Finnish Academy Health from Science (TERVA) funding for TCDM coordinators prof. Anne Roivainen and Assistant prof. Eriika Savontaus

TCDM coordinators Anne Roivainen and Eriika Savontaus were successful in Finnish Academy Health from Science (TERVA) programme call. TERVA programme is aimed at encouraging Finnish researchers to seek bold, new research initiatives that can solve health issues related to major public health diseases.

TCDM coordinator of Animal Imaging, professor Anne Roivainen is part of “Reprogramming of macrophage phenotypes as early predictor of cardiovascular and metabolic disease development (MAP-CAD)” consortium, which will explore early predictors of cardiovascular and metabolic disease development. The consortium will combine state-of-the-art imaging, genomics and multiscale analysis approaches to develop tools to trace macrophage phenotypes, which could be highly valuable for disease prediction. Prof. Roivainen is developing new imaging agents for quantification of macrophage subpopulations by whole-body positron emission tomography (PET).

TCDM coordinator of Nutrition and Metabolism, Assistant professor Eriika Savontaus is part of “Better health for the next generations: Prevention of metabolic diseases by protecting the male germline epigenome (PROGERM)” consortium, which will explore the epigenetic mechanisms that transfer the metabolic diseases of the father to their children and weather treatment of the father before conception will prevent the metabolic diseases in the next generation. The project will use the TCDM expertise in mouse models of obesity and reproductive biology that will be combined to expertise in spermatogenesis and sperm epigenetics, and with sample collections in large well-defined epidemiological cohorts.