Clinical Alzheimer Research Program

 

Hilkka Soininen
Professor

Department of Neurology 
Building 5, 8th floor 
Kuopio University Hospital 
Kuopio, Finland

+358-(0)40-5735749
+358-(0)17-173 019 (fax)
hilkka.soininen( at )uef.fi

Present Positions

  • Professor of Neurology
  • Director of the unit

Major Research Interests

  • Alzheimer's disease and memory disorders:
    - diagnostic markers, genetics, neuroimaging, therapy

Major Positions and Appointments

  • Teaching assistant, Kuopio University, 1981-1987
  • Acting Associate Professor in Neurology, Kuopio University, 1987-1988
  • Junior Researcher, Academy of Finland, 1988-1991, 1992-1995
  • Visiting Professor, Southern Illinois University School of Medicine, Springfield, Illinois, 1988-1989
  • Acting Professor in Neurology, Kuopio University, 1989-1990, 1995-1999
  • Professor in Neurology, 2000 -

Selected Publications

Down-regulation of seladin-1 increases bace1 levels and activity through enhanced GGA3 depletion during apoptosis. Sarajarvi T, Haapasalo A, Viswanathan J, Makinen P, Laitinen M, Soininen H, Hiltunen M. J Biol Chem. J Biol Chem. 2009 Dec 4;284(49):34433-43.

Diffusion tensor imaging and Tract-Based Spatial Statistics in Alzheimer's disease and mild cognitive impairment. Liu Y, Spulber G, Lehtimäki KK, Könönen M, Hallikainen I, Gröhn H, Kivipelto M, Hallikainen M, Vanninen R, Soininen H. Neurobiol Aging. 2009 Nov 11. [Epub ahead of print]

Cortical Thickness Analysis to Detect Progressive Mild Cognitive Impairment: A Reference to Alzheimer's Disease. Julkunen V, Niskanen E, Muehlboeck S, Pihlajamäki M, Könönen M, Hallikainen M, Kivipelto M, Tervo S, Vanninen R, Evans A, Soininen H. Dement Geriatr Cogn Disord. 2009 Nov 10;28(5):404-412. [Epub ahead of print]

Fast and robust multi-atlas segmentation of brain magnetic resonance images. Lötjönen JM, Wolz R, Koikkalainen JR, Thurfjell L, Waldemar G, Soininen H, Rueckert D; The Alzheimer's Disease Neuroimaging Initiative. Neuroimage. 2009 Oct 23. [Epub ahead of print]

Brain pathology in three subjects from the same pedigree with PSEN1 P264L mutation. Martikainen P, Pikkarainen M, Pöntynen K, Hiltunen M, Lehtovirta M, Tuisku S, Soininen H, Alafuzoff  I. Neuropathol Appl Neurobiol. 2010; 36:41-54. 2009 Oct 22. [Epub ahead of print]

AddNeuroMed-The European Collaboration for the Discovery of Novel Biomarkers for Alzheimer's Disease. Lovestone S, Francis P, Kloszewska I, Mecocci P, Simmons A, Soininen H, Spenger C, Tsolaki M, Vellas B, Wahlund LO, Ward M; on behalf of the AddNeuroMed Consortium. Ann N Y Acad Sci. 2009 Oct;1180(1Biomarkers in Brain Disease):36-46.

MRI Measures of Alzheimer's Disease and the AddNeuroMed Study. Simmons A, Westman E, Muehlboeck S, Mecocci P, Vellas B, Tsolaki M, Kłoszewska I, Wahlund LO, Soininen H, Lovestone S, Evans A, Spenger C; for the AddNeuroMed Consortium. Ann N Y Acad Sci. 2009 Oct;1180(1Biomarkers in Brain Disease):47-55.

No association between high temperature requirement 1 (HTRA1) gene polymorphisms and Alzheimer's disease. Turunen M, Vepsäläinen S, Mäkinen P, Helisalmi S, Haapasalo A, Soininen H, Hiltunen M. Neurobiol Aging. 2009 Sep 22. [Epub ahead of print]

Genome-wide association study identifies variants at CLU and CR1 associated with Alzheimer's disease. Lambert JC, Heath S, Even G, Campion D, Sleegers K, Hiltunen M, Combarros O,Zelenika D, Bullido MJ, Tavernier B, Letenneur L, Bettens K, Berr C, Pasquier F, Fiévet N, Barberger-Gateau P, Engelborghs S, De Deyn P, Mateo I, Franck A,Helisalmi S, Porcellini E, Hanon O; the European Alzheimer's Disease Initiative Investigators, de Pancorbo MM, Lendon C, Dufouil C, Jaillard C, Leveillard T, Alvarez V, Bosco P,    ancuso M, Panza F, Nacmias B, Bossù P, Piccardi P, Annoni G, Seripa D, Galimberti D, Hannequin D, Licastro F, Soininen H, Ritchie K, Blanché H, Dartigues JF, Tzourio C, Gut I, Van Broeckhoven C, Alpérovitch A, Lathrop M, Amouyel P. Nat Genet. Nat Genet. 2009 Oct;41(10):1094-9. 2009 Sep 6. [Epub ahead of print]

Progression from mild cognitive impairment to Alzheimer's disease: effects of sex, butyrylcholinesterase genotype, and rivastigmine treatment. Ferris S, Nordberg A, Soininen H, Darreh-Shori T, Lane R. Pharmacogenet Genomics. 2009 Aug;19(8):635-46.

