Obituary: Professor Leena Peltonen-Palotie, Academician of Science

It is an extremely sad moment to announce that Academician of Science, Professor Leena Peltonen-Palotie has died last night. While Leena Peltonen-Palotie's death is also a deep loss to us at FIMM, the University of Helsinki and THL, the same loss is felt all across the scientific community in Finland and internationally.  As we all know, Professor Leena Peltonen-Palotie was a global leader of human genetics research and her work greatly contributed to the fact that Finland is known for high-quality research on disease genes and genetic epidemiology. This strong research base was a major driver behind the decision to launch FIMM.

We all owe a great deal of gratitude to Leena for the work that she did for us at FIMM and at the THL. We will remember the numerous interactions with her over the years. These have left a long-lasting profound impact on all of us. Even though it will be impossible for any single person to replace her, we should all work together to try to make sure that all the numerous activities that Leena started will continue and be taken care of in the future. This was the message that Leena herself wanted me to convey to you when I was visiting her for the very last time less than a week ago.

In lieu of floral tributes, a donation in memory of Academician Leena Peltonen-Palotie would be appreciated (Leena Palotie memorial fund, The Paulo Foundation, Nordea, account: FI91 1562 3000 1320 29, Swift: NDEAFIHH).

Thank you.

Olli Kallioniemi
Director, FIMM

Obituaries

• The official note of her death is announced by the Academy of Finland
  ( in English | suomeksi )
• Nature
• Cell
• Lancet