a biography of the day-leena peltonen-palotie (leading molecular geneticist)
Leena Peltonen-Palotie
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Leena Peltonen-Palotie
Born June 16, 1952
Helsinki, Finland
Died March 11, 2010 (aged 57)[1][2]
Helsinki, Finland
Citizenship Finland
Fields Molecular geneticist
Institutions University of OULU,
National Public Health Institute of Finland,
UCLA Department of Human Genetics,
Academy of Finland,
Wellcome Trust Sanger Institute,[3]
Orion Corporation
Alma mater University of Oulu
Leena Peltonen-Palotie (16 June 1952 – 11 March 2010[4]) was a Finnish geneticist who contributed to the identification of 15 genes for Finnish heritage diseases, including arterial hypertension, schizophrenia, lactose intolerance, arthrosis and multiple sclerosis. She was considered one of the world's leading molecular geneticists.[4][5]
Born in Helsinki, Finland, Peltonen-Palotie received her license (Licentiate of Medicine) in 1976 and in 1978, presented her dissertation to graduate to Doctor of Science in Medicine from the University of Oulu.
Peltonen-Palotie worked at the National Public Health Institute of Finland 1987–1998. From 1998 to 2002 she helped found the UCLA Department of Human Genetics.[6] She had a professorial position in the Academy of Finland since 2003. In April 2005 Peltonen-Palotie was employed in the University of Helsinki and the National Public Health Institute of Finland. She was also the project director in the EU project GenomEUtwin that was formed to define and characterize the genetic components in the background of different diseases. In 2004 she became a member of the Board of Directors of Orion Corporation, the largest Finnish pharmaceutical company. In September 2007, Peltonen-Palotie joined the Wellcome Trust Sanger Institute as the head of Human Genetics. She also headed research groups at the Broad Institute of MIT and Harvard University.[5]
Peltonen-Palotie published over 500 research articles and almost 80 invited articles,[7] and mentored over 70 PhD students in her career.[5] In addition to many academic awards she received honorary degrees from the University of Uppsala and the University of Joensuu. In 2006, Peltonen-Palotie was awarded the Belgian prize Prix van Gysel and the Swedish prize Stora Fernströmpriset. In 2009, she was awarded the honorary title of Academician of Science in Finland.[4]
In 2004 the Finnish television show, Suuret suomalaiset, listed Peltonen-Palotie as 77th of the 100 greatest Finns of all time. On International Women's Day 2010, her achievements were honored in the form of a commemorative postage stamp issued by the Finnish Post.[5]
Peltonen-Palotie was married to fellow molecular geneticist, Aarno Palotie,[8] with whom she had two children.[5] She died on 11 March 2010[4] from bone cancer.[9]
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Leena_Peltonen-Palotie
The Lancet
Leena Peltonen-Palotie
Leading molecular geneticist. Born on June 16, 1952, in Helsinki, Finland, she died of cancer on March 11, 2010, aged 57 years.
Some scientists achieve renown among their peers without ever becoming household names. This was not the fate of Leena Peltonen-Palotie, dynamic and charismatic molecular geneticist whose towering scientific profile was matched by a level of popular fame that prompted a 2004 television programme to name her among the 100 greatest Finns of all time. “She was extremely well known in the past few years”, says Pekka Puska, director general of the Finnish National Public Health Institute. “That was one of her skills, explaining to the general public the importance of the work she did.”
Peltonen-Palotie's work was focused on studying the genetics of disease—initially single-gene diseases, and later the way that genes and the environment interact to cause more complex and common conditions. Her teams mapped more than 20 diseases, including early dementia and numerous early lethal syndromes, including Meckel syndrome. More recently, she pioneered the use of population isolates to investigate polygenic diseases, such as multiple sclerosis, schizophrenia, bipolar disease, obesity, and heart disease.
Leena Peltonen-Palotie earned her medical degree and PhD from the University of Oulu, Finland, and went on to do a postdoctoral fellowship at Rutgers Medical School, New Jersey, USA. Later, she returned to Finland and, in 1987, joined the National Public Health Institute. In 1998, she returned to the USA to establish a major genetics research centre at the University of California Los Angeles (UCLA), which she led for 4 years before heading once again to Finland in 2002, to take up a professorship at the University of Helsinki and the National Public Health Institute.
Aside from a prodigious research output that resulted in more than 500 papers, Peltonen-Palotie turned her energy to many international groups and collaborations. In recent years she accepted a role as Visiting Professor at the Broad Institute, one of the world's leading genetics institutions and assumed the position of Head of Human Genetics at the Wellcome Trust Sanger Institute in Cambridge, UK—posts she held concurrently with her roles in Finland. She also served on many national and international bodies, including as Chairman of the European Medical Research Council, President of the Human Genome Organization, on the Board of Directors of the American Society of Human Genetics, President of the European Society of Human Genetics, and as member of the Scientific Board of European Research Council. In 2004 she became a member of the Board of Directors of Orion Corporation, the largest Finnish pharmaceutical company.
Amid all this, Peltonen-Palotie also managed to inspire the young scientists she worked with. “She was a master in recruiting young people”, said Puska. “She really was a model for dozens and dozens of young scientists.” She had the ability to inspire, said one of those younger scientists, Samuli Ripatti, from the Institute for Molecular Medicine Finland, who worked with her in recent years. “One of Leena's specialities was her ability to listen carefully, think fast, and make you want to go out and make a difference. Aim for the best. And she was able to make it always sound both simple and the only natural way of working”, says Ripatti.
Peltonen-Palotie received many tributes during her career, including being commemorated recently on a postage stamp in her home country. But perhaps the most important honour came in October, 2009, when the Finnish President, Tarja Halonen, bestowed on her the title of Academician of Science. This was a rare honour for someone as young as she was. These titles are held by no more than 12 Finnish scientists and scholars at a time. “Academician Leena Peltonen-Palotie has been a role model, both to scientists around the world and to individuals who hope to embark on careers in research. She has left a void in the Finnish scientific community that will be impossible to fill”, said Markku Mattila, President of the Academy of Finland.
Leena Peltonen-Palotie is survived by her husband, fellow molecular geneticist, Aarno Palotie, and two children, Laura and Kristian.
http://www.thelancet.com/journals/lancet/article/PIIS0140-6736%2810%2960693-9/fulltext
