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
  • In addition to many academic awards she received an honorary degree from the Faculty of Medicine at University of Uppsala in 2000,[10] and the University of Joensuu.
  • In 2004, the Finnish television show, Suuret suomalaiset, listed Peltonen-Palotie as 77th of the 100 greatest Finns of all time.
  • In 2006, Peltonen-Palotie was awarded the Belgian Prix van Gysel and the Swedish Stora Fernströmpriset prizes. In 2009, she was awarded the Finnish honorary title of Academician of Science.[4]
  • On International Women's Day 2010, her achievements were honored in the form of a commemorative postage stamp issued by the Finnish Post.[5]
  • The Leena Peltonen Prize for Excellence in Human Genetics is named in her honor.[11]
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References
  1. van Ommen, Gertjan (2010). "Obituary: Leena Peltonen-Palotie (1952–2010) A visionary in medical genetics". Nature. 464 (7291): 992–992. 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.
  3. http://www.sanger.ac.uk/research/faculty/lpeltonen/ Professor Leena Peltonen at the Wellcome Trust Sanger Institute
  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 (2009-10-30). "Tieteen akateemikolle riittää vielä haasteita". Kaleva (in Finnish). Oulu. Retrieved 2015-05-20.
  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. http://www.uu.se/en/about-uu/traditions/prizes/honorary-doctorates/
  11. mari.kaunisto (2017-09-05). "Leena Peltonen (Palotie) prize 2018 – Call for submission of candidates". FIMM. Retrieved 2019-03-07.
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