Combination analysis of neuropsychological tests and structural MRI measures in differentiating AD, MCI and control groups-The AddNeuroMed study. Liu Y, Paajanen T, Zhang Y, Westman E, Wahlund LO, Simmons A, Tunnard C, Sobow T, Mecocci P, Tsolaki M, Vellas B, Muehlboeck S, Evans A, Spenger C, Lovestone S, Soininen H; for the AddNeuroMed Consortium. Neurobiol Aging. 2009 Aug 13. [Epub ahead of print]

Association between mid-life marital status and cognitive function in later life: population based cohort study. Håkansson K, Rovio S, Helkala EL, Vilska AR, Winblad B, Soininen H, Nissinen A, Mohammed AH, Kivipelto M. BMJ. 2009 Jul. 2;339:b2462.

Plasma levels of 24S-hydroxycholesterol reflect brain volumes in patients without objective cognitive impairment but not in those with Alzheimer's disease. Solomon A, Leoni V, Kivipelto M, Besga A, Oksengård AR, Julin P, Svensson L, Wahlund LO, Andreasen N, Winblad B, Soininen H, Björkhem I. Neurosci Lett. 2009 Oct 2;462(1):89-93. Epub 2009 Jun 26.

White matter hyperintensities and medial temporal lobe atrophy in clinical subtypes of mild cognitive impairment: the DESCRIPA study. van de Pol L, Verhey F, Frisoni G, Tsolaki M, Papapostoulou P, Nobili F, Wahlund LO, Minthon L, Frolich L, Hampel H, Soininen H, Knol D, Barkhof F, Scheltens P, Verhey PJ. J Neurol Neurosurg Psychiatry. 2009 Jun 18. [Epub ahead of print]

Prevalence and prognostic value of CSF markers of Alzheimer's disease pathology in patients with subjective cognitive impairment or mild cognitive impairment in the DESCRIPA study: a prospective cohort study. Visser PJ, Verhey F, Knol DL, Scheltens P, Wahlund LO, Freund-Levi Y, Tsolaki M, Minthon L, Wallin AK, Hampel H, Bürger K, Pirttila T, Soininen H, Rikkert MO, Verbeek MM, Spiru L, Blennow K. Lancet Neurol. 2009 Jul;8(7):619-27. Epub 2009 Jun 10.

Tenomodulin variants, APOE and    Alzheimer's disease in a Finnish case-control cohort. Tolppanen AM, Helisalmi S, Hiltunen M, Kolehmainen M, Schwab U, Pirttilä T, Pulkkinen L, Uusitupa M, Soininen H. Neurobiol Aging. 2009 Jun [Epub ahead of print]

Focal cerebral ischemia in rats alters APP processing and expression of Abeta peptide degrading enzymes in the thalamus. Hiltunen M, Mäkinen P, Peräniemi S, Sivenius J, van Groen T, Soininen H, Jolkkonen J. Neurobiol Dis. 2009 May 5. [Epub ahead of print]

Structural and functional MRI in mild cognitive impairment. Pihlajamäki M, Jauhiainen AM, Soininen H. Curr Alzheimer Res. 2009 Apr;6(2):179-85.

Cerebrospinal fluid {beta}-amyloid 42 and tau proteins as biomarkers of Alzheimer-type pathologic changes in the brain. Tapiola T, Alafuzoff I, Herukka SK, Parkkinen L, Hartikainen P, Soininen H, Pirttilä T. Arch Neurol. 2009 Mar;66(3):382-9.

Flanking Markers of Cystatin C (CST3) Gene Do Not Show Association with Alzheimer's Disease. Helisalmi S, Väkevä A, Hiltunen M, Soininen H.  Dement Geriatr Cogn Disord. 2009 Mar 17;27(4):318-321. [Epub ahead of print]

Diffrerent cholinesterase inhibitor effects on CSF cholinesterases in Alzheimer patients. Nordberg A, Darrer-Shori T, Peskind E, Soininen H, Mousavi M, Eagle G, Lane R. Current Alzheimer Research 2009; 6:4-14.

