SWAN Symposium 2025
SWAN Opening Symposium was on August 20, 2025 in Biomedicum Helsinki
We thank the speakers for excellent presentations,
and all participants who joined us on-site or remotely to hear about the science of SWAN
Keynote Speakers
SWAN Speakers
Program
Morning coffee​ from 8:40 for registered participants
9:00
Opening words
Päivi Sillanaukee, Special Envoy for Health & Well-being of Finland at the Ministry for Social Affairs and Health
Anu Suomalainen Wartiovaara (1, 2)
Mechanisms and approaches for common metabolic and degenerative disease & applications to personalized medicine
9:15
9:35
9:55
10:15
10:35
Kirsi Pietiläinen: Mechanisms of obesity & interventions (3, 4)
Emmi Helle: Metabolic interaction between fetus-mother determines risk for cardiac disease and diabetes (1, 5)
Mika Kivimäki: Nation-wide population cohorts & tools to identify risk factors for aging-related morbidity (6, 7)
Samuli Ripatti: Population-scale strategies for precision health (8)
Pekka Martikainen: Demographic approaches to healthy ageing using register-based data (9, 10)
Metabolic mechanisms of disease & aging, approaches for intervention
10:55
11:15
11:35
11:55
Henna Tyynismaa: Neural models and mechanisms (1)
Takashi Namba: Brain evolution: from development to diseases (11)
Thomas McWilliams: Organelle crosstalk and turnover in aging brain (1)
Ilpo Vattulainen: Computer science tools to explore metabolism and designing binding targets (18)
Lunch (on your own)
12:55
Dean Johanna Arola, Faculty of Medicine, addresses SWAN
SWAN Keynote lectures
13:00
Kei Sakamoto: Shaping the Precision Regulation of AMP-activated Protein Kinase (AMPK) for the Treatment of Type 2 Diabetes and Fatty Liver Disease
Novo Nordisk Centre for Basic Metabolic Research & University of Copenhagen ​
13:35
Charles Brenner: From a Rare Disease to the Global Epidemic of Fatty Liver: Novel Molecules and Mechanisms
Beckman Research Institute, City of Hope, CA
Nutrient metabolism across scales, from cells to tissues
14:10
14:30
14:50
Elina Ikonen: Lipid and lipid droplet metabolism – mechanisms and relevance for disease & personalized medicine (1)
Pekka Katajisto: How nutrients impact intestinal renewal: stem cell metabolism (13, 14, 15)
Ville Hietakangas: Nutrient regulation of cell fate/sugar sensing (14)
Coffee break – for registered participants
Models, tools and mechanisms of aging, disease and prevention
16:05
Kirmo Wartiovaara: Gene editing: how to cure a genetic disease (1, 16)
Models, tools and mechanisms of aging, disease and prevention
16:25
16:45
17:05
17:25
17:45
Jukka Kallijärvi: Mitochondrial metabolism as a target for improving liver health (1, 17)
Brendan Battersby: Mitochondrial metabolism in metabolic stress – targets for intervention (13)
Alexander Mühleip: Analysing metabolic proteins in molecular accuracy: cryo-electron microscopy in protein modelling and analysis of treatment targets (13, 14)
Arafath Najumudeen: Analysing metabolism within cells: Multi-modal spatial omics of the intestine in health and disease (8, 12)
Anu Suomalainen Wartiovaara: Mitochondrial regulation of metabolism in health and disease – mechanisms and treatment targets (1, 2)
End of the symposium
SWAN speakers' affiliations:
1. Stem cells and metabolism (STEMM) research program; Faculty of Medicine, University of Helsinki (UH)
2. Diagnostic centre, Helsinki University Hospital
3. Clinical and molecular medicine (CAMM) research program, Faculty of Medicine, UH
4. Obesity research unit; Helsinki University Hospital (HUH)
5. Hospital for Children & Adolescents, HUH
6. Department of Population Health, Faculty of Medicine, UH
7. University College London, United Kingdom
8. Institute for Molecular Medicine Finland (FIMM), HiLife, UH
9. Helsinki Institute for Demography and Population Health (PopHel)
10. Max Planck Center for Social Inequalities in Health (MaxHel)
11. Neuroscience Centre, HiLife, UH
12. CRUK Scotland Institute, United Kingdom
13. Institute of Biotechnology, Hilife, UH
14. Faculty of Biological and Environmental Sciences, UH
15. Karolinska Institutet, Stockholm, Sweden
16. Department of Medical Genetics, HUH
17. Folkhälsan Research Institute, Helsinki
18. Department of Physics, UH
Registration
Registration has ended
Remote participation
Due to great interest, it is possible to join the Symposium remotely, especially those outside of Helsinki region.
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