National Public Health Institute (KTL), Helsinki, Finland

Contact person

Dr. Outi Lyytikäinen
National Public Health Institute (KTL)
Mannerheimintie 166
FIN-00300 Helsinki, Finland
Tel. +358 9 47 448 783
Fax. +358 9 47 448 468

Description of the institute

KTL promotes people’s possibilities to live a healthy live. KTL is a research institute and expert body under the Ministry of Social Affairs and Health, responsible for providing best available information on health to decision makers, health care personnel and the public for making their choices. The activities cover infectious diseases, chronic diseases and environmental health. The infectious disease activities are organized to four departments of infectious disease epidemiology and control, vaccinology, virology and bacteriology. KTL and Stakes (National Research and Development Centre for Welfare and Health) will be united as one institute by 2009 increasing and strengthening the areas of expertise within the newly established institute.
Read more: http://www.ktl.fi/attachments/english/publications/english_2007.pdf

The Department of Infectious Disease Epidemiology and Control produces information on the occurrence of infectious diseases, risk factors for contracting infections, and proposals of evidence-based control measures. The national infectious disease registry was established in 1995 to the Department of Infectious Disease Epidemiology and Control in KTL. The municipalities of the 20 health districts have the legal responsibility to carry out outbreak investigations in which KTL provides expertise to local stakeholders in epidemiologic investigations, infectious disease control implementation and reference laboratory services in microbiology using new molecular typing methods. KTL is also a WHO regional collaborative centre for polio, and WHO national reference laboratories for influenza and measles, and participates in several EU dedicated networks and EU and nationally funded research projects. KTL participates actively with the recently established European Centre of Disease Control (ECDC).
Read more:
http://www.ktl.fi/portal/english/research__people___programs/infectious_disease_epidemiology/

KTL has a staff of over 800, majority of which in Helsinki. Library staff persons give support for in-house researchers and attend to out-of-house inquiries. KTL subscribes to a wide range of journals, and KTL researchers have good electronical access to archives of key journals and to literature searches using several electronic tools. The National Central Medical Library, with a very wide range of scientific literature, is at 15 minutes walking distance. A wide range of advanced software is available. Data bases are built in the main frame environment of Vax/VMS, which communicates with extensive local PC networks. Macintosh is also supported. Internal e-mail is linked to Internet, in-house World Wide Web services are available, part of which is open to public as well (http://www.ktl.fi).

KTL has extensive links with:
  • 20 health care districts of Finland responsible for the regional infectious disease surveillance and control
  • Finnish Food Safety Institute
  • Zoonosis centre
  • University of Helsinki, departments of infectious diseases, pediatrics, bacteriology, virology, and public health
  • Universities of Kuopio, Tampere and Oulu, schools of public health
  • Rolf Nevanlinna Institute (Mathematical modelling)
  • Public health research in collaboration with health care centres and regional, central and university hospitals

Training opportunities

The EPIET fellow is given considerable latitude and support in developing projects designed to his/her areas of interest, including:
  • National infectious disease registry
  • Food- and waterborne outbreak investigations
  • Surveillance of HIV
  • Surveillance of antimicrobial resistance (MRSA, VRE, PRP, MDRTB, ESBL)
  • Surveillance of health care-associated infections (bloodstream infections, surgical site infections, Clostridium difficile -associated disease)
  • Molecular epidemiology of viruses and bacteria (HIV, HCV, C. diphtheriae, enteric bacteria, M. tuberculosis)
  • Possibility to work in KTL laboratories under expert supervision
  • National registry of vaccine related adverse events
  • Vaccination coverage measurements
  • Serological surveys of antibodies to vaccine preventable microbes/their toxins to evaluate and plan the national immunisation program
  • Mathematical modelling of spread and control of infectious diseases (mainly S. pneumoniae, measles, varicella, human papillomavirus)
  • Teaching experience in the national and international communicable disease workshops and local meetings
  • Short term international assignments are encouraged
  • Serological surveys of antibodies to vaccine preventable microbes/their toxins to evaluate and plan the national immunisation program
  • Development of national registry of vaccine related adverse events (AEFI)
  • Measuring vaccination coverage
  • Development of national registry of vaccine related adverse events (AEFI)
  • mathematical modelling of spread and control of infectious diseases (mainly S. pneumoniae, measles, pertussis)
  • Mathematical modelling of spread and control of infectious diseases (mainly S. pneumoniae, measles, pertussis)
  • Outbreak investigations
  • Surveillance of HIV-infections in various population groups
  • Surveillance of the antimicrobial resistance patterns and incidence of certain microbes (MRSA, S. pneumoniae, M. tuberculosis, VRE)
  • Surveillance of health care-associated infections (bloodstream infections, surgical site infections)
  • Molecular epidemiology of viruses and bacteria (HIV, HCV, C. diphtheriae, enteric bacteria, M. tuberculosis).
  • The fellow may also gain experience from working in one or several of the KTL laboratories under expert supervision.
  • Short term international assignments are encouraged
  • KTL arranges internal scientific meetings on weekly basis (mostly in Finnish). The Helsinki University clinical and scientific meetings (mostly in Finnish) are open to KTL researchers.
  • The fellow may also gain teaching experience in the national and international communicable disease workshops and local meetings.

Training supervision

The fellow is assigned to the Department of Infectious Disease Epidemiology and Control. The following resource persons are committed to EPIET:
  • Dr. Petri Ruutu, M.D. with expertise in infectious and tropical diseases, infectious disease surveillance and epidemiology, and international health. (Department of Infectious Disease Epidemiology)
  • Dr. Outi Lyytikäinen, M.D., an EPIET graduate (1997) with expertise in infectious diseases, outbreak investigation, epidemiology of health care-associated infections, antimicrobial resistance and invasive bacterial infections (Department of Infectious Disease Epidemiology)
  • Dr. Markku Kuusi, M.D., an EPIET graduate (1999) with expertise in infectious diseases, outbreak investigations, epidemiology of food- and water-borne infections and zoonosis. (Department of Infectious Disease Epidemiology)
  • Dr. Katri Jalava, D.V.M., EPIET graduate (2005) with expertise in infectious diseases, outbreak investigations, epidemiology of food- and waterborne infections, biostatistics (Department of Infectious Disease Epidemiology and Control)
  • Dr. Hanna Nohynek, M.D., Academy researcher with expertise in vaccinology, phase II and III clinical trials in developing countries, global health, public health policy development, international travel health and communications (Department of Vaccines
  • Kari Auranen, PhD in mathematics, Academy researcher and researcher of the Helsinki University Rolf Nevanlinna institute with special expertise in modeling of infectious diseases and herd immunity questions. (Department of Vaccines).

Language requirements

English is widely spoken in KTL as well as in the main urban centres. Official languages are Finnish and Swedish. Conversational skills in Finnish or Swedish are not required. In the field investigations the fellow is working together with a Finnish colleague

Training history

Number of EPIET fellows hosted at institute: five (1996, 1999, 2000, 2002, 2005)
Number of EPIET alumni working at institute: Three
The department serves as a training site of infectious disease epidemiology for medical doctors and veterinarians .
Available as a training site for cohort 13: Yes
This website -www.epiet.org- is hosted and updated by Smittskyddsinstitutet, Sweden.