No association between CALHM1 and Alzheimer’s disease risk. Bertram l, Schjeide BMM, Hooli B, Mullin K, Hiltunen M, Soininen H, Ingelsoon M, Lannfelt L, Blacker D, Tanzi R. Cell 2008;135:993-994.

MRI of hippocampus and entorhinal cortex in mild cognitive impairment: a follow-up study. Tapiola T, Pennanen C, Tapiola M, Tervo S, Kivipelto M, Hänninen T, Pihlajamäki M, Laakso MP, Hallikainen M, Hämäläinen A, Vanhanen M, Helkala EL, Vanninen R, Nissinen A, Rossi R, Frisoni GB, Soininen H. Neurobiol Aging. 2008 Jan;29(1):31-8. Epub 2006 Nov 13.

Increased fMRI responses during encoding in mild cognitive impairment. Hämäläinen A, Pihlajamäki M, Tanila H, Hänninen T, Niskanen E, Tervo S, Karjalainen PA, Vanninen RL, Soininen H. Neurobiol Aging. 2007 Dec;28(12):1889-903. Epub 2006 Sep 25.

Voxel-based morphometry to detect brain atrophy in progressive mild cognitive impairment. Hämäläinen A, Tervo S, Grau-Olivares M, Niskanen E, Pennanen C, Huuskonen J, Kivipelto M, Hänninen T, Tapiola M, Vanhanen M, Hallikainen M, Helkala EL, Nissinen A, Vanninen R, Soininen H. Neuroimage. 2007 Oct 1;37(4):1122-31. Epub 2007 Jun 29.

Risk score for the prediction of dementia risk in 20 years among middle aged people: a longitudinal, population-based study. Kivipelto M, Ngandu T, Laatikainen T, Winblad B, Soininen H, Tuomilehto J.  Lancet Neurology 2006;5:735-741.

Subgroups of Alzheimer's disease based on cerebrospinal fluid molecular markers. Iqbal K, Flory M, Khatoon S, Soininen H, Pirttila T, Lehtovirta M, Alafuzoff I, Blennow K, Andreasen N, Vanmechelen E, Grundke-Iqbal I. Ann Neurol. 2005 Nov;58(5):748-57.

Leisure-time physical activity at midlife and the risk of dementia and Alzheimer’s disease. Rovio S, Kåreholt I, Helkala E-L, Viitanen M, Winblad B, Tuomilehto J, Soininen H, Nissinen A, Kivipelto M. Lancet Neurology 2005;4:705-11.

Visual presentation of novel objects and new spatial arrangement of objects differentially activates the medial temporal lobe subareas in humans. Pihlajamäki M, Tanila H, Könönen M, Hänninen T, Hämäläinen A, Soininen H, Aronen HJ. Eur J Neurosci. 2004;19:1939-49.

Volumetric MRI analyses of hippocampus and entorhinal cortex in mild cognitive impairment and AD. Pennanen C, Kivipelto M, Tuomainen S, Hartikainen P, Hänninen T, Hallikainen M, Vanhanen M, Laakso M, Nissinen A, Helkala E-L, Vanninen R,  Vainio P, Partanen K, Soininen H. Neurobiol Aging 2004; 25: 303-310.

Polymorphisms in the CYP19 gene confer increased risk for Alzheimer's disease. Iivonen S, Corder E, Lehtovirta M, Helisalmi S, Mannermaa A, Vepsäläinen S, Hänninen T, Soininen H, Hiltunen M.  Neurology 2004;62: 1170-1176.

Apolipoprotein E e4  allele, elevated midlife cholesterol and systolic blood pressure are independent risk factors for late-life Alzheimer’s disease. Kivipelto M, Helkala EL, Laakso MP, Hanninen T, Hallikainen M. Alhainen K, Iivonen S, Mannermaa A, Tuomilehto J, Nissinen A, Soininen H. Ann Intern Med 2002;137:149-155.

Seladin-1 expression is linked to neuronal degeneration in Alzheimer's disease. Iivonen S, Hiltunen M, Alafuzoff I, Mannermaa A, Kerokoski P, Puoliväli J, Salminen A, Helisalmi S, and Soininen H. Neuroscience 2002;113:301-310.

Midlife vascular risk factors and Alzheimer's disease in later life: longitudinal, population-based study. Kivipelto M, Helkala E-L, Laakso MP, Hänninen T, Hallikainen M, Alhainen K, Soininen H, Tuomilehto J, Nissinen A. BMJ 2001;322:1447-1451.

Genome-wide linkage disequilibrium mapping of late onset Alzheimer´s disease in Finland. Hiltunen M, Mannermaa A, Thompson D, Easton D, Pirskanen M, Helisalmi S, Koivisto AM, Lehtovirta M, Ryynänen M, Soininen H. Neurology 2001; 57:1663-1668.