Timo Otonkoski, Finland

Timo Otonkoski, MD, PhD, Professor of Medical Stem Cell Research, University of Helsinki, Finland. Timo Otonkoski was trained as a Pediatric Endocrinologist at the Children’s Hospital, University of Helsinki. His main clinical specialties are childhood diabetes and hypoglycemia. His research has focused on the growth and development of the pancreatic islets. He has also made important contributions in the field of congenital hyperinsulinism and other forms of genetic insulin secretory dysfunction. Lately, he has shifted his main area of interest into the use of human pluripotent stem cells and genome editing to study beta-cell pathophysiology. His group has made fundamental discoveries of the pluripotent reprogramming of human cells, developed novel approaches for controlling their differentiation, and used this approach successfully to elucidate mechanisms of beta-cell dysfunction. The Otonkoski group belongs to the Centre of Excellence in Stem Cell Metabolism of the Academy of Finland. Dr. Otonkoski received the Albert Renold Prize of the EASD in 2019 for outstanding achievements in research on the islets of Langerhans.