Leena Peltonen-Palotie

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]

Leena Peltonen-Palotie
Born(1952-06-16)16 June 1952
Helsinki, Finland
Died11 March 2010(2010-03-11) (aged 57)[1][2]
Helsinki, Finland
CitizenshipFinland
Alma materUniversity of Oulu
Scientific career
FieldsMolecular geneticist
InstitutionsUniversity of Oulu,
National Public Health Institute of Finland,
UCLA Department of Human Genetics,
Academy of Finland,
Wellcome Trust Sanger Institute,[3]
Orion Corporation

Biography

Peltonen-Palotie was born in Helsinki, but her family moved to Oulu when she was just five years old. She completed her secondary education at the Finnish Co-educational Lycée of Oulu, graduating in 1971. Peltonen-Palotie went on to study medicine, receiving her Licentiate of Medicine degree in 1976, and completed her doctoral thesis at the University of Oulu in 1978.[6]

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.[7] 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,[8] and mentored over 70 PhD students in her career.[5]

She died on 11 March 2010[4] from bone cancer.[9]

Awards and honours

References
  1. van Ommen, Gertjan (2010). "Obituary: Leena Peltonen-Palotie (1952–2010) A visionary in medical genetics". Nature. 464 (7291): 992. doi:10.1038/464992a. PMID 20393553.
  2. Pincock, S. (2010). "Leena Peltonen-Palotie". The Lancet. 375 (9726): 1604–1608. doi:10.1016/S0140-6736(10)60693-9. S2CID 54430674.
  3. "Professor Leena Peltonen at the Wellcome Trust Sanger Institute". Archived from the original on 23 December 2012.
  4. "Obituary: Professor Leena Peltonen-Palotie, Academician of Science". Helsinki: Academy of Finland. 11 March 2010. Archived from the original on 16 March 2010. Retrieved 11 March 2010.
  5. "Leena Peltonen-Palotie (1952–2010) – Internationally renowned geneticist dies at 57". Helsingin Sanomat. 11 March 2010. Archived from the original on 14 March 2010. Retrieved 11 March 2010.
  6. Alanikula, Sanna; Laine, Senni (30 October 2009). "Tieteen akateemikolle riittää vielä haasteita" [There are still enough challenges for the academician of science]. Kaleva (in Finnish). Oulu. Retrieved 20 May 2015.
  7. "In Memoriam: Leena Peltonen". Archived from the original on 8 July 2010. Retrieved 17 November 2010.
  8. Peltonen, Leena at ISIHighlyCited.com
  9. "Leena Palotie kuoli syöpään" (in Finnish). Ilta-Sanomat. 11 March 2010. Retrieved 11 March 2010.
  10. "Honorary Doctors of the Faculty of Medicine". Uppsala University, Sweden. Retrieved 11 May 2023.
  11. mari.kaunisto (5 September 2017). "Leena Peltonen (Palotie) prize 2018 – Call for submission of candidates". FIMM. Retrieved 7 March 2019.
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