In spotlight

A multi-metabolite analysis of serum by 1H NMR spectroscopy: early systemic signs of Alzheimer's disease. Biochemical and Biophysical Research Communications 2008, in press.

Metabolic phenotypes, vascular complications and premature deaths in a population of 4,197 patients with type 1 diabetes. Diabetes 2008, in press.

1H NMR metabonomics approach to the disease continuum of diabetic complications and premature death a featured article in Molecular Systems Biology 4, 167 (1-12), 2008

Computational Medicine Research Group
- multidisciplinary organisation

This is the home page for the Computational Medicine Research Group. The Group was launched from scratch in summer 2004 in the Laboratory of Computational Engineering (LCE) at the Helsinki University of Technology (HUT). Currently the Group and its scientific research are a joint endeavour of the Department of Biomedical Engineering and Computational Science (BECS) at HUT and the Department of Diabetes Genetics at the Folkhälsan Research Center, Biomedicum, Helsinki, Finland. The Group is also part of the Academy of Finland Centre of Excellence in Computational Complex Systems Research (2006-2011). The Group is lead by Dr Mika Ala-Korpela in collaboration with Prof Kimmo Kaski (Head of the Centre of Excellence at BECS) and Dr Per-Henrik Groop (Head of the Department of Diabetes Genetics at Folkhälsan).

Towards personalised medicine

This application of 1H NMR metabonomics of serum demonstrates the diffuse nature of complex vascular diseases and the limitations of single diagnostic biomarkers, but it also promises cost-effective solutions through high-throughput analytics and advanced computational methods, as illustrated here for patients with type 1 diabetes in a real clinical situation.

Mäkinen, Soininen, Forsblom, Parkkonen, Ingman, Kaski, Groop & Ala-Korpela Molecular Systems Biology 4, 167 (1-12), 2008

Understanding the factors that influence human health and cause diseases has always been a driving force of research. With the exciting progress in high-throughput analytical techniques and the profound integration of experimental and computational approaches, medicine has newly got hold of new technological and conceptual tools for holistic investigations of living organisms at the system level. The still young discipline of systems biology has mostly been applied to study well-characterised model organisms. However, the first human studies also report on tremendous opportunities that combined molecular and computational technologies can have for the progress of personalised and predictive medicine.

Metabonomics – a new field of ‘omics’

1H NMR spectroscopy techniques are rather fast and straightforward to apply to all biofluids in vitro and also to various tissues ex vivo and in vivo – approaches combining data on various biofluids and/or tissues of the same individuals (integrated metabonomics) are thus increasingly used to study systems level biochemistry.

Ala-Korpela Expert Review of Molecular Diagnostics 7, 761–773, 2007

In retrospect, we wonder why we spent millions on the genome.

Nature News, 1 March, 2007

Genomics, transcriptomics and proteomics, represent the ‘genomistic’ main discipline in life sciences. The phenotype of a biological system, however, is principally reflected by its metabolite composition and their interactions. Therefore, a key ‘omics’ in understanding of biomolecular function is metabonomics: the measurements of multi-metabolic responses to pathophysiological stimuli or genetic modifications. Mass spectrometry (MS) and 1H nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) spectroscopy have become the two key technologies in this area. An appealing feature of NMR is its specific yet non-selective nature.

Measuring metabolites is not new. For decades, clinicians have charted chemistries in blood, urine, and other body fluids - using glucose to track diabetes and cholesterol to monitor heart disease, for example. What is new in the metabonomics approach is that we are now casting a wider net, attempting to gather an unbiased sample of metabolites that can serve as a snapshot of an organism's physiology. The ultimate goal of metabonomics is to be able to distinguish between an individual who is healthy and someone who has (the diagnostic dimension) - or might develop (the risk assessment dimension) - a disease.

A schematic simplification of the challenge related to the risk assessment and diagnosis of atherothrombosis

Towards new technological platforms

The presented novel scheme utilising magnetic resonance methodologies in the risk assessment of long-term risk for atherothrombotic events might be operational in the near future saving both human suffering and societal health costs.

Ala-Korpela, Sipola & Kaski Annals of Medicine 38, 322-336, 2006

One of the great challenges for 21st century medicine is to deliver effective therapies that are tailored to the biological state of an individual to enable personalised healthcare solutions. We have recently outlined the advantages of magnetic resonance (MR) technologies in detecting molecular and cellular processes related to developing coronary heart disease (CHD): lipoprotein subclass analytics by in vitro 1H NMR metabonomics of serum is used for risk assessment and in vivo MR imaging for direct detection of plaque composition and vulnerability. This would clinically facilitate early individual primary prevention and also give a personal rationale to comply with lifestyle modifications and potential drug therapies.

A potential scheme utilising MR methodologies in the risk assessment of atherothrombotic events.

More information

Dr Mika Ala-Korpela
Group Leader in Computational Medicine

The Academy of Finland Centre of Excellence in Computational Complex Systems Research 2006-2011

Helsinki University of Technology
Faculty of Information and Natural Sciences
Department of Biomedical Engineering and Computational Science
P.O. Box 9203
FI-02015 HUT
Finland    &

The Folkhälsan Research Center
Institute of Genetics, Department of Diabetes Genetics
The FinnDiane Study Group
P.O. Box 63, Biomedicum
00014 University of Helsinki
Finland    &

Helsinki University Central Hospital, Department of Medicine,
Division of Nephrology, Helsinki, Finland

Mobile: + 358 50 35 35 457
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