Senior research scientist
PhD (Ecology and evolutionary biology)
Contact information
firstname.lastname@syke.fi
+358503050007
Finnish Environment Institute (Syke)
Built environment solutions
Urban nature
Twitter
Google scholar
Research gate
ORCID ID
Research interests
- Associations between non-communicable diseases and residential environments
- Environmental and human microbiomes as well as their interactions
- The role of macroscopic and microscopic biodiversity for human health
- Measurable health effects of natural environments such as immunological responses
- Increasing nature exposure both in children and adults
- Biodiversity monitoring from maps or with DNA-based methods
- Popularisation of science
- Planetary health
Blogs
Nature is the most holistic health promoter, Ilkka Hanski’s Natureweb’s blog 21.12.2020
A healthy dose of biodiversity, Sakari Alhopuro Foundation blog 6.8.2020
Few important scientific publications
Haahtela T, Alenius H, Lehtimäki J, Sinkkonen A, Hyöty H, Fyhrquist N, Ruokolainen L, Mäkelä M. Immunological resilience and biodiversity for prevention of allergic diseases and asthma. Allergy 2021
Lehtimäki J, Thorsen J, Rasmussen M, Hjelmsø M, Shah S, Mortensen M, Trivedi U, Vestergaard G, Bønnelykke K, Chawes B, Brix S, Sørensen S, Bisgaard H, Stokholm J. Urbanized microbiota in infants, immune constitution and later risk of atopic diseases. JACI 2020
Lehtimäki J, Sinkko H, Hielm-Björkman A, Salmela E, Laatikainen T, Mäkeläinen S, Kaukonen M, Uusitalo L, Hanski I, Lohi H, and Ruokolainen L. Skin microbiota and allergic symptoms associate with exposure to environmental microbes. PNAS 2018.
Lehtimäki J, Karkman A, Laatikainen T, Paalanen L, von Hertzen L, Haahtela T, Hanski I, and Ruokolainen L. Patterns in the skin microbiota differ in children and teenagers between rural and urban environments. Scientific Reports 2017:7
Ongoing projects
GREEN CHILDHOOD – Biodiverse living environment as a promoter of long-term health in urban and rural areas (2022—2025, Kone Foundation)
STYLE - Healthy Lifestyles to Boost Sustainable Growth (2019—2023, Strategic Research Council)
Smarter Greener Cities - Making Smart Cities Smarter and More Liveable Through Nature-based Solutions
Past projects
GREEN WINDOW – Window of opportunity for green exposure in prevention of childhood non-communicable diseases (2020—2021, Sakari Alhopuro Foundation)
HYVIÖ - Spatial information and residents' experiences for development of comfortable living environments (2020—2023, Ministry of Environment)
NATURE STEP towards wellbeing (2018—2020, Sitra)