Jaakko Tuomilehto

Dr. Jaakko Tuomilehto

Creator of the Findrisc test
University of Helsinki, Finland
Department of Public Health, Finlandia

Biography

Professor Jaakko Tuomilehto, MD, MPolSc, PhD, is Professor of Public Health at the University of Helsinki, Finland. He is Chief Scientific Officer (CSO) of Dasman Diabetes Institute, Kuwait. He is also affiliated with the Diabetes and Genetic Epidemiology Unit of the National Public Health Institute in Helsinki, Finland, and holds positions as Professor at the Danube-University Krems, Austria. Dr. Tuomilehto received his medical degree from the University of Turku in Finland, followed by an MPolSc in sociology, statistics, and psychology. He also completed his PhD in Epidemiology and Community Medicine at the University of Kuoprio, Finland. Dr. Tuomilehto has been involved in a number of key cardiovascular prevention studies, including the North Karelia Project, the FINMONICA Study (the Finnish part of the WHO MONICA project), DECODE and DECODA. He initiated the Finnish Diabetes Prevention Study, the landmark study for the primary prevention of type 2 diabetes. Dr. Tuomilehto is a member of several national and international committees and the chair of the Finnish Epidemiological Society and the Neuroepidemiology Science Panel of the European Federation of Neurological Sciences. He is past president of the Finnish Society of Hypertension, International Diabetes Epidemiology Group. He is also a member of numerous scientific societies, including the International Society of Hypertension and the European Society of Cardiology.

Publications

Dr. Tuomilehto has published over 800 peer-reviewed original articles and an estimated 200 editorials, reviews and book chapters. He has also served on the advisory boards of many scientific journals.

Awards

Dr. Tuomilehto has been presented with a number of prestigious awards including: India’s Prof. M. Viswanathan DRC Silver Jubilee Oration Award; Hans Chiari Award of the Austrian Stroke Research Society, the Kelly West Award for Outstanding Achievement in Epidemiology from the American Diabetes Association and the Peter Bennett Diabetes Epidemiology Award from the International Epidemiology Group.