In spotlight

Dr Mika Ala-Korpela has been appointed to a Chair in Computational Medicine in the University of Oulu, Faculty of Medicine, Institute of Clinical Medicine. University of Oulu is thus among the pioneers in the world to recognise this new scientific field.

FT Mika Ala-Korpela nimitetty laskennallisen lääketieteen professoriksi

Metabonomiikkatutkimukseen rahoitusta Suomen Akatemiasta


Recent publications

Estimation of VLDL, IDL, LDL, HDL2, apoA-I and apoB from the Friedewald inputs – apoB and IDL, but not LDL, are associated with mortality in type 1 diabetes.
Annals of Medicine, in press, 2009.

A multi-metabolite analysis of serum by 1H NMR spectroscopy: early systemic signs of Alzheimer's disease. Biochemical and Biophysical Research Communications 375, 356-361, 2008.

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.


Meet us

M. Ala-Korpela at Metabomeeting 2009 in Norwich, UK on July 5-8, 2009 M. Ala-Korpela & A. J. Kangas at The Netherlands Metabolomics Centre (NMC) in Utrecht, The Netherlands on July 10, 2009 M. Ala-Korpela at The 26th Annual Meeting of the European Society for Magnetic Resonance in Medicine and Biology (ESMRMB 2009) in Antalya, Turkey on October 1-3, 2009 M. Ala-Korpela at A seminar day at the Central South University in Changsha, China on October 26, 2009

Computational Medicine Research Group
- multidisciplinary organisation

The Computational Medicine Research Group is homed by the University of Oulu and Biocenter Oulu, Faculty of Medicine, Institute of Clinical Medicine, Oulu, Finland. The Group is lead by Prof. Mika Ala-Korpela.

Computational Medicine is a new multidisciplinary field of research to understand the biological mechanisms and to improve the diagnosis, prediction and treatment of human diseases through applications of computational science. Our scientific focus is in the area of metabonomics and systems biology applications in the early risk assessment, prediction and molecular understanding of vascular diseases and their complications. Our mission can be specified as:

- To develop holistic methodologies to understand the molecular aetiology, risk assessment, prevention, diagnostics and treatment of common human diseases via systems biology perspective and with multidisciplinary data, multimodal imaging and bioinformatics;

- To develop personalised approaches reflecting the natural complexity of human (patho)physiology and the intrinsically indistinct borderline between health and disease;

- To take advantage of various ‘omics sciences and the digitalisation of information to develop innovative socio-economical approaches to save money from the society and to reduce human suffering.

The Group is now part of the Academy of Finland Responding to Public Health Challenges Research Programme (SALVE) 2009-2012 in collaboration with Prof. Markku Savolainen (University of Oulu and Biocenter Oulu) who is leading the metabolic consortium entitled Improved methods of lifestyle modification for patients at high risk for metabolic syndrome. Additional funding for the subproject lead by Prof. Marjo-Riitta Järvelin was awarded from the Imperial College, London. The subproject lead by Prof. Mika Ala-Korpela is entitled 1H NMR metabonomics - a holistic molecular approach on individual disease risk assessment and focuses on the development and applications of this new technology to the risk assessment of common vascular diseases.

Together with our collaborators we now form an international computational medicine research consortium focusing on common vascular diseases and their interplay; currently ~60 scientists from ~25 laboratories in ~12 countries are involved.

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’

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

Nature News, 1 March, 2007

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

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

Mika Ala-Korpela, PhD
Professor in Computational Medicine

University of Oulu & Biocenter Oulu
Faculty of Medicine
Institute of Clinical Medicine
FI-90014 University of Oulu
Finland

Mobile: + 358 50 35 35 457
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