Team
Professor Terhi Piltonen
Terhi T. Piltonen, MD, PhD, Professor, Chief Physician, is a specialist in obstetrics and gynecology and reproductive endocrinology/IVF in the Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology at Oulu University Hospital and the University of Oulu, Finland.
Her research advances the lifelong gynecological and obstetric health of women, with her team leading internationally recognized programs on women’s health burden and work ability, PMOS (Polyendocrine Metabolic Ovarian Syndrome, formerly PCOS), hormonal contraception, hormonal aging, and endometrial health. Her group has wide methodological breadth, combining randomized controlled trials (>4,000 participants), birth cohorts, nationwide registers, mouse models, and clinical samples. Flagship resources include the Northern Finland Birth Cohorts (>20,000 participants born in 1966 and 1986), a national register dataset of women with PMOS and their first-degree relatives, and ENDObank (>500 endometrial samples). Most recently, her team completed the landmark WENDY trial, screening nearly 2,000 women for gynecological symptoms and diseases and capturing more than 10,000 variables to evaluate their impact on metabolic, psychological, and quality-of-life outcomes. Current EU-funded research includes projects aimed at improving women’s work ability.
Professor Piltonen plays a leading role in shaping international clinical practice to improve women’s health. She has contributed to global guideline development for PMOS, contraception, and unexplained infertility, and is actively involved in the ongoing international PCOS name change initiative. She previously served as Associate Editor for Fertility and Sterility and the European Journal of Endocrinology and is currently Co-Editor-in-Chief of Seminars in Reproductive Medicine. She is the President of the Androgen Excess and PCOS Society (AE-PCOS) and a former Chair of the Scientific Committee and a Board Member of the Nordic Federation of Societies in Obstetrics and Gynecology (NFOG).
With more than 200 publications and an H-index of 57, Prof. Piltonen is a leading voice in women’s health, PCOS, contraception, and endometrial health research.
Postdoctoral Researchers
Riikka Arffman, PhD,
Adjunct Professor,
Senior researcher
Meri-Maija Ollila, MD, PhD, Docent of epidemiological internal medicine
Marika Kangasniemi, MD, PhD, Specialist in Obstetrics and Gynecology, Postdoctoral Scientist & Clinical Instructor
Ulla Saarela, PhD,
Laboratory Manager
Emilia Pesonen, PhD, Postdoctoral Scientist
Doctoral students
Katja Alanärä,
B.Med, PhD student
Suvi Haapakangas, B.Med, MSc, PhD student
Tiina-Mari Keski-Ojala, MD, PhD student
Emilia Koivuaho,
MD, PhD student
Elina Komsi, MSc,
MD, PhD student
Noona Koskenkari, B.Med, PhD student
Aino Kurki,
B.Med, PhD student
Elo Kuuluvainen, B.Med, PhD student
Ewelina Kuusiniemi, MD, PhD student
Johanna Lavi,
MD, PhD student
Eeva Linna,
MD, PhD student
Milena Myllykangas, MSc, PhD student
Joonas Vaarala,
B.Med, PhD student
Saara Vuontisjärvi, MD, PhD student
Ella Staff, MSc, PhD student
Thesis defended
MD, PhD Johanna Puurunen, Androgen secretion and cardiovascular risk factors in women with and without PCOS: studies on age-related changes and medical intervention, 2015. http://jultika.oulu.fi/Record/isbn978-952-62-0809-1
MD, PhD Meri-Maija Ollila, The role of polycystic ovary syndrome (PCOS) and overweight/obesity in women’s metabolic and cardiovascular risk factors and related morbidities, 2019. http://jultika.oulu.fi/Record/isbn978-952-62-2259-2
MD, PhD Henna-Riikka Rossi, The association of endometriosis on body size, pain perception, comorbidity and work ability in the Northern Finland Birth cohort 1966: long-term effects of endometriosis on women’s overall health, 2021. http://jultika.oulu.fi/Record/isbn978-952-62-3002-3
MD, PhD Salla Karjula, Long-term consequences of polycystic ovary syndrome (PCOS) on mental health and health-related quality of life, 2021. http://jultika.oulu.fi/Record/isbn978-952-62-2849-5
PhD Masuma Khatun, The endometrium in disease – studies on endometrial stem cells, polycystic ovary syndrome (PCOS), and stanniocalcin-1 (STC-1), 2021. http://jultika.oulu.fi/Record/isbn978-952-62-3139-6
MD, PhD Marika Kangasniemi, Estradiol valerate versus ethinylestradiol in combined contraceptives: effects on blood proteome, lipids, inflammation, and steroid hormones, 2022. http://jultika.oulu.fi/Record/isbn978-952-62-3491-5
MD, PhD Linda Kujanpää, Comorbidity, work ability, and disability retirement among women with polycystic ovary syndrome (PCOS): a population-based analysis in the Northern Finland Birth Cohort 1966, 2023. http://jultika.oulu.fi/Record/isbn978-952-62-3639-1
PhD Natàlia Pujol Gualdo, Decoding genetic associations of female reproductive health traits, 2024. https://www.oulu.fi/en/theses/decoding-genetic-associations-female-reproductive-health-traits
PhD Seungbaek Lee, Mining biomarkers for infertility-associated conditions. Studies on polycystic ovary syndrome and recurrent implantation failure through microbiome and AI-based approaches, 2024. https://www.oulu.fi/en/theses/mining-biomarkers-for-infertility-associated-conditions-studies-polycystic-ovary-syndrome-and
MD, PhD Heini Salo, Female urinary incontinence: work ability, hysterectomy as a risk factor and efficacy of invasive treatments, 2024. https://oulurepo.oulu.fi/bitstream/handle/10024/52701/nbnfioulu-202410046179.pdf?sequence=1&isAllowed=y
PhD Emilia Pesonen, Weight-related struggles, eating behaviour, physical activity, and fitness of women with polycystic ovary syndrome (PCOS): Northern Finland Birth Cohort 1966, 2025. https://oulurepo.oulu.fi/handle/10024/54593
MD, PhD Yiqun Tang, Endometrial regeneration and uterine disorders – cellular and molecular studies, 2025. https://openarchive.ki.se/articles/thesis/Endometrial_regeneration_and_uterine_disorders_cellular_and_molecular_studies/27890091?file=52855631
PhD Nikke Virtanen, Activation of the HIF pathway in polycystic ovary syndrome (PCOS): hemoglobin, ferritin and HIF-targeted medical interventions, 2025. https://www.oulu.fi/en/theses/activation-hif-pathway-polycystic-ovary-syndrome-pcos-hemoglobin-ferritin-and-hif-targeted-medical
PhD Lena Luyckx, Endometrial dysfunction in PCOS. Insights from a mouse model, human endometrial transcriptomics, and organoids, 2025. https://oulurepo.oulu.fi/bitstream/handle/10024/58518/nbnfioulu-202509035721.pdf?sequence=1&isAllowed=y
Other staff
Elisa Hurskainen,
MSc, Statistician
Maarit Haarala,
Laboratory Technician
Lotta Vuokila,
Research Nurse