Foundation

Health through research

The non-profit foundation supports, promotes and maintains research in clinical medicine and other university-level health sciences in Turku University Hospital and its area of influence.

For researchers

Donate

Awards work and travel scholarships annually.
Provides working facilities to 18 researchers in the vicinity of TYKS.
Grants an award of merit of € 15,000 to a distinguished researcher in medical or health sciences.
Awards of merit have been granted to Jorma Viikari, Professor of Internal Medicine (2008), Olli Simell, Professor of Paediatrics (2012), André Sourander, Professor of Paediatric Psychiatry (2020) and Olli Ruuskanen, Professor of Infectious Diseases (2022).

What is currently researched

In clinical research, the aim is always to improve the patient’s treatment.

Clinical research:

Improves disease prevention.
Develops diagnostics, or detection, of diseases.
Produces better and more effective treatments.
Reduces care costs.

From research to better care

Clinical research increases our understanding of diseases, their prevention, diagnosis and treatment, and supports the promotion of health. Research is carried out in close connection with patient care, with the aim of developing more effective practices and improving treatment.

Through these researcher stories, you can explore topics supported by the TYKS Foundation. Researchers describe their work in their own words and explain how research progresses from an initial idea to practical benefit.

Board of the TYKS Foundation

Mari Lahti
D.H.Sc., post doc, Principal Lecturer, Turku University of Applied Sciences

Johanna Lempainen
Docent, Chief of Department, Turku University Hospital

Terhi Mäki
LL.M., Head of Administration, Rausanne Oy

Olli-Pekka Saario
LL.B., Finnish honorary title of kauppaneuvos

Sanna Salanterä
Professor of Clinical Nursing, University of Turku

Jari-Pekka Tuominen
LL.M., Administrative Director, Hospital District of Southwest Finland

Mikko Pietilä, Chair
Docent, Director of Hospital District (Deputy), The well-being services county of Southwest Finland

Researcher stories

Measuring the Body’s Stress Hormone to Gain Insight into the Effects of Retirement

Konsta Kuusento is a 31-year-old Licentiate of Medicine from Turku. “I graduated as a physician from the University of Turku in 2020, in the middle of the COVID-19 pandemic. I have mainly worked in primary health care and am specializing in general practice. I started the doctoral program in clinical research at the University of

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

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.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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