Leena Peltonen-Palotie (16 June 1952 – 11 March 2010) was a Finnish

geneticist A geneticist is a biologist or physician who studies genetics, the science of genes, heredity, and variation of organisms. A geneticist can be employed as a scientist or a lecturer. Geneticists may perform general research on genetic process ...

who contributed to the identification of 15 genes for

Finnish heritage disease A Finnish heritage disease is any genetic disease or disorder that is significantly more common in people whose ancestors were ethnic Finns, natives of Finland and Northern Sweden (Meänmaa) and Northwest Russia (Karelia and Ingria). There are 36 r ...

s, including

arterial hypertension Hypertension, also known as high blood pressure, is a long-term medical condition in which the blood pressure in the arteries is persistently elevated. High blood pressure usually does not cause symptoms itself. It is, however, a major risk ...

schizophrenia Schizophrenia () is a mental disorder characterized variously by hallucinations (typically, Auditory hallucination#Schizophrenia, hearing voices), delusions, thought disorder, disorganized thinking and behavior, and Reduced affect display, f ...

lactose intolerance Lactose intolerance is caused by a lessened ability or a complete inability to digest lactose, a sugar found in dairy products. Humans vary in the amount of lactose they can tolerate before symptoms develop. Symptoms may include abdominal pain ...

arthrosis Osteoarthritis is a type of degenerative joint disease that results from breakdown of joint cartilage and underlying bone. A form of arthritis, it is believed to be the fourth leading cause of disability in the world, affecting 1 in 7 adults in ...

and

multiple sclerosis Multiple sclerosis (MS) is an autoimmune disease resulting in damage to myelinthe insulating covers of nerve cellsin the brain and spinal cord. As a demyelinating disease, MS disrupts the nervous system's ability to Action potential, transmit ...

. She was considered one of the world's leading molecular geneticists.

Biography

Peltonen-Palotie was born in

Helsinki Helsinki () is the Capital city, capital and most populous List of cities and towns in Finland, city in Finland. It is on the shore of the Gulf of Finland and is the seat of southern Finland's Uusimaa region. About people live in the municipali ...

, but her family moved to

Oulu Oulu ( , ; ) is a city in Finland and the regional capital of North Ostrobothnia. It is located on the northwestern coast of the country at the mouth of the Oulujoki, River Oulu. The population of Oulu is approximately , while the Oulu sub-regio ...

when she was 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 A doctorate (from Latin ''doctor'', meaning "teacher") or doctoral degree is a postgraduate academic degree awarded by universities and some other educational institutions, derived from the ancient formalism '' licentia docendi'' ("licence to teach ...

thesis at the

University of Oulu The University of Oulu () is one of the largest universities in Finland, located in the city of Oulu. It was founded on July 8, 1958. The university has around 14,200 students and 3,800 staff. 21 International Master's Programmes are offer ...

in 1978. Peltonen-Palotie worked at the

National Public Health Institute of Finland The National Public Health Institute of Finland (KTL, , ) was a research and expert institute under the Ministry of Social Affairs and Health charged with the task of protecting and promoting health in Finland. KTL was founded in 1911; the final f ...

from 1987 to 1998. From 1998 to 2002 she helped found the

UCLA The University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA) is a public land-grant research university in Los Angeles, California, United States. Its academic roots were established in 1881 as a normal school then known as the southern branch of the C ...

Department of Human Genetics. She had a professorial position in the

Academy of Finland The Research Council of Finland (, ) is a governmental funding body for scientific research in Finland. Until August 2023, its official English-language name was Academy of Finland. It is based in Helsinki. Yearly, the council administers over ...

since 2003. In April 2005 Peltonen-Palotie was employed at the

University of Helsinki The University of Helsinki (, ; UH) is a public university in Helsinki, Finland. The university was founded in Turku in 1640 as the Royal Academy of Åbo under the Swedish Empire, and moved to Helsinki in 1828 under the sponsorship of Alexander ...

and the National Public Health Institute of Finland. She was also the project director for 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 Orion may refer to: Common meanings * Orion (constellation), named after the mythical hunter * Orion (mythology), a hunter in Greek mythology Arts and media Fictional entities Characters and species * Orion (character), a DC Comics c ...

, the largest Finnish pharmaceutical company. In September 2007, Peltonen-Palotie joined the

Wellcome Trust Sanger Institute The Wellcome Sanger Institute, previously known as The Sanger Centre and Wellcome Trust Sanger Institute, is a non-profit organisation, non-profit British genomics and genetics research institute, primarily funded by the Wellcome Trust. It is l ...

as the head of Human Genetics. She also headed research groups at the

Broad Institute The Eli and Edythe L. Broad Institute of MIT and Harvard (IPA: , pronunciation respelling: ), often referred to as the Broad Institute, is a biomedical and genomic research center located in Cambridge, Massachusetts, United States. The institu ...

MIT The Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) is a private research university in Cambridge, Massachusetts, United States. Established in 1861, MIT has played a significant role in the development of many areas of modern technology and sc ...

and

Harvard University Harvard University is a Private university, private Ivy League research university in Cambridge, Massachusetts, United States. Founded in 1636 and named for its first benefactor, the History of the Puritans in North America, Puritan clergyma ...

. Peltonen-Palotie published over 500 research articles and almost 80 invited articles, and mentored over 70

PhD student A Doctor of Philosophy (PhD, DPhil; or ) is a terminal degree that usually denotes the highest level of academic achievement in a given discipline and is awarded following a course of graduate study and original research. The name of the deg ...

s in her career. She died on 11 March 2010 at age 57 from

bone cancer A bone tumor is an neoplastic, abnormal growth of tissue in bone, traditionally classified as benign, noncancerous (benign) or malignant, cancerous (malignant). Cancerous bone tumors usually originate from a cancer in another part of the body su ...

Awards and honours

* In addition to many academic awards she received an

honorary degree An honorary degree is an academic degree for which a university (or other degree-awarding institution) has waived all of the usual requirements. It is also known by the Latin phrases ''honoris causa'' ("for the sake of the honour") or '' ad hon ...

from the Faculty of Medicine at

University of Uppsala Uppsala University (UU) () is a public research university in Uppsala, Sweden. Founded in 1477, it is the oldest university in Sweden and the Nordic countries still in operation. Initially founded in the 15th century, the university rose to s ...

in 2000, * In 2004, the Finnish television show listed Peltonen-Palotie as 77th of the 100 greatest Finns of all time. * In 2006, Peltonen-Palotie was awarded the Belgian and the Swedish prizes. In 2009, she was awarded the Finnish honorary title of Academician of Science. * On

International Women's Day International Women's Day (IWD) is celebrated on 8 March, commemorating women's fight for equality and liberation along with the women's rights movement. International Women's Day gives focus to issues such as gender equality, reproductive righ ...

2010, her achievements were honored in the form of a commemorative

postage stamp A postage stamp is a small piece of paper issued by a post office, postal administration, or other authorized vendors to customers who pay postage (the cost involved in moving, insuring, or registering mail). Then the stamp is affixed to the f ...

issued by the Finnish Post. * The Leena Peltonen Prize for Excellence in Human Genetics is named in her honor.

References

External links

Palotie, Leena (1952–2010).
Kansallisbiografia. {{DEFAULTSORT:Peltonen-Palotie, Leena 1952 births 2010 deaths Deaths from cancer in Finland Deaths from bone cancer Genetic epidemiologists Physicians from Helsinki University of Oulu alumni Wellcome Trust Finnish geneticists Finnish women physicians Finnish women scientists 20th-century Finnish physicians 20th-century women physicians Women geneticists Members of the National Academy of Medicine