Studies of 2025

Extracellular vesicle based prediction of suicide (pilot project)

Edwin van den Oord, Virginia Commonwealth University

More than 700,000 people worldwide die each year due to suicide and each suicide has a profound impact on a large circle of relatives and friends. Current methods for predicting suicide attempts are not accurate, making it impossible to identify people who are at risk for attempting suicide. The main aim of this project is to discover new powerful markers released by brain cells into the blood stream that improve the prediction and can be used by clinicians to prevent suicide.

Genetic and Behavioral Factors for Smoking and Suicide

Lloyd Balbuena, University of Saskatchewan

This project will pursue methodological and substantive aims. The methodological aims will compare two types of mediation models to understand what happens if their assumptions are violated. We will then apply these models to FinnGen phenotypes and genomes to examine how smoking behaviors, mental health diagnoses, and suicide deaths are related. We will also use FinnGen data as a reference panel for the development of statistical genetics tools to better understand how ancestral differences impact traits, and to see if using individual-level data have an added benefit over summary statistics.

Precision medicine workflows in colorectal and prostate cancer (”iCAN Tampere”)

Toni Seppälä, Tampere University Hospital

The iCAN Tampere initiative focuses on precision medicine for colorectal and prostate cancers. It aims to enhance therapeutic decision-making and understand cancer biology through comprehensive molecular profiling. Key objectives include implementing Extended Molecular Profiling (EMP) for metastatic colorectal cancer, standardizing non-operative management of rectal cancer, and investigating tumor microenvironment in prostate cancer. The project involves multi-center clinical trials (EMOPRO, NORPPA1) and advanced genomic techniques (WGS, WTS, scRNA-seq). This collaborative effort seeks to revolutionize cancer treatment, improve patient outcomes, and contribute to precision oncology advancements.

Genetic and biological background and follow-up of different phenotypes of coeliac disease

Teea Salmi, Tampere University Hospital

Coeliac disease is an immune-mediated disease with a diverse clinical picture. Dermatitis herpetiformis (DH), cutaneous manifestation of coeliac disease, is the best described extraintestinal phenotype of the disease. Increasing evidence shows differences in disease prognosis across the phenotypes of coeliac disease. Especially DH patients have been associated with decreased mortality, and decreased risk for malignancies and comorbidities when compared with other phenotypes of coeliac disease. The reasons for these differences remain unclear. This study aims to elucidate the association between clinical symptoms and disease prognosis with genetic, serological, immunological, and microbiological factors. The objective is to enable more personalized care.

Identification of gene defects causing Lynch syndrome from biobank samples and returning the information to the sample donors (RETURN study)

Toni Seppälä, Tampere University

In this biobank study, carriers of gene defects (hundreds) causing hereditary cancer syndrome (Lynch syndrome) are sought, whose gene findings are validated and the information is returned to the biobanks without knowing the identity of the sample donors. The biobank provides the researchers' contact information and the research information to the sample donors, who, if they wish, can participate in the study, where they receive genetic counseling and are directed to healthcare services for confirming the diagnosis and further treatment. Instead of participating in the study, those who make contact have the option to directly access healthcare services with a referral. The purpose of the study is to determine the attitudes of biobank donors towards returning genetic information and the effects of returning it.