Researcher Stories
The TYKS Foundation promotes research in medicine and health sciences conducted at Turku University Hospital. The Foundation supports new research initiatives, basic research, and clinical research integrated into patient care by, among other means, providing research facilities as well as awarding grants and recognition prizes.
These stories give voice to researchers who are building better diagnostics and treatments while deepening our understanding of diseases. They reflect on the significance of their work – how research, at its best, can change the course of a patient’s life.
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Writing a doctoral dissertation on neonatal oxygen deficiency while completing a medical degree
Niina Viitaharju, a fifth-year medical student, spun her advanced studies topic on neonatal oxygen deficiency into a doctoral dissertation project. Since 2023, she has worked for a clinical research programme on the topic in Turku. At the moment, her Lic. Med. degree and part of her dissertation work is set to be completed by spring–summer…
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Taru Garthwaite, PhD, received funding for a conference trip in sports medicine
Taru Garthwaite’s doctoral dissertation in clinical physiology and nuclear medicine was examined at the University of Turku in September 2024. In July 2024, she presented her research at the 29th Annual Congress of the European College of Sport Science in Glasgow. The TYKS Foundation enabled her participation with a travel grant.
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More physical activity and mobility is needed in 24-hour care of older adults
“We in Finland have made shockingly low investments in caring for older adults. We are leaving older generations behind as we tear down our care services for older adults and make our care criteria increasingly stringent,” says Noora Narsakka, MSc (Public Health), who, in her doctoral dissertation on nursing, examines how physical activity and mobility…
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Artificial intelligence for developing clinical decision-making support systems
The development of modern-day health care is increasingly multidisciplinary, involving not only traditional medicine, nursing science and laboratory fields but also, for example, computing scientists and other natural scientists in joint technology projects. Akseli Reunamo graduated with a master’s degree in Biology, from Physiology and Genetics line, from the University of Turku, in 2022. At…
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TYKS Foundation helped enable important further training in Canada
10 October 2022 Docent and Chief Physician Peter Boström, Director of the Administrative Branch of Urology at Turku University Hospital, has received valuable further training abroad. The TYKS Foundation supported this training with a scholarship for three years. Peter Boström decided to specialise in urology. He had specialised in surgery because of his dissertation on…
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André Sourander, founder and director of the Research Centre for Child Psychiatry, is a distinguished and versatile researcher of mental health problems among children and young people.
18 June 2020 The research conducted by André Sourander, Professor of Child Psychiatry, has grown into a research unit for child psychiatry consisting of 55 researchers in Turku. The unit’s achievements include the development of digital support services for children and parents that have been proven to be effective through research. They can be used…
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TYKS Foundation provides a wide range of support to researchers of nursing
10 October 2022 Johanna Olli, Master of Health Sciences, is preparing her doctoral dissertation on supporting the inclusion of children with disabilities. The topic emerged from her own nurse’s work with paediatric neurology patients. She sees the dissemination of research results as a duty of the researcher. When working in paediatric neurology at the Kymenlaakso…
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Advancing the treatment of children’s ear infections
12 October 2022 Paula Tähtinen’s doctoral dissertation on antibiotic treatment of children’s ear infections was examined at the University of Turku in 2012. Families with children who participated in a research project led by Docent Aino Ruohola knew the study as a Pikkunorsu (English: Little Elephant). The research unit of the TYKS Foundation was important…
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The TYKS Foundation helped initiating research on children’s infections
12 October 2022 Lauri Ivaska graduated as licentiate of medicine from the University of Turku in 2009. After that, he worked for, e.g., the Mynämäki and Paimio health centres, the joint emergency services of Turku University Hospital (TYKS) and the anaesthesiology and paediatric units of the Central Hospital of Central Finland before specialist training in…
