hypertensive pregnancy disorders.

Lotta Nenonen is a medical student at Tampere University, where she began her studies in the fall of 2024. Starting in the summer of 2025, she will embark on her PhD work as part of the PREMIUM project. Her research focuses on the maternal microbiota and its relationship to neonate microbiota in both pre-eclamptic (PE) and non-PE pregnancies.

Laura Peltomäki has a Medical Degree from University of Tampere (2015). Since then, she has worked as a clinician both in Primary Health Care and Hospital. She specialized in Obstetrics and Gynecology (2023) in Tampere University. Currently, she is working as a specialist in gynecology and obstetrics in Satasairaala hospital (Wellbeing services county of Satakunta), clinical teacher in Turku University and has started her PhD thesis focusing on hypertensive pregnancy disorders and their association to psychiatric morbidity.