The teams of Academy Research Fellow Kati Hanhineva from the Institute of Public Health and Clinical Nutrition and Postdoctoral Researcher Tuomo Nissinen from the Department of Applied Physics compete in the semi-finals of Helsinki Challenge, the science-based idea competition. The competition brings Finnish universities together to solve global problems through their multidisciplinary expertise.
Twenty researcher-lead teams were chosen to the competition’s semi-finals. These teams will develop solutions in cooperation with businesses, organisational actors, decision-makers and representatives of the media and public sector. The prize, 375,000 euros, is meant for the implementation of the solution. The winner will be announced in March 2017.
Two scientific teams led by researchers from the University of Eastern Finland are participating in the semi-finals: the Metabold team led by Academy Research Fellow Kati Hanhineva, and the 3A Water team led by Postdoctoral Researcher Tuomo Nissinen.
Analysing the metabolism of the elderly will lead to more accurate nutrition and medication
The Metabold team wants to improve the quality of life of the elderly. “With an analytics method called metabolic profiling, we can find out the health status of a senior citizen and how it can be improved,” says team leader Kati Hanhineva.
“Doctors commonly prescribe medication for the elderly without paying enough attention to their nutritional status, that is, whether or not they’re eating the right amounts and types of nutrients. Sometimes they’re prescribed several overlapping medicines, when the problem could be solved simply by altering their nutritional habits. Nutrition has a huge impact on an individual’s capacity to metabolize and to cope with medication.”
Consisting of researchers from the University of eastern Finland and Aalto University, the Matebold team uses metabolite profiling to get an inclusive image of a person's health status. Metabolite profiling is an analytical method that studies the biological fingerprints of cellular processes and provides a snapshot of the physiology of a cell. It can be done using any biological sample such as blood, urine or saliva.
“By studying the results we can not only find out what’s not working in a senior’s nutritional intake, but also if their medication isn’t aligned with it. The wrong combination of nutrition and medicine can, in the worst case, lead to serious adverse events. Sometimes the elderly don’t respond at all to the medicine they take, which means they take it for nothing.”
The team attacks a global problem. People live longer than before and if elderly care is straining the society economically now, it will do so even more in the future. “Our research can reduce the need for medication and make elderly care more cost-efficient. And, obviously, add more healthy years and well-being to people’s lives.”
“The best case scenario is that in the future, we can use new diagnostic methods based on the results of our research when evaluating the patient’s need for treatment.”
The team describes themselves as curious people and for them, the competition is a great way to satisfy their need to know more. “We also like to call ourselves bloodthirsty. This applies in two different ways. First, we are very enthusiastic, hungry even, to move forward with our research and create something new. Second, we actually do need blood to get these analyses done.”
Three questions for the Metabold team and the team members
1. Why can your team make the world a better and more sustainable place?
We have a unique combination of pharmaceutical, nutritional and geriatric know-how in our team and a wide network for commercializing the applications that we develop. We’re at the top with our knowledge in analytics and we possess world-class academic know-how in our fields.
2. If you could collaborate with anyone in the world, who would it be?
What we are missing are the skills to visualise vast amounts of data. We’d love to work with Manuel Lima, a Portuguese designer, who’s an expert in this area. He makes data visualization look like art – it pleases the eye and is easy to digest.
3. What’s the best thing that has come out of science and research so far?
I think it’s the big picture, the fact that we’re arriving at a deeper understanding of life all the time. Also, the current rapid development of different technologies that make it possible to observe big biological entities is essential.
Team members:
- Kati Hanhineva, team leader, academy research fellow, University of Eastern Finland
- Olli Kärkkäinen, post-doctoral researcher, University of Eastern Finland
- Mikko Juuti, development manager, University of Eastern Finland
- Juho Rousu, professor, Aalto University
- Jussi Paananen, assistant professor, University of Eastern Finland
- Sirpa Hartikainen, professor, University of Eastern Finland
- Jenna Pekkinen, post-doctoral researcher, University of Eastern Finland
- Celine Brouard, post-doctoral researcher, Aalto University
- Eric Bach, PhD student, Aalto University
- Huibin Shen, PhD student, Aalto University
New on-site method for analysing very low metal concentrations in water
University Lecturer Matti Leppäniemi from Jyväskylä University School of Business and Economics and Postdoctoral Researcher Tuomo Nissinen, Postdoctoral Researcher Joakim Riikonen and Professor Vesa-Pekka Lehto from the UEF Department of Applied Physics.
The 3A Water team wants to make the analysis of water’s metal concentrations faster and less expensive. A new method makes this possible, on-site and real-time,” explains team leader Tuomo Nissinen.
The team consists of researchers from the Universioty of eastern Finland, the Jyväskylä University School of Business and Economics, and the Geological Survey of Finland.
The analysis of very low metal concentrations in natural waters requires expensive and slow laboratory techniques. Therefore real time data cannot be obtained from water samples, which is problematic in many applications. Fast and precise measurements are essential for example in monitoring industrial water emissions and the quality of water, processing water in the mining and metal industry and analysing groundwater in mineral exploration.
“We want to make the measurements of low metal concentrations quicker, cheaper and more precise. That’s why we are developing a method that enables on-site analyses of water. The method is based on a nanostructured hybrid material which binds aqueous metal ions effectively even from very low concentrations. Currently low metal concentrations can be analyzed only in a laboratory and it takes from days to weeks until the results are available. With our method the measurements will be simpler and faster: the analyses of the samples can be done on-site and the results are ready in a mere 15 minutes.”
The team is developing a portable measurement device that can be connected to a cloud service for data collection and analysis. A concentration map of metals of an area is generated real time during the measurements even simultaneously from multiple sites. Thus metal concentrations can be mapped in large areas and the sources of metals can be identified quickly. This is enables fast detection of industrial spillage in nature as well as the exploration of drinking water and minerals.
“Our idea is unique and to our knowledge this type of system has not been used as an analytical tool before. We’re very driven and can’t wait to see how far we can take this solution.”
Three questions for the 3A Water team and the team members
1. Why can your team make the world a better and more sustainable place?
Water is the most important resource in the world and it is very important to know its quality wherever it is being used. Our method can improve human and environmental safety, industrial performance and exploration of minerals.
2. If you could collaborate with anyone in the world, who would it be?
It would be great to test our solution with a large global mining and emission monitoring companies and organisations. Charity organisations working with clean water for developing countries could utilize our technology to verify the water safety in areas of metal industry or naturally occurring toxic metals.
3. What’s the best thing that has come out of science and research this far?
The scientific worldview. It has evolved little by little as time has elapsed and has molded our societies to their current civilized states.Team members:
- Tuomo Nissinen, team leader, PhD, University of Eastern Finland
- Matti Leppäniemi, PhD, Jyväskylä University School of Business and Economics
- Janne Hepola, PhD student, Jyväskylä University School of Business and Economics
- Joakim Riikonen, PhD, University of Eastern Finland
- Vesa-Pekka Lehto, Prof., University of Eastern Finland
- Anssi Lehikoinen, Prof. of Practice in innovation management, University of Eastern Finland
- Juhani Ojala, Head of Mineral Resources Unit, Geological Survey of Finland
- Mikko Juuti, Business development manager, University of Eastern Finland
- Jouko Vepsäläinen, Prof., University of Eastern Finland
Read more: challenge.helsinki.fi
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