Special Report: Actively networking Faculty of Medicine in Oulu
The Faculty of Medicine (FoM) in the northern Finnish city of Oulu is an essential part of the Life Sciences Campus Kontinkangas and is situated next to the University Hospital of Oulu and several other organisations of health and wellbeing such as the Faculty of Biochemistry and Molecular Medicine. The campus is a unique combination of partners in research, education, health services and business.
The FoM is one of the most versatile medical faculties in Finland and is composed of research and education in six disciplines. In addition to MD and DDS degrees the students can accomplish master’s level education in nursing science, health management science, teacher education in health science and in medical and wellness technology. International master’s programmes are offered in medical and wellbeing technology and in wellbeing in the Arctic region.
The FoM is strongly integrated with the surrounding society that awaits new discoveries suitable for innovative industry and highly educated experts. In addition, the communities and the state also benefit from the expertise of the faculty in the organisation and critical evaluation of their basic services and duties.
Research
The faculty has several world-class research consortiums. Three of them are raised here as examples of the versatility of research: Northern Finland Birth Cohort data, paediatric diabetes research, and ICT and health.
Birth cohorts
The University of Oulu-owned Northern Finland Birth Cohort (NFBC, www.oulu.fi/nfbc/node/18080) represents the world’s largest collection of data from early pregnancy until adult senescence, including almost every aspect of basic, epidemiologic and clinical data. The data consists of a continuously expanding collection of genetic, epigenetic, molecular and clinical data from 12,058 newborns enrolled in 1966 and 9,432 newborns enrolled in 1986. This was followed up for 46 years for the 1966 cohort and up to 15/16 years for the 1986 cohort. The next major analysis will be at a 32-year time point for the NFBC1986 cohort in 2017-2018.
The NFBC was initiated in the 1960s to examine risk factors involved in pre-term birth and intrauterine growth retardation, and the consequences of these early adverse outcomes on subsequent morbidity. It was one of the first studies to confirm the harmful effects of maternal smoking on the growth of the foetus and child disability. The early-life data provides an invaluable reservoir to test prospective hypotheses linking early life exposure and later health. NFBC data has contributed to research regarding the epidemiology of psychiatric disorders, overweight, diabetes etc. The NFBC has established a strong network consisting of the world’s leading epidemiologists, statisticians, geneticists, biochemists, physiologists, endocrinologists and clinicians.
The NFBC includes two longitudinal and prospective birth cohorts of women and offspring collected at 20-year intervals from the same provinces of Oulu and Lapland (Fig. 2).
The Finnish Type 1 Diabetes Prediction and Prevention Study – DIPP
Type 1 diabetes (T1D) risk can be predicted by genetic, immunological and metabolic markers. Finland has the highest incidence of T1D in the world among children. The DIPP Study has screened 206,707 newborns for HLA-conferred genetic susceptibility for T1D. A total of 16,193 children have started clinical follow-up with regular study visits and systematic collection of longitudinal blood and stool samples. Altogether, more than 1,000 children have seroconverted to positivity for multiple islet autoantibodies (ICA included). A total of 461 children and adolescents have progressed to clinical T1D with DIPP follow-up from birth until diagnosis. Currently there are 7,158 children between three months and 15 years of age taking part in the DIPP Study follow-up. A total of 708 of these have ≥2 islet autoantibodies when including ICA, and 394 when excluding ICA. In addition, subjects older than 15 years that tested positive for multiple (≥2) autoantibodies remained in follow-up in the DIPP centres for their glucose metabolism.
ICT and health
The U will strengthen ICT for health and wellbeing by creating a new, well-aligned research agenda between core groups in ICT by forming the ‘Medical ICT Center’, together with the FoM and Oulu University Hospital. The key themes within this area are healthcare IT systems, biomedical signal analysis (e.g. cardiovascular, brain, autonomic nervous system, respiration, physical activity), multimodal medical image and data analysis, data-intensive wireless and cloud services (e.g. biobanks, cohorts, elderly care and post-treatment rehabilitation), HCI, and persuasive technologies (i.e. technologies designed to modify user attitudes or behaviours through the means of persuasion and social influence). Specifically, persuasive technologies are becoming increasingly important in various applications of health, including interventions for weight management, obesity, metabolic syndrome, and many other topics. Thus, to strengthen this area, a tenure track in persuasive technology with applications in health information will be considered in future AF calls.
Societal collaboration
It is now recognised that wellbeing and health-related businesses are the fields where there has been and will be constant growth, and that the core of developing innovations lies in close partnerships between the public and private sector, and that research activities as such produce significant added value to patients and thereby to the entire healthcare system. Moreover, the Northern Ostrobothnia Hospital District is investing €500m in reconstructing and rebuilding a new hospital, the Future Hospital 2030. The hospital will be made respecting and recognising the possibilities to integrate modern teaching, research and training into it.
The Faculty of Medicine in Oulu collaborates closely with partners from the service sector, research institutes and research units as well as with several companies. Collaboration emphasises the focus area of utilising ICT solutions and innovations to influence the wellbeing of the region. Oulu, being especially known for its high technology, is the most ideal region to answer national demands concerning future expectations to maintain the wellbeing of northern Finland and the whole country and aims to become an internationally attractive hub combining different specialised fields in health, natural sciences, ICT and business to create patient-friendly technologies, prosperity and wellness in the Oulu region.
Kyösti Oikarinen
Dean
Faculty of Medicine
University of Oulu, Finland
+358 294 48 0000
