Mikko Niemi - Biography#

Mikko Niemi, MD, PhD, is Professor of Pharmacogenetics and Director of the Individualized Drug Therapy Research Program at the University of Helsinki, and Head Physician of research & development in genetics and clinical pharmacology at HUS Diagnostic Center, Helsinki University Hospital, Finland.

Dr. Niemi obtained his MD degree in 2000, PhD degree in Clinical Pharmacology in 2002, and Medical Specialist degree in Clinical Pharmacology and Pharmacotherapy in 2010 from the University of Helsinki. His main research areas include the genetic determinants of drug response, implementation of pharmacogenetic testing, role of membrane transporters in pharmacokinetics, and biomarkers for drug metabolism and transport. He was one of the first to describe the significance of genetic variability in drug transporters for the pharmacokinetics and safety of statin therapy.

Dr. Niemi serves in several positions of trust, being e.g., the President of the European Society of Pharmacogenomics and Personalized Therapy, President of the Finnish Society of Clinical Pharmacology, and Chair of the Board of Trustees of the Finnish Cultural Foundation, one of the largest private charitable foundations in Europe. In his role as a head physician, he led the development of an accredited NGS-based pharmacogenetic panel test, which is currently widely used throughout Finland.

Dr. Niemi has published more than 200 articles and reviews, many of which have been highly cited. He has received several awards for his contributions in pharmacogenetics, including the Anders Jahre prize for young scientists from the University of Oslo and the Leon I. Goldberg Young Investigator award from the American Society for Clinical Pharmacology and Therapeutics. Altogether, he has received more than 8 million euros of research funding, including the highly competitive European Research Council Starting and Consolidator Grants.